Hyphens is domain names...

[n3tFl0w]

Hi all,

Just a quick question really... I want to see what the general outlook or opinions are on hyphenated domain names, I bought one recently but am unsure whether to use it as I might plump a few euros and buy it unhyphenated... Does it make a huge difference?

 

[babyboy808]

Make a huge difference in what exactly? I don't think it matters in terms of s.e.o, only branding. - I have a few hyphenated domains that contain the exact keywords I want to rank well for and am happy with them, buy If I was to go long term and try to build a large site I would probably invest in an unhyphenated domain.

 

[mneylon]

SEO vs. humans....

Personally I'd avoid hyphens, but that's just me

 

[Forbairt]

SEO vs. humans....

Personally I'd avoid hyphens, but that's just me

irish-web-master-forum
irish-webmaster-forum

Hmm..... personally I don't like it and if possible I'd even go for an abbreviation
Irish SEO, Marketing & Webmaster Discussion

especially when you've got words like forum or is it forums ? ... is it board ... or boards ? (no boards.ie is fairly handy to remember but for other support boards its tricky I find)

 

[davidbehan]

i hate hyphens!

 

[CiaranR]

I always try to register both for anything important to try keep off the squaters. If you have both I find hyphens can look better in print, then 301 it to the non-hyphenated version.

Isn't it ironic that non-hyphenated is hyphenated

 

[n3tFl0w]

Thanks for the opinions folks. I don't know how I feel about them myself really. I don't really trust hyphenated domains I think. But unfortunately its all I have... and cant really afford the unhyphenated version. Anywho. Thanks for the info folks. I'll work on it anyway but thanks again.

 

[Forbairt]

Thanks for the opinions folks. I don't know how I feel about them myself really. I don't really trust hyphenated domains I think. But unfortunately its all I have... and cant really afford the unhyphenated version. Anywho. Thanks for the info folks. I'll work on it anyway but thanks again.

Someone has the unhyphenated version ?

 

[n3tFl0w]

I think so... GoDaddy(whom I bitterly hate now btw) wanted nearly 2 grand for it as a dotcom, and as far registering the .ie domain, I want to have at least a proof of concept build done before I go down that road.

 

[Anouilh]

Hi all,

Just a quick question really... I want to see what the general outlook or opinions are on hyphenated domain names, I bought one recently but am unsure whether to use it as I might plump a few euros and buy it unhyphenated... Does it make a huge difference?

Having thought about this, I think a hypenated Domain Name has the same effect as a hyphenated surname. It speaks volumes... and can be very irritating to those who don't go in for U and non-U codes.

 

[RedCardinal]

For what it's worth, I believe that Google has stated somewhere that more than one (or maybe 2 - I'd have to try to find the comment) hyphen may be interpreted as a negative signal for them.

One oter interesting thing to consider - take a look at the domain market. You'll notice that hyphenated domains tend to have far lower values these days. That's probably also a good indicator of which choice to make. I'd take the hyphen-less if you can.

 

[babyboy808]

For what it's worth, I believe that Google has stated somewhere that more than one (or maybe 2 - I'd have to try to find the comment) hyphen may be interpreted as a negative signal for them.

Hi,

Can you grab the source for this, would be very interested.

thanks

 

[Gavin]

For what it's worth, I believe that Google has stated somewhere that more than one (or maybe 2 - I'd have to try to find the comment) hyphen may be interpreted as a negative signal for them.

As far as I remember reading Richard it was more than 2. I think it might be somewhere on Webmasterworld.

I've never gone over 2 hyphens on domains but I wouldn't use them for a serious site. I think what its like trying to spell your full domain to a non webby person.

 

[RedCardinal]

Hi,

Can you grab the source for this, would be very interested.

thanks

Quite sure you'll find it in one of Matt Cutt's videos.
Sorry - you'll have to find that yourself though

 

[n3tFl0w]

For what it's worth, I believe that Google has stated somewhere that more than one (or maybe 2 - I'd have to try to find the comment) hyphen may be interpreted as a negative signal for them.

That is interesting. I'll look into that.

One oter interesting thing to consider - take a look at the domain market. You'll notice that hyphenated domains tend to have far lower values these days. That's probably also a good indicator of which choice to make. I'd take the hyphen-less if you can.

yeah I'm looking at alternatives to try and get rid of the hyphen but one of the words is very popular (but I'm not really using it in the way that most use it) so I'm looking for other words that go well with it.

 

[Anouilh]

Ron Jackson is one SEO analyst who looks at hyphenated domain names and their ranking. This might be of interest: Monte talks to Matthew OBrien & Ron Jackson Hyphens and SEO are being studied quite a bit.

 

[d-tour]

I've had no probs with my domains d-tour.ie or drop-d.ie both rank a healthy pr4 with practically no SEO to date.

 

[n3tFl0w]

Ron Jackson is one SEO analyst who looks at hyphenated domain names and their ranking. This might be of interest: Monte talks to Matthew OBrien & Ron Jackson Hyphens and SEO are being studied quite a bit.

That's a brilliant find. Very interesting! Though I think its quite easy for experienced web users to associate a hyphen with a spam site and the article kind of reinforced that with me.

This is a bit interesting though:

And when you research a keyword, you know . . . I'll give you some of the lower ranking options there, but typically, you know, a hyphen is just . . . typically, it helps the search engines to know where it can read those things sometimes better. As long as you're not too spammy and put too many hyphens in, you're actually getting clear separation of the words.

 

[Anouilh]

I may as well share a tip for surfing that I worked out early on when I started using the Internet. Main search words that are obvious lead to the major, paid sites which can afford to have a high profile on the Net. Just add some banal adjective to your search, or something like a simple verb and you will access some of the best sites that are lesser known. e.g. I took and interest in the topic of "hypenated domain names". Searching for this brings up all the usual suspects. Add "snobbery", "clever", "I like", in fact, any ordinary phrase and you'll widen the search considerably. I'm sure a lot of people know this, but it's particularly useful when searching for sites in a foreign language... just throw in "je suis" if you'r interesting in French links.

 

[Anouilh]

Ive been thinking about the hyphenate issue a bit more. What is the percentage of hyphenated in relation to non-hyphenated web site names on the Web? What are the perceived advantages of hyphenated?