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Underscore in URL?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Rahul Pandit, Aug 27, 2014.

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  1. #1
    I am optimizing a website that has underscores in url. Should I change it to dash or keep it as it is. Will changing my url improve my ranking?
     
    Rahul Pandit, Aug 27, 2014 IP
  2. iwebsocial

    iwebsocial Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Google certainly don't like url structure that have underscores in it and consider as bad seo urls. If you think to change it, then do it.
     
    iwebsocial, Aug 27, 2014 IP
  3. Rahul Pandit

    Rahul Pandit Active Member

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    #3
    Yes I am thinking about changing the URL structure
     
    Rahul Pandit, Aug 27, 2014 IP
  4. Rahul Pandit

    Rahul Pandit Active Member

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    #4
    The website is built using PHP. Should I create a new page and use 301 redirect? But by doing so will it pass the link juice?
     
    Rahul Pandit, Aug 27, 2014 IP
  5. Eliza Anderson

    Eliza Anderson Member

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    #5
    I will suggest you, use only dash (-) in your URL because it is SEO friendly. It is considered to be more user and product friendly than under score. For example, you can check any high quality website's URL structure. All of them will be using a dash in their URLs.
     
    Eliza Anderson, Aug 28, 2014 IP
  6. John14

    John14 Greenhorn

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    #6
    Better to use dash instead of underscore after changing the url use 301 redirect from the new to the old url
     
    John14, Aug 28, 2014 IP
  7. Rado_ch

    Rado_ch Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Dash is SEO friendly? Now who or what gave you that idea? There is only 1 valid advice here - if you can change the domain to something without any symbols or numbers - do it! It doesn't matter from an SEO standpoint but it certainly matters when it comes to the Radio Test. This is basically how easy is the domain remembered when said out loud. If your website has dashes you would need to explain. Lets take elite-plumber-services.com - while easy to understand when you see it, imagine if you are telling it to someone - "so my domain is called Elite Plumber Services with a dash after Elite and another dash after Plumber". Chances are the person would forget it until they have time to visit the site. And even if they remember the keywords, they will most probably forget the dashes, because it just feels more natural that way. So do yourself a favor and if you can get a domain without dashes or numbers - do it.

    P.S. The advice about the 301 redirect is spot on, this way you will lose little to no link juice ;)
     
    Rado_ch, Aug 28, 2014 IP
  8. praetserge

    praetserge Notable Member

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    #8
    Really well said, Rado_ch.
    How does dash more SEO friendly is beyond me. Dash, underscore or anything else have absolutely no impact on how SE's see your website from SEO perspective.
    The only reason dash is better than underscore is because underscore is more difficult to see and some people might confuse it with a space so they will mistype your URL.
     
    praetserge, Aug 29, 2014 IP
  9. eric28

    eric28 Banned

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    #9
    change it to (-)
     
    eric28, Aug 29, 2014 IP
  10. Pontifex

    Pontifex Member

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    #10
    Underscore is way too odd and SEO unfriendly. Dash is the most you can use as separator in url-s.
     
    Pontifex, Aug 29, 2014 IP
  11. patco

    patco Well-Known Member

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    #11
    There is no difference for Google and even other SE's. I wouldn't change it unless the website is being blacklisted by Google!! ;)
     
    patco, Aug 29, 2014 IP
  12. quiz

    quiz Well-Known Member

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    #12
    Never knew why underscores where used in the first place. Always prefered dashes above underscores.
     
    quiz, Aug 29, 2014 IP
  13. rankwatch.com

    rankwatch.com Active Member

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    #13
    Change underscores to dash. Underscores are not a good option.
     
    rankwatch.com, Aug 30, 2014 IP
  14. maddenitrous

    maddenitrous Member

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    #14
    Change it and redirect the domain name.
     
    maddenitrous, Aug 31, 2014 IP
  15. Rahul Pandit

    Rahul Pandit Active Member

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    #15
    The rankings for main keywords have gone down so do you think this might be the problem? Previously all the keywords were on the first page now they are nowhere to be found.
     
    Rahul Pandit, Sep 1, 2014 IP
  16. Rahul Pandit

    Rahul Pandit Active Member

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    #16
    The domain name of the website is proper. Only problem is other pages have underscores in URL.
     
    Rahul Pandit, Sep 1, 2014 IP
  17. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #17
    At one time.... This_was_considered_one_keyword and this-was-four-keywords... However, I'm unsure if this still holds true but I would stick with dashes since they are the standard character to separate keywords...
     
    NetStar, Sep 1, 2014 IP
  18. Rahul Pandit

    Rahul Pandit Active Member

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    #18
    Yes, I saw matt cutt's video on youtube in which he said that underscores between the URLs is considered as one word while separator in URL separates the keywords, looks good and is SEO friendly.
     
    Rahul Pandit, Sep 1, 2014 IP
  19. neha.pandey

    neha.pandey Member

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    #19
    Don't use undersocres in the URLs. Right practice is to put the '-' in the URL to seperate words in the URLs
     
    neha.pandey, Sep 2, 2014 IP
  20. ResultFirst06

    ResultFirst06 Greenhorn

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    #20
    Yes you need to use hyphen instead of underscore. Hypen URL are SEO Friendly. Also redirect underscore URL to Hypen.
     
    ResultFirst06, Sep 2, 2014 IP
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