[affninja]

Hey everybody, quick question related to domain registration for a new niche. Let's say your first choice is taken, for example tennisracketreviews.com.

As an alternative, would you choose the dashed-version, tennis-racket-reviews.com, or a similar no-dash name like tennisracketsreviewed.com.

Curious to hear your opinion on this. And my sincere apologies to any tennis racket affiliates

[Convergence]

My only concern is if the user needs to remember the website name and ends up typing it in without the dashes, therefore sending your traffic elsewhere.

Other than that, I don't buy three word domains with hyphens but do buy two word domains separated by a single hyphen and typically only in .com (have broken that rule a few times as well).

[bradk]

For the most part I agree because hyphens just were not traditionally used in domain names and even here you admit it's because the hyphen-less name was taken. Thus it'd be harder to remember (easier if it were a site I learned to frequent) and you're probably asking to end up sending more traffic to the site without them. I'd also be hesitant to try to do what appears to be capitalizing on someone else's domain, generic as it may be.

From a SERP perspective, I hate to be prejudiced, but because hyphens are more commonly used as longtail keywords from people trying to make a buck, I would be more likely to click on the one without hyphens. But of course if that one can't satisfy me but the hyphen one can, that argument is moot.

[Lanny]

Hyphens might make a domain better, in the SERPs. If the keywords are in the domain name and they are separated by hyphens, possibly it is easier for the robots to pick the keywords out. That is probably one of about 200 signals Googles uses, when they select web sites for the SERPs.

I have 3 domain names with hyphens in them (.com) that are online. Chosen because of reaons in the above paragraph and/or because they were not available, without hyphens.

Positively, on the Resale market, if you want to sell a domain name with a Hyphen in it, the Market Value is much lower.

GL

[Rozanne]

Well the domain name with or without hyphens or dash is not a SEO decision. It is a business decision.

[Chuck Hamrick]

I agree, one of the most successful affiliates I know has a hyphenated domain that he has used for years. I don't see that it hurt him as his site is an authority site with content reviews.

[affilorama]

Some say you could lose up to 40% of your traffic if you use hyphenated domain names. You'd eliminate any confusion if your domain name does not contain any special characters since users are more likely to not type the dash in when searching for your site.

[teezone]

One of the most successful luxury stores has not one, but TWO hyphens..

However, we're not talking about established sites with plenty of VC - for an affiliate site trying to gain traction, I would guess non-hyphen would be easier to build on. Personally, I have a hyphenated domain that I'm trying to kick-start - it contains two words that were important to the niche, and I'm hesitant to transfer it to another domain without giving it a good enough try.

I've only been adding regular content for the past 4 months, so it's too soon to judge - have never loved the hyphen, but it is the name I wanted (the non-hyphen is parked).

[HawaiiSteve]

Several years ago at a domain name conference, the CEO of a very popular European domain name registration and sales company told me that their research showed that names with dashes do very well, especially for people whose native language isn't English. The dashes make it much easier for them to recognize the keywords in domain names. In some situations, he said that if the com is taken, he would always choose the com and net with dashes first.

I hope this helps

[WebReviews]

Interesting thread guys, and a good question too. Have a few domains myself with "dashes" in them and they rank fairly well, considering I haven't put much work into them.

So I guess my point is that the dash version works as well as the non dash domain names.

[Maximlis]

Can anybody tell why it is mentioned not to use domain name with hypens? What is the disadvantage behind it?

[Convergence]

Originally Posted by Maximlis

Can anybody tell why it is mentioned not to use domain name with hypens? What is the disadvantage behind it?

Read the thread. It is mentioned why NOT to use domain names with hyphens...