Domain names - hyphens or not?

19 replies
  • SEO
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Hi guys, does it matter for SEO whether a domain name has hyphens or not? I can get my desired domain name without, but it does not really make sense and could be difficult to write, whereas the hyphenated version is a lot easier to read (although the user would have to remember to add the hyphens).

Thoughts and advice?

Cheers
#domain #hyphens #names
  • Profile picture of the author accessted
    Not sure of the right answer, but I would go for the non hyphenated one. People will always forget to add hyphens

    Teddy
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  • Profile picture of the author Adam Roy
    Honestly it doesn't matter at all.

    I would go for a domain without hyphens only because it looks better, but it doesn't perform better so if all that was available was a hyphenated domain I definitely would not hesitate to buy it.
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  • Profile picture of the author shimul0011
    Originally Posted by jayseventwo View Post

    I can get my desired domain name without,
    Cheers
    Then just go for the non hyphen version. As far as I know search engines don't care if you have hyphens or not. But I believe putting a hyphen would hurt the beauty of this domain and you should not go for it, especially when you have option to buy the non hyphen one.

    Warrior-Forum.com would be more easy to read but they did not go for it; Look at big companies who have two words domains, I bet none of them went for the hyphen versions !
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  • Profile picture of the author astri
    most people forget to write hyphens. without hyphens is better for me
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  • Profile picture of the author Ghoster
    Avoid them if at all possible. It makes it akward for people to tell other people about your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim P
    Not hyphens. Don't make your visitors feel hard everytime they type your domain in the bar.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Ray
    As far as I know there are no ranking penalties for having a hyphen in your domain name. The only issue is your visitors... it can make it confusing for them when they are trying to get to your site and they don't have a link to click or the URL right in front of them.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
    Don't include hyphens. You can still write your domain in an easy-to-read format like this:

    BestPhotoGallery.com

    ...capitalising every first word.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Hyphenation has no adverse effect on SEO at all.

      But who would want to build a business on the hyphenated version of a domain-name of which the unhyphenated version belongs to someone else (or might do in future)? That's all potential downside.

      I have some hyphenated domain-names in my business, myself, which I use because they look better and are easier to read - but I also usually own the unhyphenated versions (and just redirect them to the one I'm actually using).

      It depends on context. Some domain-names look much better with hyphenation, as the owners of PenIsland and the famous MoleStationNursery found out.

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author jayseventwo
    Thanks guys, non-hyphen it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author visimedia
    if you follow the SEO progress , in 2014 SEO is not about SEO anymore, it's more to socialproof and non 'backlink on purpose' anymore, you will wanna make it natural.

    In short, if you wanna get a domain with hyphens or not I think it doesn't matter. What matters is , is the name compelling enough?
    If you wanna use hyphen, 1 is max.
    I think that's my 2cent
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  • Profile picture of the author Noctilus
    Choose a non hyphenated one. You should build an authority website that is brandable and memorable and you start that with a short catchy domain name. Don't bother stuffing with keywords.

    Think about this - if you want to build the site to include other sub niches you would be stuck because of the domain name.

    Go generic as much as possible!
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  • Profile picture of the author pryidevsblog
    I think it doesn't matter at all. Because sometimes you get your desire name with hyphens and it stiil helps you. For example if you searching some thing like paid facebook likes that both sites are appear in search engine Here, you can see both domain name such as paidfacebooklike and paid-facebooklikes.
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  • Profile picture of the author aadi14
    Originally Posted by jayseventwo View Post

    Hi guys, does it matter for SEO whether a domain name has hyphens or not? I can get my desired domain name without, but it does not really make sense and could be difficult to write, whereas the hyphenated version is a lot easier to read (although the user would have to remember to add the hyphens).

    Thoughts and advice?

    Cheers
    Domain name should be without hyphens for sure. Though if you have a big name then you can put hyphen to make it more readable. Also most people refer to domain names without hyphens, You just have to keep a domain name simple and easy to read.

    The reason for this are many but there are things that can get you good traffic as well. Traffic in the sense that..if you are doing good and people start searching for you by your domain name then it will increase your direct traffic and if taken positively if people are searching you directly means they know who you are and your presence is appreciated.

    You can use the Hyphens in your category pages to differentiate things...they look more friendly to both users and spiders.
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  • Profile picture of the author rmacklyn
    First priority should be without hyphen. Secondly you can go with the hyphen. Search engine reads two words differently when ever there is the hyphen included. But without hyphen domain name does give a proper essence according to the search engine.
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  • Profile picture of the author cherbeat
    Without are better. But with hyphens just take a little bit more work to rank. You know there are the little (ekeyword dot com tricks as well). so basically putting an e before the keyword dot com org or net, etc..

    I ranked a bunch pretty quick with that method as well. So I know that works too.. But the hyphens can be a little more challenging

    Good Luck!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Metis
    Originally Posted by jayseventwo View Post

    Hi guys, does it matter for SEO whether a domain name has hyphens or not? I can get my desired domain name without, but it does not really make sense and could be difficult to write, whereas the hyphenated version is a lot easier to read (although the user would have to remember to add the hyphens).

    Thoughts and advice?

    Cheers
    Go with the option that doesn't have hyphens unless the combination of words in your domain name are "unfortunate" when placed next to each other
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  • Profile picture of the author LuckyIMer
    Originally Posted by jayseventwo View Post

    Hi guys, does it matter for SEO whether a domain name has hyphens or not? I can get my desired domain name without, but it does not really make sense and could be difficult to write, whereas the hyphenated version is a lot easier to read (although the user would have to remember to add the hyphens).

    Thoughts and advice?

    Cheers
    I do not agree with you, domain names without hyphen are better and easy to type, while hyphen domains are harder to type and can make you lose visitors.

    Also hyphen domain names do not look really professional, I suggest to avoid them.

    An option would be to take both domains and redirect the hyphen domain to the non hyphen domain name.
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  • Profile picture of the author shrikantsoftwin
    a domain name without hyphen is always preferred, as it is easy to type and remember with less chances of mistaking. If your visitors forget to place a hyphen and land up on some other domain, you may loose the customer and business.
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