Hyphens in Domain Name
-
I have a client who is a business broker. I have just begun working with them, and they are trying to determine the best domain name to use - they have several.
vs
Which one of these has more value? I know that search engines have somewhat devalued keywords. The first one probably has a little more SEO value, but is going to be a drag in terms of marketing -- saying "business hyphen broker hyphen alabama" is going to get old for them.
Thanks!
-
Mark,
Either will work fine for EMD. Note that I only saw this due to the settings i use with SEOmoz. Next time it would be better if you post a question in Q & A as a new question as opposed to an older string. It is not a problem and I am always happy to answer, but you will get a lot of responses the other way in case no one on a string is getting emails about it any longer.
Hope it helps,
Robert
-
I agree, I really don't think it matters that much.
It's nice to have a URL that you can easily say out loud, on the phone etc, and it's handy if you can keep it short enough to fit on your business card!
-
I would just really have to see the test and the data. Here is the issue as I see it:
First, someone who already knows the name of the site and is going there is a given they are ok with it. They are not searching for it per se (even though many still use search to go to a site), so CTR would be a given.
So, we are speaking of those searching for a given product. Let's say Oatmeal Cookies.
Assuming someone created Almond Oatmeal cookies and there were two people selling them: One bought the Almond-Oatmeal-Cookies.com domain and the other bought the AlmondOatmealCookies.com domain.
If I am the searcher for these cookies my friend, Doug, just PM'd me about, am I going to click on AlmondOatmealCookies.com if it is ranked third over the hyphenated version at two or four? Are most people going to do that for that one reason? I just have a hard time grasping that, but I learned a long time ago that in marketing never assume people are like you.
This also may be one of those that EGOL talks about where it is dealing with the minutiae of SEO that has very little impact on the result. I would allow that your CTR issue is the first time someone has made me think more about the issue. The, its spammy, argument is just not thought out enough for me.
As usual, all the best to you and yours!
-
Hi Robert, That's my understanding too. (Google doesn't think hyphens = spam).
I do think that there's a SERP CTR/searcher perception issue that you need to think about when choosing your exact match domain name.
I'm sure that the more words you have and the more hyphens between then will mean that you domain will appear less authorative and more "spammy" to searchers. (Those who actually notice the domain name!)
Sorry to hear you wasted 30 mins!
-
Hey Doug,
Gianluca had answered a question a long time ago using these and I could not find the question again after a 30 min search. Thanks,Gianluca's point was that Google did not see hyphens as spam and not to worry about it as I recall.
I would personally use hyphens if there was a domain I wanted that was unavailable and the hyphenated version was. If I wanted it, I would obviously believe I had the ability to rank for it in the likelihood someone used the non hyphenated.
I was wondering, is there a nonexpertsexexchange.com?? I can understand getting a discount for having a novice over an expert, but this seems extreme;)
Best
-
The only good reason I can think of for using hyphens is when you want to ensure that you're keywords don't get confused when placed next to each other. penisland.com or expertsexchange.com are infamous examples domains that suffer from this problem!
-
I would personally always avoid the hyphens in your domain if you can. I agree that the usability is a big negative factor. When you tell someone a domain at a networking event you will have to give them extra instructions and hope they remember it. If someone sees your domain offline, like in a newspaper or billboard, they may have difficulty remembering the hyphens. Also, when people are linking to you they may forget to add the hypens or put them in the wrong place and so you could potentially lose links that you have earned. Since people are so used to typing domains with no hyphens, it will make SEO and marketing more difficult in the long run.
-
Interesting data about the hyphenated domains. Intuitively for me, people just don't type hyphens between words. So, outside of the SEO aspect of the domains, the "usability" of the domains has something to do with what I'd argue would get more traffic to the domain withOUT the hyphens. There's some research that says people type in domains "as is" into the url bar the a .com at the end and I'd argue they never put the hyphens in there.
