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Hyphens / SEO / domain names

by Scouser
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have a domain name with 3 words separated by hyphens and somebody else has the same domain but without hyphens.

Does google recognize hyphens when doing a search or does it simply ignore them? To get my site ranked higher than the site without hyphens, is it simply a case of better SEO? What is the difference? Are there any disadvantages to using hyphens?

The reason I ask is because I'm wondering whether to continue using the domain name or would it be easier to just pick another domain name?
#domain #hyphens #names #seo
  • Profile picture of the author axus_auto
    Google apparently ignores the hyphens. They look at hyphens as spaces
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Banks
      yeah google apparently just treats them as word separators, but from my experience the domains with hyphens get sand boxed and take a lot longer to get a decent ranking.

      I think google also uses some signals that signify a spammy site that they don't admit, this is pure speculation but stuff like
      • hyphens (the more the worse)
      • looooooooooooooong domain names
      • .info extensions (although they don't admit this as far as I know)
      • keyword stuffed domain (dogsdogsdogsdogs.com)
      Stuff like that puts you in the sandbox IMO
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    • Profile picture of the author TBInternetMarketing
      Yea I should be virtually as good as the actual domain. Another trick is to add an 'x' to the end of your domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I think you will do just fine if you develop a quality site.
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    New Book! Radical Life Extension. Help me to hasten the defeat of aging.
    Michael Ten . Do Nothing Does . All Books by Michael Ten

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  • Profile picture of the author JayVance
    I have many sites that have hyphens. If I can't get an exact match keyword to domain, I'll just throw a hyphen in. Has always worked for me when it comes to getting ranked.
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  • Profile picture of the author lingoway
    Hyphens are treated as spaces. the site with no hyphens are more likely to rank well in SERP.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emma Francina
    google ignores hyphens. So no need to worry about that.
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  • Profile picture of the author keithferriss
    its fine. just use it if you haeve to
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