Domain Name Forum

**admin_old** · 08-10-2005, 04:23 PM

I know a lot of people use them, but are they really healthy for keyworded domain names? They are fine if you are going to maintain the site and make it visable to everyone, but if you use to high keywords like carwash.com, and place the - in making it car-wash.com, would that harm it you think?

I know it will, so what are your thoughts on dashes?

Jason F.

**gprime** · 08-10-2005, 04:24 PM

I think it can hurt it. There have been times where I forgot it, thought the website was under, and missed several months of use. I actually saw one site that had a double dash. One is bad enough. Two is catastrophic.

**admin_old** · 08-10-2005, 04:33 PM

I don't know. Dashes just seem like another pain in the behind. A lot of people like them, because they think they look attractive, but I don't think so. I think a nondashed URL is better IMO.

Jason F.

**imported_sparky** · 08-10-2005, 04:35 PM

I dont think they look as good and they are harder for people to remember but Ive read lots of articles saying the help with SEO

**admin_old** · 08-10-2005, 04:41 PM

Yeah I have heard that too about SEO, but I still don't know how they can be more valuable than regular domain names. I'm sure if you had a site named real-world.com that is would still get a lot of visitors. The good thing about having nice keywords with dashes is... People will type in every possible combination, whether it be dash or no dash. It wouldn't matter to the person, as long as they find what they want.

Jason F.

**Quicksilver** · 08-10-2005, 05:50 PM

Yeah I would say they come in 2nd place for the hardest thing to type in for people and its just a hassle, the hypen I would say is in first.

**Offtopic** · 08-10-2005, 05:54 PM

Its not really that bad I guess. I mean if you use talk-something.com and there is talksomething.com availble then its stupid. Otherwise its just a way to get a shortcut to the name you have always wanted.

**Quicksilver** · 08-10-2005, 05:57 PM

talk-some-thing.com Hmmmmmmmm.....thats even worse hehe

**imported_sparky** · 08-10-2005, 05:59 PM

If they were available I would register 2 variations of the name - one with hyphens - one without

You get the best of both worlds then

**nac** · 08-10-2005, 06:13 PM

I think it all depends ...
if the word is smooth to type and have a nice sound to it a dash would make it less atractive I think ...

**admin_old** · 08-10-2005, 10:22 PM

I really don't use dashes in my domain names. If I did, it would have to be a really attractive name that was unavailable. I would then have to register that name with a simple dash, unless of course it is one worded.

Jason F.

**sarahk** · 08-11-2005, 04:12 AM

My understanding is that the dash helps the search engines differentiate between words.

A while back it was believed that the - in the domain worked like the - in a google query meaning to omit the words.

I just registered www.waitakere-bmx.com so you can see which way I'm leaning

Sarah

**admin_old** · 08-11-2005, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahk

My understanding is that the dash helps the search engines differentiate between words.

A while back it was believed that the - in the domain worked like the - in a google query meaning to omit the words.

I just registered www.waitakere-bmx.com so you can see which way I'm leaning

Sarah

Yeah I have heard that before as I have said before. Dashes do help, but I just feel they constrict the user from typing in that domain name. They would rather type in the regular one. I don't know why, but I feel that way. :exercise: By the way... Welcome to the forums sarahk! Enjoy your stay.

Jason F.

**imported_sparky** · 08-11-2005, 07:29 AM

So it makes sense money permitting to register both - so its easy to remember and benefits in the search engines

**admin_old** · 08-11-2005, 01:15 PM

You can always do that. But wouldn't you want the non dashed domain to benefit in the search engines too?

Jason F.

**nostromo** · 09-02-2005, 11:15 AM

I don't think a dash in the domain name will hurt. More than half of mines have a dash, and they rank pretty well. Probably rankings would be worse using a domain without the dash.
But if don't want to develop site and you just want to sell domains then... Yes, it's much better without a dash.

**DJScuba** · 09-12-2005, 05:41 PM

From an SEO standpoint, the hyphen doesn't hurt but if your planning on reselling the domain it'll be hard to attract a high offer if it has a hypen(s).