Do domains with dash (-)

21 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Hello,
Do domains with dash (-) give some effects in SEO?
For example,

How the different between cheapgolfball.com and cheap-golf-ball.com in term of search engine optimization

Lets say i want to rank for "cheap golf ball" keyword, which domain name give more effects in SEO as well as rankings, with dash or no dash?
Thanks in advance!
#dash #domains
  • Profile picture of the author indiarajasthan
    we use these when we are unable to find our desire name . and - not hep in SEO any how
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Chase
    Look at this screen shot - and notice how the exact match domain with hyphens can rank for the term 'free flash games' (very competitive) on the first page of Google without nearly as many backlinks as the sites either side.

    Screen shot here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ashgamesp.jpg/

    Of course, there are other factors - maybe the other on page SEO and backlink anchor text is more optimised for this keyword. However, I think it also demonstrates that exact match domains with hyphens are still very effective.


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  • Profile picture of the author highave1
    I my suggestion without dash (-) will be better for google ranking.
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    • Profile picture of the author staceymattew
      cheap-golf-ball.com is more value in the SEO. It will help easy for ranking much faster in the SERP.
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  • Profile picture of the author RichardF
    I've hated domains with dashes with a passion for years now, but I'm starting to change my opinion as I see more and more evidence that you can get an EMD advantage even if you have dashes in your domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
      Originally Posted by RichardF View Post

      I've hated domains with dashes with a passion for years now, but I'm starting to change my opinion as I see more and more evidence that you can get an EMD advantage even if you have dashes in your domain.
      I'm starting to notice this myself as I'm doing research. There are plenty of dash domains ranking high for niche keywords. I used to lean towards avoiding dashes. But lately I've been changing my stance on this.
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      • Profile picture of the author sloop324
        Help, PLEASE!

        I need a domain name and have searched and adjusted and I'm down to 2 choices that are spelled the same.

        One is a '.net' without dashes and the other is a '.com' WITH dashes.

        Which is better for SEO?

        "____-___-________.com" OR "_______________.net" ?

        I've spent too much time on this and need some exterior input.

        HELP!!!

        Thanks, warriors!
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        • Profile picture of the author 4webmaster
          Originally Posted by sloop324 View Post

          Help, PLEASE!

          I need a domain name and have searched and adjusted and I'm down to 2 choices that are spelled the same.

          One is a '.net' without dashes and the other is a '.com' WITH dashes.

          Which is better for SEO?

          "____-___-________.com" OR "_______________.net" ?

          I've spent too much time on this and need some exterior input.

          HELP!!!

          Thanks, warriors!
          Dot net might look more nicer than __-___-____.com but if it was in 2 words like ____-____.com I'll go for the .com


          Now talking about dash and without on dot com, Google will give better points to the without dash because dashes are considered like black hat ranking so will be harder to rank hight with it. My main site have a dash and Oh boy, with all the seo techs I used, still way back in page ranking for exact match keywords but for wider keywords it ranks well.

          Whats working good is .me, I have a 1 word huge competitor and got on page 1 of google, no one can believe! Now it's on page 2 since sold (people were rushing to buy for thousand+ domain only) because website was down for a while. Why .me? really don't know I'm really impress still now.
          Also 1st on yahoo, bing...
          Domain is (please reverse letters for privacy reasons start with w ends with i, it's a geo location) i k i k i a w
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        • Profile picture of the author sloop324
          Originally Posted by sloop324 View Post

          Help, PLEASE!

          I need a domain name and have searched and adjusted and I'm down to 2 choices that are spelled the same.

          One is a '.net' without dashes and the other is a '.com' WITH dashes.

          Which is better for SEO?

          "____-___-________.com" OR "_______________.net" ?

          I've spent too much time on this and need some exterior input.

          HELP!!!

          Thanks, warriors!
          Additional help please!

          I guess my question was not asked correctly.

          I didn't read a specific answer as to the exact same letters/domain name ranking easier with

          'abcd-efg-hijklmno.com' (dashes + dot COM) OR

          'abcdefghijklmno.net' (no dashes + dot NET)

          Thank you in advance for your help,
          sloop324
          (John)
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        • Profile picture of the author coolspot2
          Originally Posted by sloop324 View Post

          Help, PLEASE!

          I need a domain name and have searched and adjusted and I'm down to 2 choices that are spelled the same.

          One is a '.net' without dashes and the other is a '.com' WITH dashes.

          Which is better for SEO?

          "____-___-________.com" OR "_______________.net" ?

          I've spent too much time on this and need some exterior input.

          HELP!!!

