Better to name a HTML file: Hyphen or Underscore?

YesBrilliant · 01-02-2007, 09:50 AM

According to your development experience, which one you think is better for the ranking of a site to name a HTML/PHP file: Hyphen or Underscore?

Let's consider just SEO, not type-ins, as users would not type long urls anyway.

For example:
www.DOMAIN.ext/keyword1-keyword2-keyword3.htm

or

www.DOMAIN.ext/keyword1_keyword2_keyword3.htm

Thanks or your input.

Dan · 01-02-2007, 09:59 AM

I think I remember hearing hyphen's were better, but I haven't seen anywhere that one is completely better than the other. It doesn't seem like there should be a real difference.

RegisterRants · 01-02-2007, 10:13 AM

Well, underscores can sometimes be mistaken for spaces, especially when underlines as a link

Matthew. · 01-02-2007, 10:17 AM

SEO wise i think they're pretty much equal. Something is telling me underscore is better but i have nothing to base that on so i stick with the are the same.

I personally prefer hyphens

domaincollector · 01-02-2007, 10:19 AM

I have noticed that News.com.com.com or whatever they are called use + a lot in their URLs.

EXAMPLE: http://news.com.com/Survey+Chip+sale...l?tag=nefd.top

The other observation is that blogs generally have - in their urls.

I am NOT an expert.

Jeff

DeViAnThans3 · 01-02-2007, 10:29 AM

Personally I use underscores, though, it doesn't really matter if you look to SEO.

It is a fact that underscores could be mistaken by spaces or so, in that view it's better to have hyphens.

**enlytend** · 01-02-2007, 10:58 AM

Quote:

According to your development experience, which one you think is better for the ranking of a site to name a HTML/PHP file: Hyphen or Underscore?

Hyphens are almost always better than underscores.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/programming/275928-better-name-html-file-hyphen-underscore.html

Google parses hyphens as word seperators, but underscores are parsed as characters. This means that word1-word2 is seen as 2 words (word1 and word2), but word1_word2 is seen as ONE word (word1_word2).

This has been verified by Google engineer Matt Cutts on a number of occasions, his most recent reference on the web (that I could find in a quick search) in April 2006.

Quote:

I have noticed that News.com.com.com or whatever they are called use + a lot in their URLs.

Plus signs are just spaces in a string which has been URL encoded ...

Matthew. · 01-02-2007, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by enlytend

Hyphens are almost always better than underscores.

Google parses hyphens as word seperators, but underscores are parsed as characters. This means that word1-word2 is seen as 2 words (word1 and word2), but word1_word2 is seen as ONE word (word1_word2).
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=275928

This has been verified by Google engineer Matt Cutts on a number of occasions, his most recent reference on the web (that I could find in a quick search) in April 2006.

Great info enlytend, Rep'd

JFS · 01-02-2007, 12:17 PM

if you search almost anything on google you will see even if the url is keyword1_keyword2.html it treats both as seperated words and not as one.
if you search for "flu shot" ( withou the "" ) you will have in the listing :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flu_vaccine
pediatrics.about.com/cs/immunizations/a/flu_shots.htm
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/gen...u_vaccine.html
www.medicinenet.com/flu_vaccination/article.htm

if the two words separated by the underscore was treated as one those results shouldn't be listed.

**enlytend** · 01-02-2007, 03:32 PM

Quote:

if you search for "flu shot" ( withou the "" ) you will have in the listing :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flu_vaccine

Yes, but take a closer look at the search results - reproduced here, highlighted as in the actual serps. To simplify, I limited the search to wikipedia (exact search phrase used - flu shot site:wikipedia.org )
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=275928

Flu vaccine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Additionally, because mortality is high among infants who contract influenza, the household contacts and caregivers of infants should get a flu shot to ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flu_vaccine - 114k - Cached - Similar pages

The individual words of the query (flu and shot) are highlighted in the search results, as expected. Now look at the next result:

Influenza pandemic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
No, it won't protect you against pandemic influenza. But flu shots can help you to stay healthy. Get a flu shot to help protect yourself from seasonal flu. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_pandemic - 116k - Cached - Similar pages

Notice how the serps display the word flu highlighted within the word "Influenza" in the url - they're showing you one of your search terms even though its embedded in another word.