Like the previous 3 comments, in terms of SEO value, they're the same, but Rob's data is fascinating. If there are manual raters out there checking out the hyphenated versions of domains, there may be a reluctance to value these domains and frankly, almost every hyphenated domain I've ever seen has "less quality" than the non-hyphenated ones. Definitely can't be proven via data, but just my gut...
-
Hi C nature,
OK, there are many schools of thought on this, so many SEO's will have different views. Nothing wrong with that Sure, Search engines and research speculates now that exact match domain names are no longer the be-all, end all of SEO relative positioning.
I have done several tests with regards to this, building test sites that are exact vs non-exact match domains based on market research. The exact match always (90%) of the time, beat out the other versions.
All my hyphenated domains tests have always taken longer (ave 44% longer) to start ranking, gathering rankings based on KW research than the non-hyphenated counterpart.
One other thing to consider is how search engines perceive hyphenated domains. Because they have been known to be used/abused by spammers (which ultimately made them less credible from a trust perspective). This in turn was a direct correlation to the amount of time I mentioned (ave 44% longer) to get ranking.. search engines have a tendency to take longer authenticating these domain types, vs their non-hyphenated cousins.
If your looking for quicker results, perhaps focused around 1-2 main keywords, then the exact match domain (non-hyphenated) would be your best bet, to build the site/domain around. For that specific keyword or 2, it will yield the quickest results over time. Link building, social profiles etc will still need to be built out to get signals moving in the domains favor to establish itself within the SERP's. It will be up to you to build out a more structured plan around other keywords/terms to focus on for short and long tail search through content development and on-site optimization.
The competitiveness of the 'target' keyword can also play a factor into the domains non-hyphenated domain and ranking performance. If the domain also has brand level keywords (something like coca-cola-softdrinks.com might be difficult (if not near impossible) to even begin to rank for due to the brand authority recognized online of the actually coca-cola company site). It really depends on the scenario.
If your looking to build something long term, that could eventually be recognized, your best bet would be to build a site/domain out with a brand' style domain using a 'company brand name' and optimize it around that. It won't be exact match, and may take longer, but over time will build the trust using brand authority will yield better results.
If you think about it, typing in something like your example above (business-broker-alabama.com) would be a real pain in the a#$, LOL. It would either be the non-hyphenated or a brand level domain optimized around the focus on your domain example which would yield a better user experience from the get-go.
I'm thinking about re-doing my test/thesis over to determine if recent statements on exact match domains has changed in value. I think I feel inspired to do it again !! Time to start digging.
My opinion would be either non-hyphenated or brand level domain building. Stay away from the hyphenated and spammy looking domains.
Hope this helps. Cheers!
-
businessbrokeralabama.com won't set off any spam flags (not a huge issue since you won't be doing anything spammy, but why set them off when you don't have to?), plus it's quicker to type in and it's an exact match. Exact match domains still carry surprising value, especially in Google. I don't see any good reason to use the hyphenated one, just 301-redirect it to the non-hyphenated.
-
C Nature Travel
There are a lot of people who wonder about this. First, many of us thought the past year would show a real decrease in exact match domain name strength for SEO and I don't know that it has really changed that much. As to any value, there are simply two opinions: One group says it looks spammy the other says that it is easier to read.
We do SEO/SEM and WebDev/Design for clients. We have clients who have hyphens and those who don't and we do not see any appreciable difference. Frankly, as to "domain value" I do not really think there is a difference for a basic term. If it were branded it might be a bit different. If you have concerns as to value, buy both and 301 one to the other (your call as to which you have it finally resolve to).
In my opinion, neither has more SEO value. It is really up to you and your client. I like the hyphens for readability but, hey, I wear glasses.....
Have fun,
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Why is Google replacing my meta title with the business name on home page?
For all queries that return the home page, Google is not showing my meta title. Instead it replaced it with the official business name which of course makes it harder to rank for key terms since they don't exist now in the meta title. You can see this is you search on "mt view estate planning attorney". The site in question is dureelaw.com and the title showing is "The Law Office of Daniel L. DuRee." View the source and you'll see my meta title. Why is Google substituting it?