          Thanks, warriors!
          I had the same issue and went for .com and it seems to be doing ok. There is a poker site that has a dash in the domain and ranks first page for almost every poker term. That is some feat in itself but just proves that dashes don't always mean low results
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  • Profile picture of the author Rovi
    I came across research in a training a year or so ago, where just about every on-page SEO variable was analyzed over millions of queries.

    It showed that a domain name with exact match to main keyword with no hyphens or any punctuation or extra words does significantly better than exact match with "extras".

    That said, domain name is just one of many factors, so if the ideal domain is not available you can compensate with other on-page SEO factors, and more high quality backlinks.
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  • Profile picture of the author mcimicata
    I would take Jack Chase's example with a grain of salt simply because we are unaware of the quality and relevance of those backlinks, and the quality and relevance of backlinks outweigh the quantity BY A LONG SHOT. However, I do believe that having a dash would have some effect on seo.
    SEO is so complicated and complex that even the slightest thing could have a significant effect.

    I wouldn't worry about a dash is a URL making or breaking you though, because it really does not make a noticeable difference when put into perspective with the content, on page seo, and backlinks that a site would have.
    it just makes the website url look a bit awkward.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jack Chase
      Originally Posted by mcimicata View Post

      I would take Jack Chase's example with a grain of salt simply because we are unaware of the quality and relevance of those backlinks, and the quality and relevance of backlinks outweigh the quantity BY A LONG SHOT. However, I do believe that having a dash would have some effect on seo.
      SEO is so complicated and complex that even the slightest thing could have a significant effect.

      I wouldn't worry about a dash is a URL making or breaking you though, because it really does not make a noticeable difference when put into perspective with the content, on page seo, and backlinks that a site would have.
      it just makes the website url look a bit awkward.
      Yes - I completely agree (that's why I said there are also other factors to consider).

      What I meant was that I believe a domain which contains the keywords searched for has SEO benefits whether there are hyphens between them or not.

      Would it have ranked higher if the domain has the same key phrase but without hyphens? E.g. keyphrasehere.com instead of key-phrase-here.com. I'm not sure, but I expect the difference would not be that significant if there was one at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author MakeEasyMoney365
        I own many domains with a - and they all rank well. However, for branding they are not that good because some people will always forget where the dash goes or forget to put it in. However, yes, I do think having two keywords with a - is somewhat better than picking two lesser keywords simply to avoid having a -.

        My opinion, but if you are looking to get better rankings than taking two better keywords with a - is better than no dash and two lesser keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author vivaarturo
    if going for branding stay away from a dash, if using as a traffic source dash will be ok.
    Ranking is better without the dash

    cheers
    Arturo
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Why would a dash matter for SEO in a domain?

      That's like asking what does the letter "z" do in a domain?

      People forget what SEO actually stands for.

      So many myths, nonsense, feelings...

      Paul
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      If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author XIIIzen
    As far as I know the dash does nothing for you, beyond helping you get certain words on a domain name. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't, and some others I just go for whatever clever name I like and care little if it s an EMD or not. Don't be fooled, any domain can be placed at top of any keyword with the right effort.

    Always evaluate your own findings, IM is a bit of a trial and error thing that you will get used to. It takes time, practice and a lot of judgement.
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  • Profile picture of the author Olivier Soren
    Thank you all for your help!
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  • Profile picture of the author JLu
    I tend to prefer domain names with dashes, but this blog article from SEOmoz suggests that exact match domains correlate better than exact match hyphenated domains

    www[dot]seomoz[dot]org/blog/exact-match-domains-are-far-too-powerful-is-their-time-limited
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    • Profile picture of the author veeco
      My current testing currently shown that domain without hypen/dash rank better than one that use hypen/dash.

      Here's my testing:
      http://www.konsultan-seo-indonesia.com (launch on late January 2011, hostgator host)

      http://www.konsultanseoindonesia.com (launch late May 2011, host on blogspot, currently only consist of one article)

      target keyword:
      konsultan seo
      seo indonesia
      konsultan seo indonesia

      both are highly on-page optimized (title, url, h1,h2,h3,alt images, keyword on top and bottom of the pages)

      now, if i check from Google... the second have better ranking...

      secondly, if i broad search with my target keyword... i don't see any dashed keyword listed...

      i was focus on the dashed domain first... but it come out with little result...

      we might start the discussion from here...
      Signature

      i work on web consultant and creative agency in indonesia..

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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Chase
    Personally I would go with the abcdefghijklmno.net domain, but if all other on-page and off-page SEO in done well, I don't expect that there will be much of a difference between the two to be honest.
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