Pros and cons to using dash marks in domain

14 years ago

To the search engines it makes NO difference... The only disadvantage is that people have to type a longer domain name when you have dashes and there's always that chance that someone might type in your domain without dashes and end up at your competitor's site...

Best,
Shane

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Toby Lewis

14 years ago

PROS:
You get the keywords you want
Easy to read

CONS:
It looks crap
Looks unprofessional
Hard to explain in videos
Hard to type in

Basically I try and avoid them. I still own many, and if you're using it for a small affiliate site that relies on SEO then it doesnt really matter. But I think if you're building an authority site or something that can be branded, go the extra mile and find a good unhyphenated domain.

That's what I reckon anyway, looking forward to seeing some more replies!

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2 replies

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ThomPhelps

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Toby Lewis

PROS:
You get the keywords you want
Easy to read

CONS:
It looks crap
Looks unprofessional
Hard to explain in videos
Hard to type in

Basically I try and avoid them. I still own many, and if you're using it for a small affiliate site that relies on SEO then it doesnt really matter. But I think if you're building an authority site or something that can be branded, go the extra mile and find a good unhyphenated domain.

That's what I reckon anyway, looking forward to seeing some more replies!

Great info Toby!

I own many websites and have never had to use a hyphenated domain but as Toby and others have said, it makes no difference to the search engines. If I need certain keywords in the domain and the un-hyphenated domain is not available, I would use them with no issue.

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Will Edwards

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Toby Lewis

PROS:
You get the keywords you want
Easy to read

CONS:
It looks crap
Looks unprofessional
Hard to explain in videos
Hard to type in

Basically I try and avoid them. I still own many, and if you're using it for a small affiliate site that relies on SEO then it doesnt really matter. But I think if you're building an authority site or something that can be branded, go the extra mile and find a good unhyphenated domain.

That's what I reckon anyway, looking forward to seeing some more replies!

A perfect answer! I no longer use them either if I can at all avoid them.

Will

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1 reply

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Crew Chief

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kay King

I've had no differences in ranking with or without hyphens. Sometimes helps you get a better versions of your keyword phrase.

Also, the hyphen can keep phrases from attracting the wrong searches....

secrets-exposed would be my choice over secretsexposed - but maybe that's just me.

kay

I concur Kay, I can rank either or and the "hyphen" does help in many cases to clarify what the site is all about. The harrowing example used by Alexa eloquently proves that point. [ROTFLMAO...

]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

They didn't think about that one at the Mole Station Nursery in Australia.

The site: Mole Station Native Plant Nursery was eventually shut down due to its name. It stayed live from 2001 up until 2006. By that time a number of consumers, activists, comedians, website owners and bloggers - swore and joked that this site was some kind of sick perverted sinister Internet portal.

Two simple hyphens would have ended all of the confusion.

Giles, the Crew Chief

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danielgb123

14 years ago

Pros:
- If the domain is registered without hyphens, it may be available with hyphens - this is good because you can still get a good domain name with all keywords in it
- IMO easier for the user to read it as you can see each word clearly

Cons:
- May not be as easy to remember or as brandable
- From my experience, they don't rank as well as domains without hyphens (might just be me though)

Personally I'd look for the domain WITHOUT hyphens/dashes, however, if you can't find another good domain go for it. If I had the choice between the same domains with or without, I'd choose without.

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1 reply

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Kay King 14 years ago

I've had no differences in ranking with or without hyphens. Sometimes helps you get a better versions of your keyword phrase.

Also, the hyphen can keep phrases from attracting the wrong searches....

secrets-exposed would be my choice over secretsexposed - but maybe that's just me.

kay
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Alexa Smith Banned 14 years ago

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- Shane N 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Alexa Smith
  
  There are no dashes in domain-names: only hyphens.
  
  It's actually also known as a figure dash.
  
  Best,
  Shane
  
  Thanks
  
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Marhelper

14 years ago

Pro - You can pick up a domain that otherwise would not be available in many cases.

Con - Seekers often forget to type the dash.

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Matt Bard

14 years ago

If you really need to have your keywords in the domain and even the hyphenated names are taken, you can use a double hyphen.

If the url best-weight-loss-tips.com is taken, then add another hyphen to any hyphen within the url
best(--)weight-loss-tips.com

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2 replies

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Kay King 14 years ago

There was a page online years ago with examples like the ones Alexa and I used - it was hilarious.

At the time it was causing problems for some of the sites because google wasn't properly interpreting domains for searches.

kay
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Zeus66

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Matt M

If you really need to have your keywords in the domain and even the hyphenated names are taken, you can use a double hyphen.

If the url best-weight-loss-tips.com is taken, then add another hyphen to any hyphen within the url
best(--)weight-loss-tips.com

You can go the other way as well. If it's a longtail keyword in the domain, use fewer hyphens. I have some domains with 3 or more words in the phrase where I don't hyphenate between each word. It's ugly, but it will usually get you your desired keyword as exact match domain name.

John

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Matt Bard

14 years ago

Since we are on the subject, should I have used a hyphen when saying "double hyphen"

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heybert00

14 years ago

I have sites with dashes in them, and they do ok

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tehnolife

Banned 14 years ago

Ok, I totally disagree to use dash on the domain names! You deal with credibility when you dash your domains!
You get rank very hard!
But you can mix 2 keywords, and if the name is taken try to change the order of the words, try to short the name and you will success!
It's more good than buy a dash domain!

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Pros and cons to using dash marks in domain

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