i once read somewhere that if you have 1 or 2 dashes then its ok, but if you have like 6 dashes just to stuff in keywords (ex. www.myspace-backgronds-tweaks-graphics-images-profiles-and-more.com) a dash or 2 won't hurt
The fact is Google doesn't parse or in other words extract your keyword through your domain directly so having a hyphen mein help! But the effect is very less! Google relies more on content and backlinks these days than a keyword! John Scott from V7N has a good Blog Entry here Read it and you'll get my point! Abhishek
I'll say just limit it to just one dash. Sometimes, the advantage of having the dash is so that people can read and memorize the domain clearly. Example: airportterminals.com vs airport-terminals.com will probably give the second one much easier to remember domain. Espcially if there is similar alphabet between the 1st and 2nd terms. Ppl may type in airporterminals.com which is not your domain, unless you purchase them both. Read my tutorial about domain name: http://www.adsense-success.com/2006/06/choose-your-domain-name-effectively.html
the domain with no dash it`s easier to write, but the one with dash it`s easier to read an remember, so you have to choose the best option
I just registered a few double hyphen domains a few days back... e--Ad.com , e--casino.com, e--game.com , i--poker.com and a few others. I don't mind people saying these names are crappy...the problem is ...not a lot of people know about these sort of names. I know I can develop them even with 2 dashes. So from my point of view , choosing a domain with dash(es) is not such a scarry thing as long as the keywords are very good
My guess is that if you're going for search engine traffic, a dash is okay and won't hurt you. But if you're going for branding or type ins, they're not so great. I personally own about 50 dash .coms & .nets. Some of my best parked performers have dashes.
I must say here that a Dash[-] aka Hyphen often reduces the possibility of a user remembering the domain name and many times they miss out on the dash, ending up with the Hyphen-less domain name. I'd suggest you please not take a domain with a dash, try searching for dash-less possiblities BTW, a Hyphen does not make any difference to SEO, just so you know. IT
MSN search loves it, and for in general search engines its as good as the one with dash. So if you can get a good domain name (even with dash), go for it.
I won't mind single dashes as irrelevant when compared to non-hyphenated domains. I just hate to see domains with 2 or more hyphens. They just look spammy to me regardless of content.
I find that having a dash in a domain is more pain than it's worth. I agree that your main focus should be on building a site that has great content. Risking confusion among people that forget or don't assume a dash in your name is not worth it in my opinion. Tony
I've got three domians with double hyphens and they all do well, with a PR of 6 on one of the domains, and PRs of 5 on the others. Other webmasters might find hyphenated URLs to look spammy, but I don't think the average surfer cares at all. At least that's been my experience As the vast number of great domain names gets taken I'm pretty sure we can expect to see more of this, probably to the point where people won't even notice anymore...