Here's an experiment - try these 2 queries in a Google search:

flu-vaccine site:wikipedia.org

and then try

flu_vaccine site:wikipedia.org

The first returns all results containing flu and vaccine in order and separated by one character.

However, the second query returns only the results with the literal "flu_vaccine"!

And even more interesting, notice how flu and vaccine are NOT highlighted in the URL:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_picture_candidates/Avian_Flu_Vaccine

in the results from the first query -

So, with all due respect, it looks to me like hyphen is still being interpreted as a separator and the underscore as a character in Google ...

JFS · 01-02-2007, 04:31 PM

hyphen is being interpreted as a separator if you insert it on the search query not on the results, that was what i meant.

YesBrilliant · 01-03-2007, 09:58 PM

Thank you very much to all of you who replyed so enthusiastically. I really appreciate and reppd.

I'll be using Hyphens as my choice.

Thanks again.

Noobie · 01-04-2007, 03:48 PM

I read hyphen somewhere .. so i use them ....

01-02-2007, 09:50 AM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
YesBrilliant Account Closed Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,075	Better to name a HTML file: Hyphen or Underscore? According to your development experience, which one you think is better for the ranking of a site to name a HTML/PHP file: Hyphen or Underscore? Let's consider just SEO, not type-ins, as users would not type long urls anyway. For example: www.DOMAIN.ext/keyword1-keyword2-keyword3.htm or www.DOMAIN.ext/keyword1_keyword2_keyword3.htm Thanks or your input.

01-02-2007, 10:13 AM	#3 (permalink)
RegisterRants Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 1,152 Follow @jrberlinsky	Well, underscores can sometimes be mistaken for spaces, especially when underlines as a link __________________ Web Development

01-02-2007, 10:19 AM	#5 (permalink)
domaincollector NamePros Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: USA Posts: 199	Observation only I have noticed that News.com.com.com or whatever they are called use + a lot in their URLs. EXAMPLE: http://news.com.com/Survey+Chip+sale...l?tag=nefd.top The other observation is that blogs generally have - in their urls. I am NOT an expert. Jeff

01-02-2007, 12:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
JFS NamePros Regular Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Portugal Posts: 800	if you search almost anything on google you will see even if the url is keyword1_keyword2.html it treats both as seperated words and not as one. if you search for "flu shot" ( withou the "" ) you will have in the listing : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flu_vaccine pediatrics.about.com/cs/immunizations/a/flu_shots.htm http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/gen...u_vaccine.html www.medicinenet.com/flu_vaccination/article.htm if the two words separated by the underscore was treated as one those results shouldn't be listed. __________________ João Fernandes Silva

01-02-2007, 04:31 PM	#11 (permalink)
JFS NamePros Regular Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Portugal Posts: 800	hyphen is being interpreted as a separator if you insert it on the search query not on the results, that was what i meant. __________________ João Fernandes Silva

01-02-2007, 09:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
Dan Buy my domains. Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,796	I think I remember hearing hyphen's were better, but I haven't seen anywhere that one is completely better than the other. It doesn't seem like there should be a real difference.

01-02-2007, 10:17 AM	#4 (permalink)
Matthew. Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: England Posts: 1,568	SEO wise i think they're pretty much equal. Something is telling me underscore is better but i have nothing to base that on so i stick with the are the same. I personally prefer hyphens

01-02-2007, 10:29 AM	#6 (permalink)
DeViAnThans3 Account Closed Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Belgium Posts: 442	Personally I use underscores, though, it doesn't really matter if you look to SEO. It is a fact that underscores could be mistaken by spaces or so, in that view it's better to have hyphens.

01-03-2007, 09:58 PM	THREAD STARTER #12 (permalink)
YesBrilliant Account Closed Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,075	Thank you very much to all of you who replyed so enthusiastically. I really appreciate and reppd. I'll be using Hyphens as my choice. Thanks again.

01-04-2007, 03:48 PM	#13 (permalink)
Noobie NamePros Regular Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Posts: 324	I read hyphen somewhere .. so i use them .... __________________ Goldkey.com is a scam What's your BMI? \| Timestamp Generator

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Better to name a HTML file: Hyphen or Underscore?

Observation only