Domain Name Information

The truth about hyphenated domain names


There is a lot of confusion about the use of hyphens being used in domain names. While researching hyphenated domain names I found a lot of conflicting information so I will give you a distilled view of what is currently believed to be the facts regarding hyphens in domains.

When I started Name Search Domain I had a lot of trouble finding a domain that I could use to reflect the topic of my site. After quite a bit of research I decided on NameSearchDomain.com, without hyphens.

It used to be the case that using a hyphen to separate keywords in your domain name would give you a better ranking in the search engines. For a while this was the case but due to the over zealous use of keywords in domain names, search engines now consider this as a spamming technique. Using hyphens in your domain name still makes it easier for search engines to read but it generally will not benefit your ranking.

If you use an unhyphenated domain name like myself using keywords it is generally believed that search engines such as Google can pick out the keywords. If you use hyphens then the keywords are easier to pick out from your domain name. So if there is no search engine benefit to using hyphens and keywords in domain names why do people still use them. The answer is undoubtedly anchor link benefits and ease of readability.

If you have hyphens in your domain name it is easier for a human to read and recognise the keywords in a domain. Take a look at specialistcheeseemporium.com or visit specialist-cheese-emporium.com. It is quite obvious that the hyphenated version is going to be recognised more easily.

Recognising the domain name is one thing but entering a domain name into your browser is another. It is easier for someone to type the unhyphenated domain name and it is easier for someone to give out the domain name to a customer if it doesn't have hyphens in it. Some people may not know what a hyphen is.

There is believed to be another benefit of keywords in domain names and that is anchor links, that is keywords in back links to your site. If a webmaster links back to your site from their site they often use the domain name as the anchor text. This is obviously good for you as it helps in reinforcing those keywords with your site to the search engines. So if your site is specialistcheeseemporium.com they may type this as all one word or possibly as specialist cheese emporium. For the hyphenated version they would probably type specialist-cheese-emporium.com.

So when choosing your domain name and deciding on whether to use hyphens you need to consider how the domain name is going to be interpreted and used by other people, not machines. I chose my domain name without hyphens purely because most people will type domains without the hyphens. I do use hyphens but only in my filenames as this makes it easier for people to read and people are less likely to type in a page name as they are a domain name.

Find out more about Domain Names at Name Search Domain. Stuff you need to know if you are thinking of buying a domain name.


MORE RESOURCES:

ME Registers 50000 New Domain Names in Open Registration
MarketWatch - Jul 22, 2008
More than 50000 new me domain names were registered in the first two days, with the first "live" name registered being: yusu.me. ...


Stake Claim Now for Social Networking Sites, the new Domain Names ...
MarketWatch - Jul 21, 2008
"Social network pages are the domain names of Web 2.0," said Tim Hickernell, associate lead research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group. ...


Stampede for .me domain names
iTWire, Australia - Jul 21, 2008
As a result of the slowness, some GoDaddy customers registered domain names that were already taken or reserved by the .me registry before launch - for ...


International Domain Names: Monografias.com Gets its Accent
Extra Newspaper, IL - Jul 21, 2008
However, some domain name registrars have found a way to register domain names with accents by using characters of other codes that can be translated ...


Times Online

Stampede for personalised e-mail addresses
Times Online, UK - 9 hours ago
More than 5000 were registered in the first minute and more than 50000 new domain names were registered in the first two days. ...


Ex-Microsoft Manager Pleads Guilty, Sentenced For Embezzlement
CRN, NY - Jul 22, 2008
The court said that on four occasions Gudmundson falsely told Expedia that she had used her personal American Express card to register certain domain names ...


Real Estate Domain Name Sale Announced by Ecominvestments.com
AddPR.com (press release), TX - 10 hours ago
eComInvestments.com has announced that it is selling a select group of Real Estate domain names to the public. The list features some precious gems ...


Foreclosure.com Owner to Acquire Property.com
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
"My job is to acquire prime, industry-specific domain names with large volumes of natural type-in traffic and eventually develop them to their fullest ...


Moniker.com Announces Domain Name Inventory for the Upcoming ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 11 hours ago
SnapNames operates the largest auction of expired and deleting domain names and gives its customers exclusive first access to the world's largest inventory ...


The Tech Herald

Red Alert! DNS Flaw Revealed
InformationWeek, NY - 46 minutes ago
This involves remapping domain names to different, potentially malicious servers. US-CERT on Monday warned: "Technical details regarding this vulnerability ...
Researcher attempts to unravel Kaminsky DNS flaw ZDNet UK
To disclose or not to disclose? BBC News
Kaminsky's DNS Flaw Unravelled Techtree.com
Redmond Channel Partner - TECH.BLORGE.com
all 131 news articles

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