Dashes In Domain Name Good Pratice?

15 replies
Im about to register a long tail keyword and was wondering when long is too long. The domain name I want to register is 28 characters long (5 words.)

So is this too long? Im worried Google might see it as a spammy looking url. So should I be afraid of this? Also should I add dashed in between each word for such a long domain name? Thanks
#dashes #domain #good #pratice
  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    I personally don't worry about it. You should do your own testing rather than worrying about what Google might do.

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author jgoffshore
    Originally Posted by coreytucker View Post

    Im about to register a long tail keyword and was wondering when long is too long. The domain name I want to register is 28 characters long (5 words.)

    So is this too long? Im worried Google might see it as a spammy looking url. So should I be afraid of this? Also should I add dashed in between each word for such a long domain name? Thanks
    Just bear in mind that if you set up a site with dashes then someone might set one up without the dashes and you'd loose traffic. My own feeling is that it is better to register both with and without but just use one (or mirror it).
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  • Profile picture of the author coreytucker
    so this has no bearing on how your site ranks for the term though?
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    • Profile picture of the author semninja
      Originally Posted by coreytucker View Post

      so this has no bearing on how your site ranks for the term though?
      Just use your keywords in your domain name, dashes don't really matter in my experience with ranking for terms.
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  • Profile picture of the author mmpieri
    I have a similar long tail-keyword domain name and Google is ok with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Biggy Fat
    What exactly are you going to use the domain for?

    If you're domaining, avoid the dashes altogether.

    If you're site flipping, proceed with caution. By that I mean you should try to get the site established and earning revenue and everything before you try to sell it. No one's gonna buy a startup website with a domain that has dashes in it.

    If you're building a landing/squeeze page, it will work because of the fact that you'll get more click thru traffic than actual type in traffic. Just make sure you set up your campaign around it, though.

    I personally wouldn't go for that many characters, though.
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  • Profile picture of the author mdunn123
    People simply spend too much time trying to think up ways to put their main keyword in their url, and then they come out with something like this....http://www.how-do-i-find-a-day-care-...l-area-now.com

    There's still no proof that doing something like that will DRASTICALLY increase your seo results...helps a bit sure...but get enough back links and authority and you don't have this problem.

    You have to look at it from your visitors point of view. Think how strange that url would look in the natural or paid results even. My mind immediately flashes to spam, and I've noticed the same problems with my own sites that are like that. Then think to yourself if your users are going to remember a url like that to revisit etc. Consider how their buying habits change etc...

    Now that being said it's not always a bad thing to use your main keyword in a domain if it fits just right. For example if you own internetmarketing.com or dogtrainingtips.com that's a huge benefit of course, but when you get crazy with things like "internet-marketing-for-newbies-who-want-to-make-cash-now.com" that's when it all backfires...get what I mean?
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  • Profile picture of the author Francois du_Toit
    In my opinion, it's not necessarily too long and Google won't have a problem with it.

    I have a blog post that you may find helpful - Hyphenated domain names


    All the best,
    Francois
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    Destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice.
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  • Profile picture of the author coreytucker
    im building the domain for the sole purpose of ranking for this keyword phrase.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Cory, I'm assuming that the domain is taken without the dashes and that's why your considering using the dashes correct?

    Try and use the least amount of dashes as possible;

    if ShouldIPutDashesInMyDomainName.com is taken try ShouldIPutDashes-InMyDomainName.com next. Something like that.

    I don't feel a 5 word domain name is to long if it's like a common phrase within the niche your targeting, but if it contains words like, and, but, or, you could drop those possibly as a search should still find your main keywords in the domain name.
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  • Profile picture of the author coreytucker
    well the main keyword im targeting is gone, but I just added "now" at the end of it.

    So for example the keyword I was targeting was "free action games for download"

    I changed it to "freeactiongamesfordownloadnow.com"

    Im wondering if a domain like this though would fair better as far as SEO goes if I added a dash like you suggested. Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Brian
    Here's my experience about it:

    I have a two dash keyword rich (.com) domain w/ relevant content, I ranked well.
    Some months later, some other guy decided to register the same name but w/o the dashes (.net), now he over ranked me, even though his site's content is not relevant.
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  • Profile picture of the author coreytucker
    I just registered the long domain, it turns out to be 29 characters. Hope this isn't too long Thanks for the help guys!
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  • Profile picture of the author coreytucker
    Thanks Mark. Maybe I made the right choice, I registered the long name without dashes. Just sent all of you guys who helped a thanks on here
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    • Profile picture of the author Sam Rodrigo
      Originally Posted by coreytucker View Post

      Thanks Mark. Maybe I made the right choice, I registered the long name without dashes. Just sent all of you guys who helped a thanks on here
      Cory,
      Why not search the phrase and see what results come up? Then you have a clear idea what you are up against.

      Sam
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