A sub-domain is a section of your main web site, set up and reconized as it's own cyber real estate. There is usally no cost or very low cost to set up multiple sub domains on your hosting account. Sub-domains are folders located within a directory of your main site and carry a pre name to your existing domain.

Example .. http://www.masteradvertising.com is our main domain name. But we use many sub domain names for our research areas, script testing and growing development areas.

Such as .. http:/ raffic.masteradvertising.com (for our traffic exchange) http://mail.masteradvertising.com (for our members free mail service) http:/ eam.masteradvertising.com (for our admin team members) and so on ...

To best utilize your subdomains, it is important that they all remain on the same theme. Our site pertains to advertising. It would not benifit us to launch a pet store under pets.masteradvertising.com.

Each subdomain can serve as another gateway into your main establishment, for visitors, testing marketing stratagies, and search engines too!

Since creating content for a website takes time, often webmasters simply modify the existing text of the main site and reuse it on the subdomain site. It is important that the content is not exactly the same and that the subdomain does not simply redirect to the main site. Otherwise, search engines may not index them and you may even may even get tossed from the engines database.

Subdomain websites can be submitted to the search engines just like your main site. If your website is doing alright in the search engines, then imagine having five more websites out there for the spiders to find. Five more listings means that Web surfers have five times as many ways to find your network of websites.

More and more search engine algorithms take into consideration the number and ranking of sites that link to you. By linking your sub-domains to your main site and to each other, the ranking of all of your sites is improved.

Your subdomains provide a great area for testing banner exchanges and other advertising resource mediums, withotu cluttering up the main site. Each sub domain will carry it's own traffic statistics, and campains can be tracked effectiantly by ones self with server stats or other preferred tracking methods. (Another article)

Get creative and branch your services and products out between your subdomains and keeping them all connected via your main site. It will increase your keyword density and rankings per sub domain and most consumers are more confortable working with a specialized area then a one-stop shop.

About the author: Dawn Wentworth http://www.MasterAdvertising.com advertising research and development center