How to create a subdomain in Squarespace depends on one thing: what you want the subdomain to do. If shop.yourdomain.com should simply send people to your site (or to any other address), it is a forwarding rule in the domain’s settings, done in a minute. If it should be the address of a second Squarespace site (a separate blog, a client portal, a store on its own site), you connect the subdomain to that site as a domain in its own right, with a CNAME record. What Squarespace cannot do is point a subdomain at one page inside a site; every connected subdomain lands on that site’s home page. This post covers both jobs for Squarespace-managed and third-party domains, the WordPress version of the same task, and the reasons a subdomain sometimes is the wrong tool.
What do you want the subdomain to do?
| Goal | Method | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Redirect shop.yourdomain.com to a page or another site | Forwarding rule | Domains, the domain, Website, Domain Forwarding Rules |
| Give a second Squarespace site its own address (blog.yourdomain.com) | Connect the subdomain to that site | Domains panel of the second site, Use a Domain I Own |
| Send a subdomain to a non-Squarespace service (help desk, booking app, course platform) | CNAME record to that service | Domain DNS settings, Custom Records |
| Make a subdomain the main address of a site | Point the subdomain as primary | Domains, connect it, then set as primary |
| Land a subdomain on a specific page | Not possible; use a forwarding rule to the page URL |
How to create a subdomain in Squarespace that forwards
- Open the Domains dashboard and click the domain.
- Click Website, scroll to Domain Forwarding Rules, and click Add rule. Re-enter your password or 2FA code.
- In Subdomain, type the prefix only, such as
shop. - Under Enter website URL, type where it should go: your root domain, a page URL such as
yourdomain.com/shop, or any external address. - Under Advanced settings choose 301 (permanent) unless this is temporary, keep SSL On, and save.
Squarespace’s subdomain guide notes that the rule adds a CNAME record for you, and that a subdomain created this way cannot be a site’s primary domain. If the Forwarding Rules section is missing, the domain is on Nameserver Connect or DNS Connect; add the CNAME manually under DNS, Custom Records, with the prefix as host and ext-sq.squarespace.com as data.
How do you connect a subdomain to a second Squarespace site?
- In the second site, open Domains and click Use a Domain I Own.
- Enter the full subdomain (
blog.yourdomain.com) and click Connect Domain. Choose Other as the provider, even if yours is listed; Squarespace’s guide says so for subdomains. - Copy the two CNAME records shown: a verification record (a random code pointing to
verify.squarespace.com) and the subdomain record pointing toext-cust.squarespace.com. - Add them in the DNS manager of wherever the domain lives: the Squarespace domains dashboard under DNS, Custom Records, or your registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare) under DNS records.
- Wait for the status to turn Connected (usually within a few hours, up to 48), then set it as the site’s primary domain if it is the only one.
You do not need the root domain connected to the same site; yourdomain.com can live on one Squarespace site and blog.yourdomain.com on another, or the root can be on WordPress and the subdomain on Squarespace. The third-party subdomain guide covers the registrar side, and changing a Squarespace domain covers what happens to the old address.
How do you send a subdomain to another service?
Booking tools, help desks, course platforms and email providers all give you a CNAME target such as custom.helpscoutdocs.com or proxy.kajabi.com. In the domain’s DNS settings (Squarespace: Domains, the domain, DNS, Custom Records; elsewhere: the registrar’s DNS page), add a CNAME with the host set to the prefix (help) and the data set to their target, then finish setup on the service’s side. One rule from Squarespace’s docs to remember: a host name can have only one CNAME, and cannot share a host with an MX or TXT record, which is why mail and the root are never CNAMEs.
How do you create a subdomain for a WordPress site?
- Hosting panel: hPanel, cPanel or Site Tools have a Subdomains tool; create
blogand it makes the DNS record and a folder in one step. - Install or point: install a second WordPress in that folder, or point the folder at an existing site.
- Domain elsewhere: add an A record for the subdomain to the host’s IP, or a CNAME to the host’s target, in the registrar’s DNS.
- Staging subdomains are the common use; cloning a WordPress site covers creating one, and changing a WordPress domain the URL rewrite if a site moves onto a subdomain.
Subdomain or subfolder?
| Subdomain (blog.site.com) | Subfolder (site.com/blog) | |
|---|---|---|
| Search authority | Treated as closely related but somewhat separate; links to the blog help the main site less directly | One site; every link and page strengthens the same domain |
| Platform freedom | Each subdomain can be a different platform | Everything on one platform |
| Setup | DNS record plus a second site | A page or section on the existing site |
| Best for | Different platform or product (WordPress blog beside a Squarespace site, a help centre, a client portal) | Blog, services, anything that belongs to the main site |
For SEO, keep content on a subfolder when the platform allows it. The Showit-plus-WordPress blog setup is the classic case where a subdomain is forced by the platforms, and it works, but a blog that can live at /blog on the main site should.
Why is the subdomain not working?
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing loads | DNS not propagated, or record on the wrong domain | Wait up to 48 hours; check the record with a DNS lookup tool |
| Squarespace says “not connected” | Verification CNAME missing or mistyped | Copy the random code exactly, as the host, pointing to verify.squarespace.com |
| Subdomain shows the root site, not the second site | Connected to the wrong site, or a forwarding rule exists too | Remove the forwarding rule; connect in the correct site |
| Certificate error | SSL still issuing after connection | Wait a few hours |
| Conflict error when adding the record | An existing CNAME, MX or TXT with the same host | Delete or rename the old record |
| Lands on the home page instead of a page | Expected; connected subdomains always hit the home page | Use a forwarding rule to the page URL instead |
Subdomains are a ten-minute job when the goal is clear and a week of DNS confusion when it is not, so the first question in any Squarespace project that asks for one is the table at the top: forward, connect, or point.
Frequently asked questions
For a redirect: Domains, click the domain, Website, Domain Forwarding Rules, Add rule, enter the prefix and the destination URL. For a second Squarespace site: in that site, Domains, Use a Domain I Own, enter the full subdomain, choose Other, and add the two CNAME records it shows to your DNS.
Not by connection; connected subdomains always land on the site’s home page. Use a forwarding rule from the subdomain to the page’s full URL instead.
Yes: the root domain on one site and a subdomain such as blog.yourdomain.com connected to a second site. Each site needs its own plan.
Creating subdomains on a domain you already own costs nothing. A second Squarespace site to attach it to needs its own subscription.
A subfolder (site.com/blog) shares the main domain’s authority directly and is preferred when the platform allows it. Use a subdomain when the content must live on a different platform or service.
Use the hosting panel’s Subdomains tool, which creates the DNS record and a folder, then install WordPress there or point it at an existing install. If the domain is registered elsewhere, add an A or CNAME record for the subdomain at the registrar.
