Hyphenated words in domain name or not?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Philopoemen, Sep 3, 2007.

  1. #1
    Hey people,

    What is your opinion on 3-word domains: hyphen between words or not?

    1. word1-word2-word3.tld
    2. word1word2word3.tld

    1 or 2?

    P.S. "word2" is not a real word, it is something like "of" or "in", so not a keyword.
    P.S.S. I am mostly interested from the SEO point of view, but I also care for the visitor's comfort.
     
    Philopoemen, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  2. johnlocke

    johnlocke Peon

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    #2
    Most of people say 'Google likes hyphen' but i dont know,maybe this people are who were late to buy non-hyphen domain names:)
     
    johnlocke, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  3. gibex

    gibex Active Member

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    #3
    I would stay with max 2 words without -
    it's short and much easier to remember. but I think age of domain matters than domain name.
     
    gibex, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  4. WPOSolutions

    WPOSolutions Active Member

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    #4
    From a search engine perspective they will read them both the same.

    from a User perspective i would go for non hyphenated version as it will be easier for them to remember.

    Buy both anyway :)
     
    WPOSolutions, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  5. Trapped

    Trapped Well-Known Member

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    #5
    unless it has the same letter close to each other, like servicesseo.com that will confuse the visitors (and peole do SEO for visitors).

    Anyway if you can have the domain without the hyphens and there are not double letters close to each other go with the without hyphens domain for two reasons.

    1). It will perform the same with search engines as the one with hyphens (if not better)
    2). Easier to remember and more brandable.
     
    Trapped, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  6. pcoulter

    pcoulter Active Member

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    #6
    I registered my business' domain name with hyphens and couldn't position it for the life of me in Google. I switched to another domain and I was top 10. I think your sandbox chances are greater with hyphens.
     
    pcoulter, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  7. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #7
    keyword term - seo

    search engine - Google

    3 out of the top 10 sites have hyphens...so that wasn't the problem.

    ;)
     
    Sem-Advance, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  8. BrianJump

    BrianJump Active Member

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    #8
    For a long time G didnt like hyphens..only underscores..now the algos have adjusted for it, and there really isnt any difference. For value purposes and direct navigation (it does matter peeps) I would go direct with words only...no hyphens.

    For KW seo on page 1, two urls are hyphenated and the remainder are not, FYI.;)
     
    BrianJump, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  9. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #9
    5. seo-usa.com - 1
    6. google.com
    7. searchengineguide.com
    8.seo-guy.com - 2
    9. sem-link.com - 3
    10 webopedia.com

    That's three...call your optometrist. :eek: ;)

    PS it was they didn't like underscores, hyphens have always been fine.
     
    Sem-Advance, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  10. Barginator

    Barginator Guest

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    #10
    i give my vote for a non hyphen.
     
    Barginator, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  11. MissTips

    MissTips Peon

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    #11
    I would choose w/o the hypen and if possible w/o the preposition.
     
    MissTips, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  12. eHoez.com

    eHoez.com Peon

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    #12
    buy both when possiable
     
    eHoez.com, Sep 3, 2007 IP
  13. eli03

    eli03 Well-Known Member

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    #13
    as much as possible i'll go with no hyphen, search engine ranking depends on link building, onpage optimization, etc.
     
    eli03, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  14. bobchrist

    bobchrist Active Member

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    #14
    As far as possible try to avoid hyphen but if you get a good domain name with conjunction of two appropriate words that make whole domain meaningful and memorable one hyphen can worthwhile to use.
     
    bobchrist, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  15. bogart

    bogart Notable Member

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    #15
    I like hypens but purchase the non-hypen version as well and do a 301 permanent redirect
     
    bogart, Sep 15, 2007 IP