to dash or not to dash

I am thinking of registering a new name for a site (to be developed, not to sell domain name)

As an example I could either go with

topboats.com
or top-boats.com

The second word is likely to be a keyword (getting boats.com would be impossible). The site will be optimised for search engines, I don't expect people just to type in the domain by chance.

So the question is '-' or not to '-' (and why)

Thanks for any help.

Deano

 

Peronally I'd go with the first example, without the dash and it has absolutely nothing to do with SEO per se.

Let's assume you're telling someone your url address - say them out loud. Which one "flows" better.

As far as Google is concerned, I don't think it would really matter. Here's why:

Do a search at Google for webmater forum. Look at the bolded words in the results returned; not just in the Title or Description, but also in the URL - I think you'll see my point.

Now, that's about the domain name. For files, I would use the dash though.

 

the only time i register dashes is when the non dash version is already taken, so if topboats.com is available i would register that, or if your in doubt register them both.

That will also save future hassle of someone later on registering top-boats.com and copying your site.

 

Very smart advice!

 

More info you may find helpful - Matt Cutts speaks on dashes vs underscores.

 

Ok thanks for the advice now I see that without the dash google can still see the words top and boat and boats in the name www.topboats.com . Is this the same with all search engines? Register both, as I'm going for .co.uk address and they cost next to nothing for two years I'll do that. Unfortunately the .com has gone (some spam site

wrmineo in that example it was interesting how google picked up forum and forums, does this make the use of a plural better than a singular eg topboats.com being better than topboat.com, or can google associate boats with boat?