How To Create Subdomains And Add-on Domains

Learning how to create subdomains and add-on domains will help you to get the most out of your web hosting account and allow you to do more with your domains. Subdomains are domains that are created from your main domain, kind of like a sub directory of your main domain.

Most search engines don’t consider subdomains to be as relevant or as authoritative as a root domain, but they can still be indexed and listed in most search engine result pages. A good use of a subdomain is when you want to create a domain that you are not trying to get listed in the top 10 results of the search engines.

An example of this would be for an opt-in page with a free offer that you use to drive traffic to for collecting email addresses. Instead of buying a new domain to use for your opt-in page you can just configure a subdomain for this purpose.

Hostgator is one of the best online hosting providers that offer unlimited add-on domains as well as wordpress and other applications that allow you to create subdomains. In this example I will be using hostgator as the hosting provider.

To create a subdomain you can use the following steps :

1.) Log on to your hosting provider cpanel by typing in your main domain name followed by cpanel (for example http://your-main-domain-name.com/cpanel).

2.) Select Fantastico

3.) Select Wordpress

4.) Select New Installation

5.) In “installation Location” choose the root domain that you want to install your subdomain on.

6.) In the box that says “Install in directory” This is where you enter a name for your Subdomain. for example “opt-in-page”

7.) Now you will continue as if it were a regular installation, by entering your remaining admin and password information.

Your new url for the subdomain will be listed as opt-in-page.your-main-domain-name.com but it will be accessed using http://your-main-domain-name.com/opt-in-page. this is the url that will display your opt-in page.


Add-on domains are simply additional domains that you purchase and want to have “added on” to your existing hosting account.

If you are planning on owning more than one website you can save a lot of money by using a hosting company that provides unlimited hosting of add-on domains.

This will allow you to purchase as many domains as needed and only pay one flat fee, usually a monthly amount, for your hosting cost.

NameCheap is one of the best domain name providers that I have found to work with. In this example I will be using namecheap as the domain name provider.

To Create a add-on domain you can follow these basic steps:

1.) After you have purchased your additional domain, you will need to get the address of your hosting providers “name servers”. If you are using Hostgator you can call them or use their online chat feature to verify that the name servers will be something like “ns1923.hostgator.com” and “ns1924.hostgator.com”. You can then enter that information with your domain name provider, if you are using Namecheap it will be under “Domain name server setup”.

2.) Next you will need to login to your hosting accounts cpanel, this is done by typing in your main domain name followed by cpanel

3.) Then from the main panel you will need to select “Add-on domains” this is located under the domains category.

4.) Now you can enter your new domain name, except the default information that you used for your first domain, enter your password and your Add-on domain will be added to your account and you can now load wordpress or application of your choice and configure your new website or blog.

After doing these quick and easy steps a few times yourself you will easily understand exactly How To Create Subdomains And Add-on Domains with no problems.