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Are Domain Names with Hyphens and Dashes SEO Unfriendly

Monday, 18 February 2008

Although the jury has been out for over a decade on whether to use or not to use dashes or hyphens in a domain name, there is enough empirical data to suggest that all else being equal; it provides no distinct advantage to hyphenate the domain name to gain SEO mileage.

Web analytic services like Hitbox and Alexa too provide no preferential treatment to hyphenated domain names because they are configured to monitor traffic impartially regardless of whether the domain name registered with them is or without hyphens.

Search Engine Optimized Domain Names

There are at least three reasons why we believe that hyphenated domain names provide no strategic advantage in the broader context of search engine rankings. We have examined several domain directories on web hosting services to arrive at this hypothesis. First, simply explore the infinite Internet spectrum and you will notice that most of the Fortune 1000 or Inc. 100 companies do not use hyphens in their primary domain names. Is there something they know that we should and don’t? Secondly, search engine search bots or spiders as they are also known as, have become smarter over the years. They are now able to parse domain names with ease and make intelligent sense of their meaning in order to classify and categorize them appropriately. There was a time when search engines used the words and phrases in domain names to prioritize site rankings on their search results. However, this additional emphasis was quickly dropped when the system began to be misused. Finally, none of the major search engines have publicly admitted a preference for domain names with dashes. This is probably why you will notice more domain names without hyphens than names with hyphens when you closely examine a web directory such as the Open Directory Project or DMOZ.

User-friendly Domain Names

Since the primary purpose of your web site is both to generate and increase web traffic and not to merely display a URL on your business card, your domain name should be one that can be easily remembered and used by your site visitors and prospective customers. Hyphens in a domain name tend to pose some difficulties in this regard. Your customers need to remember exactly where to put the dashes and hyphens when keying in your web address directly into a browser. One misplaced hyphen and your customer just might end up on a competitor’s web site. The keyboard placement of the hyphen also tends to irritate many. Search engine services have recognized this for a long time and have judiciously refrained from using dashes in their own domain names. However, in order to cover all your bases, we recommend that you register your company’s name as a single word domain name as well as a hyphenated domain name. This will prevent competitors from picking a slice of your online revenue and provide you with long-term protection. Capture the .net and .org extensions also if possible for further protection. Domain registration costs are no longer as expensive as they used to be as recently as ten years ago. With a small investment, you can protect your Internet property securely for many years to come.