Sometimes, when you’re looking for help on a web hosting forum, or simply reading an article, all of the technical jargon can go right over your head. For example, the difference between parked domains, subdomains, and add-on domains tends to confuse people. If you’re looking into getting a hosting account, or already have one, you may notice that you have the option for different kinds of domains. Canadian Web Hosting offers unlimited subdomains and parked domains with its shared hosting plans. But which kind of domains do you need? Here is an explanation of the different kinds to help you out.
Primary Domain
The primary domain is the main domain you use for your web hosting and it is used as your main account. For example, the primary domain for Canadian Web Hosting is www.canadianwebhosting.com. Think of your primary domain as your mothership, where everything somehow links back to it.
Parked Domain Names
A parked domain name quite literally suggests that you have “parked” a domain, like a car you own. You can also think of a parked domain as an alternate or secondary path to the same place. Parked domains usually redirect back to primary domains, and are frequently used to point customers back to a business’ main page. Take Canadian Web Hosting again, for example. Their primary domain is www.canadianwebhosting.com, but they could also snag www.canadianwebhosting.lol if they wanted to and have it direct to their main website. Parked domains are helpful if your URL has a common misspelling so that you can direct customers back to your site, even if they’ve incorrectly typed in your domain name. For example, when a user types in “www.goggle.com”, despite the typo, they will still be taken to “www.google.com”
Add-On Domains
If a parked domain is an alternate path to a primary domain, add-on domains are another thing altogether. Think of an add-on domain as more of a sister website, one that is managed by your main account, but is linked to a separate website. This can mean that you will put different kinds of information on add-on domains that compliment your primary domain, but you can also have a completely different website altogether. It’s an efficient way of hosting multiple sites on one account, and sometimes it can save you money. For example, a user can own both www.webhosting.com and www.extremesports.com and manage them both under the same cPanel account. The websites are unrelated, but what makes them siblings is that they share the same parent, or cPanel owner.
Sub Domains
When people discuss subdomains, they are referring to the first part of a website address. For example, www.canadianwebhosting.com, the “www” portion would be the subdomain. You can create as many subdomains as you’d like and with many hosting companies they are complimentary. Think of subdomains as a child of your main website, in the sense that they are connected to its main domain. Some examples of subdomains include:
- blog.canadianwebhosting.com
- secure.canadianwebhosting.com
- forums.canadianwebhosting.com
If you have any other questions about domains, feel free to contact us or ask us in the comments below.
