Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : SEO / SEM Discussions : Domain with Hyphen in it

[bizcredit]

I am trying to get a domain name with hyphen in it. Do you think its difficult to do SEO for such a site?

Please help

[apsivam]

Technicall No.
But it is advisable to avoid, if possible.

[grandad]

Some say that hyphens are 'invisible' to search engines and hyphenated domains with good search words are beneficial - I think hyphen-phobia affects some people and they lose out on a reasonably good name as a result.

[bizcredit]

Ok finally I have decided to go with name without hyphen. Thanks everyone for their support.

[anon-e-mouse]

I use hyphens a lot and my sites are doing nicely thank you For example, if someone is looking for info on yellow cucumbers, the will type in yellow cucumbers, not yellowcucumbers. As the hyphen is ignored, yellow-cucumbers is more likely to be in the top search result than yellowcucumbers.

[Woooo]

Originally Posted by anon-e-mouse

I use hyphens a lot and my sites are doing nicely thank you For example, if someone is looking for info on yellow cucumbers, the will type in yellow cucumbers, not yellowcucumbers. As the hyphen is ignored, yellow-cucumbers is more likely to be in the top search result than yellowcucumbers.

As far as I have experienced, the text in domain has the least effect, Title of page is of maximum importance.

[Reflections]

I am agreed with you.

[dvduval]

In the grand scheme of things, I don't think it makes a big difference, and have successful sites with and without hyphens.

[Brian-de-vie]

Spare no expense - use both

[~ServerPoint~]

Originally Posted by anon-e-mouse

I use hyphens a lot and my sites are doing nicely thank you For example, if someone is looking for info on yellow cucumbers, the will type in yellow cucumbers, not yellowcucumbers. As the hyphen is ignored, yellow-cucumbers is more likely to be in the top search result than yellowcucumbers.

Yes it is very nice for SE. But if user wants to come again he will need to remember number of hyphens etc.
I think that domain name webhostingtalk.com was chosen for the same reasons (not web-hosting-talk.com) But that is only my point of view

[VPSProvider]

Avoid the complexity spelling of the domain name. I simply go without a hyphen.

[softlogica]

google for "soft"
on the first page you will see thebandsoft.com
Google doesn't need hyphens to extract keywords

[Brownout]

I've read that multiple hyphens are damaging. My experience supports that (I had a name with 2 hyphens). That said, I think 1 is OK.

I do think the domain does matter - especially if you are focused on a single or narrow subject.

Having bicyle in your names, page title, and h1 title will help.

[dale]

IMO, the reasons not to use hyphen these days is not SEO-related, but more to do with domain name branding. If your particular name does not cause confusion or lose traffic to non-hyphenated alternatives, then there is nothing wrong with hyphens. (But of course, the opposite is also true: if a non-hyphenated name might cause confusion or lose traffic to its hyphenated counterpart ... then it's time to get both!)

[Brian-de-vie]

Originally Posted by dale

IMO, the reasons not to use hyphen these days is not SEO-related, but more to do with domain name branding. If your particular name does not cause confusion or lose traffic to non-hyphenated alternatives, then there is nothing wrong with hyphens. (But of course, the opposite is also true: if a non-hyphenated name might cause confusion or lose traffic to its hyphenated counterpart ... then it's time to get both!)

This is exactly why you should at least consider, BOTH options, it's not going to break the 'piggy bank' to buy both.