On-Page Optimization | | katandmouse0 -
One question about the domain choice.
Hi guys, I'm an Italian Web marketing and I'm studying SEO since some moths. First, sorry for my bad english.... 🙂 Second, the question: My Italian blog is going really GREAT in terms of popularity and incomes and know I want to bring it in english language with the help of a professional translator. The choice that I have to take is about the future domain of the english blog. My Italian blog has as url mynameandmysurname.net I don't really like to make the english blog appears like myitalianblogurl.net/english because I think it's a little bit confusing and not professional. I have also thought the idea to make a sub domain like blog.myitalianurl.net. What about the WPML plugin? Do you think it's a great choice? I don't like it because it's confusing and it affect my italian blog. Or maybe is it better to create a new branded blog with different domain? It can be an idea but I think that If I chose this way I will lose all my seo efforts of the last years 😄
On-Page Optimization | | Italianseolover0 -
The company brand name does not show in SERP
Our company is ranking no.1 for brand keyword, however, when you try to find it by two words(with space between) then all those shows up and the website is nowhere to find. Any suggestions on how to solve this without the need to be ranked for something related
On-Page Optimization | | GardenPet0 -
Branded keyword domain not appearing in Google
Hi, I have a site called www.emv-cards.com but the site has a very poor showing on Google for the search term 'emv cards' and this does not make sense to me. It has position #6 on Bing but is not in Google's top 50. Any assistance would be appreciated. regards, George.
On-Page Optimization | | sirgeorge0 -
What is the best way to handle e-commerce Product title names?
Hello, I'm having a little bit of a conundrum, and I'm hoping someone will be able to help! We have an ecommerce site, and were trying to figure out what is the most SEO friendly way to handle product titles. With our ecommerce software, it currently sets the Product title as the H1 tag (which could be changed if needed). In addition, the product title is what is used as anchor text for any built in links that the ecommerce software builds from the category pages, etc (just like any other ecommerce site). Here's where I'm stuck. I'm trying to determine if it makes sense to use the specific keyword we are aiming for as the product title, or to put variations of the title that would be more descriptive. Here is an example: We have a Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girls Shoes. According to all accounts, the best keyword to attack for this would be "dorothy shoes". However, it loses the more accurate description of "Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girl Shoes". But, my thinking is that the H1 tag and anchor text would make more sense to use the term "Dorothy Shoes". The title tag could go something like this: "Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girls Shoes | Dorothy Shoes" In a situation like this, what do you think would be the "best" way to handle the title tag, product name, H1 tag, and anchor text? I'm sure there will be many different opinions, so I would like to hear what you think is best - and why.
On-Page Optimization | | clickshipcommerce0 -
New site not ranking for it's name
Performed on-page SEO for this new site that went live a couple of weeks ago - no link building or anything of that nature yet. http://maven-management.com I'm starting to see the site rank on Bing for some keyword phrases but it doesn't rank for the business name "Maven Management" on any major search engine. SEOMoz gives my on page optimization an A for the business name for the home page. Am I just being impatient? I didn't really put much effort into ranking for the business name because that generally seems to happen without any issue. There are other companies online with the same name. Any insight is appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | DenverKelly0 -
Does a www.domain.com/# count as a link?
Hi I thinking about consolidation some info from 5 pages onto 1 by using the hashtag at the end of the link to send people to the rigt section of the page. Does each link to the www.domain.com/# count as link so that I wont really gain any linkvalue by doing it?
On-Page Optimization | | home1110 -
Transferring authority from one domain to another
My dilemma For example: If I have a website ranking at number 11 for (Keyword) and there is a site named www.(Keyword).com ranking at number 12 for (Keyword), if I were to buy this site and redirect to my own site, would this be at all beneficial? Any advice would be much appreciated!
On-Page Optimization | | CMoore850