Question. To maximize likelihood of being found on a google search (rather than customer typing my domain in manually) is it okay to have a long domain name with keywords separated by hyphens?

for example: houston-notary-public.com ?

if someone types in these keywords, i assume that this domain would pop up high on the list. true? i've heard hyphens are a no-no, and long names are certain death. true?

or is it a matter of PR rank alone? thanks for any input!

It is my understanding that Google utilizes over 100 variables in determining where your website page is placed in the search results for a specific keyword search.

Keywords showing up in the domain name is said to be one of them.

As far as hyphens are concerned, I don't think it makes any difference to Google either way. Real people, however, find the domains with hyphens more readable, especially when viewed in advertising like TV and billboards, but then they often forget the hyphens when they sit back at their computer. So I would suggest getting both the hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions if possible.

Thanks for the feedback!

This is a really interesting topic which I knew nothing about (til now ;) )

Any other thoughts would be appreciated.