Questions - Domain name & EMD & competition

Hi all,

I would like to first thank you for taking the time to read my two questions. I am trying to learn about SEO as much as I can and digesting everything I read. I would like to kindly as you guys about the following:

1) EMD, new domain name and competition

I want to put my keyword phrase (two words) in the domain name. The keyword phrase is low competition but the domain name I was going to register with the keyword phrase is already taken. Thus, I am thinking of registering the domain name with a hyphen in-between the two words. The words are an adjective and a noun e.g (not real case)

Registered domain: fastlaptop
My idea: fast-laptop

Now, the domain name already registered is not being used but it belongs to someone that I know would try to take advantage of their domain name if my website with the new domain name idea kicks off. My idea is unique so there is a chance it will kick off with at least mild success (for the record, I write my own unique content and am focused on quality).

My question is, if say my idea of fast-laptop kicks off, the guys with fastlaptop see this, and start a website to compete with me, would they benefit from my keywords and efforts building up my links and rank? So if anybody searches for "fast" "laptop", would my competitor rank better than me because their domain name has no hyphen and is older? My competitor would potentially have plenty of quality backlinks to throw at their domain name, as they already own a highly ranked website in a similar field.


2) Using an added letter for my name in the domain

Another possibility I am eyeing is putting my real name in the domain name. Of course, my real name is already registered by one of those sneaky people that registered all names back in the late 90s. My name is not common and I am thinking of registering my name(.com) and adding a letter like an "s" or an "i" at the end or beggining. Since my name is not common, when people search my name, would the search engine recognize my domain name and rank me high despite I have added another letter to the name, in the beginning or end of the name?

The idea is to benefit from the organic traffic of my name (millions) but since the name is already registered, to look for an alternative that still would have me ranking and benefiting from the organic traffic. I want my name and no other words for the domain, for I want to associate my name with my content.

Please excuse if I have made any rookie mistakes when trying to explain myself with the terms above. I am trying to learn and already own a website that is popular despite I haven't done any SEO yet on it, as I am trying to focus on quality and unique content. I am trying to learn SEO to apply it to my current website but I am thinking of investing my time and energy on a diversified portfolio of websites within my expertise.

Thank you very much for reading and replying