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Is a hyphen between words in a domain name good or bad?

by Pierceopolis
7 replies
I was curious if having a hyphen in a domain name was good or bad, or if it doesn't matter at all when it comes to search rank as well as do customer's want to type in the extra spaces?
just a thought as I am in the middle of deciding another domain name to buy.

Thanks guys and gals

Pierce
#bad #choosing name #domain #domain names #good #hyphen #words
  • Profile picture of the author Jared Alberghini
    According to my most research, this is a good thing...

    Here's my thoughts/understanding on the subject:

    Search engines like Keywords with hyphens better than no hyphens... because it's a more natural result...

    Here's the thinking behind it...

    SE's value 'your-keyword' better than 'yourkeyword' since it is more comprehensible.

    - Jared
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  • Profile picture of the author tntrader
    Based on my research, hyphens offer no disadvantage in regard to rankings or overall SEO.

    The only disadvantage is that a hyphenated name would be more difficult to brand than a non-hyphenated name. Non-hyphenated names are easier for people to forget, or type in incorrectly.

    Just my 0.02

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Resale Rights Ninja
    I always heard to avoid hyphens, but really there is nothing wrong with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Art Turner
    This debate has raged for years. I don't think there's an SEO advantage one way or the other. Hyphens may look prettier sometimes, but it makes type in traffic more difficult. Chris was right about the difficulty of branding hyphenated names.

    If someone has snapped up your perfect domain and is just parking it, hyphens could be a reasonable alternative. If someone has already developed a non-hyphenated property, I'd probably try to come up with a new domain instead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Pereira
    If you've got a two word domain that is totally awesome and available in hyphenated form, you should go for it. Anything longer than that is difficult to remember, and you can always go for .NET or something instead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Pierceopolis
    awsome reply all. thanks for the input it helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikecowles
    Hey,

    I have several sites on the top page of google and am actually showing exactly how I did it in a wso next week, so keep that in mind when you read my answer...

    The hyphen won't affect your ranking at all, but it is not a good idea from a marketing standpoint. People can forget it or get confused easily and will end up on someone else's site.

    It's not the biggest mistake you can make, but if you have a choice between www.good-domain.com or www.gooddomainchoice.com choose option number two.

    The main thing to keep in mind is easy to spell and easy to remember!

    Take care.

    ~Mike Cowles. <><
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