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Does it matter if there's a dash "-" in your domain names?

by Headstart
6 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Im looking at picking up a few different domains for my business but the domains available all have a "-" in them.

They will be edm's so my main concern is it looks like Im stretching and overoptimizing. The main keywords that are ranking well are edm's with no dash.

Just to be clear an example would be something like "horse-training.com", obviously optimizing for the keyword horse training.

Any thoughts on this?
#dash #domain #matter #names
  • Profile picture of the author anthony1617
    howto-loseweight.com/how-to-lose-weight

    How To Lose Weight

    The first step to losing weight is...


    ^ this is overoptimized.

    Headstartweight.com/how-to-lose-weight

    How To Lose Weight

    The first step to losing weight is...

    ^this is not overoptimized.

    Don't use EMDs. Use branding.




    If you are still going to use EMDs, no, dashes don't matter. Google can't just not rank sites that don't have dashes, if you have the right kind of links you'll rank and if you don't you won't. Simple.
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  • Profile picture of the author alvinchua91
    Assuming your other SEO on-site and off-site factors are done properly, EMD or not and the '-' does not affect SEO, if much at all.

    However, the hyphen is not commonly used in domain URL, and may hurt your branding as people may not remember about it and thus not being able to find your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author DivyaRai
    Hypen used between words are considered as spaces for robots, Its a good habit to use hypen between sublinks, but not in between main domain names.
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    Software development company
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  • Profile picture of the author Afiqfikri Daud
    I personally will NEVER buy domains with hyphens.

    Well, basically your website is your brand. I would be silly for a brand website to have an hyphen in the domain name.

    Besides, hyphen domains do look like spammy - well it could be just me.
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  • Profile picture of the author patco
    Dashes don't matter, it all depends if you LIKE your own domain or not.. Also, if it's short and you expect DIRECT traffic, be sure to pick up a domain that people could easily remember!
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    A blog that will show you How to Lose Weight with a cool Quick Weight Loss guide...
    Also enjoy some of my favorite Funny pictures and photos that will make you smile :)

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