is a domain better with or without - ?

by walsh259

Posted: 11 years ago 13 replies

would for example www.i-love-cheese.com be a better domain name than DairyGood.org | Home
How much of an impact does this have on seo?

#domain

Steve B 11 years ago

IMO, it's better to not have hyphens in the domain.

Also, stick with dot com, it's the preferred extension. Yes, you may have to get a little creative to find a good dot com name . . . but there are many, many options still available in all niches.

Try using Lean Domain Search and Impossibility to get some ideas.

Steve
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looseink 11 years ago

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- Kay King 11 years ago
  
  I have domains with multiple hyphens - and domains without hyphens - and doesn't seem to make any difference in how well the sites do.
  
  I know others say it matters - but never has for me.
  
  No problem with hyphens - but i don't register anything except .com
  
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  Steve B 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Kay King
  
  I have domains with multiple hyphens - and domains without hyphens - and doesn't seem to make any difference in how well the sites do.
  
  Kay,
  
  I think you are right - it doesn't seem to make much difference in how the sites rank.
  
  I was thinking in terms of people that are trying to find a site by typing the name directly into the search bar. IMO, they are more likely to not use hyphens. In addition, it's much easier to tell someone how to find your site by not having to explain that there are one or more hyphens in the name. Will people remember that? Probably not.
  
  I have owned domains with and without hyphens. In my experience, I would rather not have them - given the choice.
  
  Steve
  
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ChrisBa 11 years ago

I try to avoid them unless absolutely necessary.
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andorod77 11 years ago

Id say not using hyphens gives it a cleaner and more original look
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nicolasmd2112 11 years ago

Without hyphens for sure.

It'll take some time to find an unhyphenated .COM domain name that has the keywords your looking for. That's going to be a challenge itself, i believe. But, the professionalism is there. From a consumer perspective, a domain name with hyphens, like body-building-supplies.com, implies that the owners were not able to secure the unhyphenated name; BodyBuildingSupplies.com. So what would I do? Go to the domain name equivalent with no hyphens, and see what the buzz is about.

Plainly put, no hyphens = a bit more professionalism
hyphens = quick fix

,but in my opinion, even if it takes a week to find the right domain name, it's worth the work.

Nicolas
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ppceve 11 years ago

I avoid hyphens. My main reason is that it's not user-friendly for typing in.
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awledd 11 years ago

I agree with many here. The separator hyphen is not needed for Google to understand what the page is about.
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- Andre Slater 11 years ago
  
  Google is placing value on Content not just a domain name...
  
  I would say its better to have a domain name that people can remember or easy to jot down for people to check out your site.
  
  Let's say I had a Gardening site for example and you asked about my site.
  
  I said to visit:
  
  gardening-at-home-3-ways-from-sunday.com
  or
  gardeningsenviromentalespionage.com
  
  those are super terrible...
  
  and If I say you can also email me at:
  
  gardening_love_pinapples.allday@gmail.com
  
  VS
  
  GardeningSecrets.com
  support@gardeningsecrets.com
  
  which scenario better
  
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himanuzo 11 years ago

Yes, don't use the hyphens in a domain name because most folks are lazy to type the hyphens.
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vishwa 11 years ago

Short and punchy domain names are Good because any body can easily remember it.
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megamind22 11 years ago

I would say a domain without hypen is much better cause it looks more cleaner and easy to memorize for visitor that many stumble on your website.

Hope that helps.
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jazzybee 11 years ago

Domain with - look pretty ugly , but it depends totally on what your niche is , like this website
Android Developers Blog
is one famous website with hyphens in it.

But i suggest you to keep your name simple
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