What's your opinion of hyphenated domain names?

Such as a name like domain-name.com. Does it cause any real problems? Problems with search engines ranking. Also problems with an actual search for the term "domain name".

Scott S.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Scott S.

Such as a name like domain-name.com. Does it cause any real problems? Problems with search engines ranking. Also problems with an actual search for the term "domain name".

Hi Scott,

I think hyphenated domain names have both good and bad qualities...

For some domain names, there's a "type in" factor - that is, how likely people are to just "type it in" when they're looking for something. I think people generally don't type in the dashes (and it can be hard for some people to find the hyphen on their keyboard!).

So, while some people might type in "runningshoes.com" (if they're looking for running shoes), I suspect they're less likely to spontaneously type in "running-shoes.com".

Also, people, I think, are less likely to remember the hyphen. So if you tell people to go to running-shoes.com, some people will forget the hyphen and go to runningshoes.com - which might be your competitor (or some spammy website).

On the other hand, when people link to a website, they often do so just using the domain name. So, for example, if a person links to www.running-shoes.com - I think search engines are more likely to see this as the phrase "running shoes". On the other hand, if there's a link to www.runningshoes.com - the search engine sees this more as the single word "runningshoes". Anyway, this might affect search engine placement in some cases (positively for the one with the hyphen)...

The rule I tend to follow is - where possible, get both. If the one without the hyphen is available, get that. If the one without the hyphen is not available, but the one with the hyphen is available, then consider it, but consider alternative phrases too, since you might be able to find a good one without the hyphen...

I hope that helps! (I have several domains, both with and without hyphens...)

Cheers,

Dien

dien...

so , you are saying that the normal spelling and the hypenated spelling are read by the search engines as the SAME ?

then usatoday.com
and usa-today.com
would have the same ranking ? if that is so , then EVERY domain name would have to have the hypenated domain also, to be protected ?


thanks
bob

Bob,

Thanks.

Ranking is determined by more than the spelling of a domain name.

Michael Ross

Excellent PageRank article...

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007...know-about-it/

Phil

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by bobmcalister

so , you are saying that the normal spelling and the hypenated spelling are read by the search engines as the SAME ?

then usatoday.com
and usa-today.com
would have the same ranking ? if that is so , then EVERY domain name would have to have the hypenated domain also, to be protected ?

Hi Bob,

To my knowledge, your search engine ranking is mostly dependent on (a) how many links you have in, (b) the words used in those links that are linking to you, and (c) the "Google page rank" of the pages that link to you (the higher the page rank of pages linking to you, the better).

What I was commenting on was part (b) - the words used in linking to you. That's because sometimes people link to you using your domain name.

For example, I might say...

"Go check out www.runningshoes.com "

Notice it's a link. But the "words used" in the link are www, runningshoes, and com.

On the other hand, let's say I said...

"Go check out www.running-shoes.com "

Notice that here, the words it is using for the link are www, running, shoes, and com (since the search engines seem to treat a hyphen the way they do a space). The search engine will see the phrase "running shoes" as part of this link, whereas for the earlier link, the phrase is "runningshoes" (with no space).

Of course, this is only a factor if people link to you using your domain name - as may happen sometimes. It has no effect if people link to you with other words, eg. like saying hey check out running shoes here. So it may have a small effect, in my opinion...

But I think the advantages of having a non-hyphenated domain name outweigh any small effect that I'm talking about here...

By the way, if you do a search on Google for "running shoes", you'll notice that www.runningshoes.com is the first result, and www.running-shoes.com is nowhere to be found (not on the first page, anyway). So does this contradict what I said?

If you check for links in to these domain names (using, say, Altavista), you'll see that runningshoes.com has 391 links in

http://www.altavista.com/web/results...nningshoes.com

while running-shoes.com has only 3 links in

http://www.altavista.com/web/results...ning-shoes.com

So on the 3 criteria I listed above (a, b, and c), runningshoes.com is beating the heck out of running-shoes.com on links in - which is probably the number 1 factor for search engine ranking. The effect I mentioned only helps if you have links in, and if people happen to link to you using your domain name (as people sometimes will do)...

I hope that helps!

Cheers,

Dien

Dien,

Thanks for explaining.

I just did a search for "running shoes" - with the quotes. And www.runningshoes.com is the last result on the page. The first result is...

Running Shoes - information from ePodiatry
Information from ePodiatry about running shoes, a comprehensive resource on podiatry, podiatric medicine and running shoes.
www.epodiatry.com/running-shoes.htm - 29k

Notice the searched term "running shoes" is in the title, description and url 3 times - it's highlighted each time.

While the www.runningshoes.com url in its link, is not highlighted as a match to my search term.

I repeated the search without the quote marks. www.runningshoes.com is still last (10th) but this time the url is highlighted.

Trying to second guess the search engines is like trying to take a close up photo of the horizon. An exercise in frustration.

Michael Ross

Yep...it sure does with people who need to type the domain name in...they either forget the hyphens or they type in underlines instead. Sometimes they just forget where/how many hyphens are in the name.

Haven't noticed any difference as far as search engines.

Hyphenated names are usually slightly lower in appraisal $value because of the hyphens.

Anyway, that's been my experience with them so I avoid them any more and use the hyphenated ones I have for group/division names , where I have other domains under a main one, so I eliminate the people mis-typing it problem. HTH

Sandi Bowman

Hi Scott,

Hyphenated domain names can Help in the search engines Depending on how Google feels at the time...

But Who knows the Future?

Will Anyone actually Bookmark or Remember you or your Hyphenated domain named business?

From over 7 million Domains for Sale at http://www.sedo.com/

What percentage are Hyphenated vs. Not and will it add Value to your business down the road...

Brandable and Memorable domain names in my opinion will Always add Value & Benefits to your business...

Here's some Great Lessons on Naming... David Frey's latest video...
'Name Change'
http://www.imnewswatch.com/archives/...ml?visitFrom=1

Phil

If you want to use one, use it.

Problems? Consider THIS domain: http://www.itt-tech.edu. Not only the hyphenated, but also an "edu" versus a "com".

PR? 6/10

Pete