Dashes or One Long Word?

[G_C]

Hello,

I was wondering whether, when registering a domain, it's preferrable to go for one long multiple-word name or if it is better to have the words separated by dashes for SEO purposes?

For instance:

What would work better for SEO - Search-Engine-Optimization-Strategy.info or SearchEngineOptimizationStrategy.info?

Thanks for your help!

George

 

[Epic]

I know search engines read hyphens as spaces in file names, I'm assuming its the same for domains.

 

[SiteBroker]

The hyphens dont make that much of a difference. Ofcourse a non hyphen domain would be preferable but the difference isnt much worth worrying about. That domain in general is to long though, why not go for seostrategy.info?

 

[peter phillips]

Whether hypenated domain names still provide any significant advantage in the search engine's is unclear. If you are building site for your visitors, I would suggest you to go for a non hyphenated name as most online users don't prefer remembering names with hyphens.

 

[WhiteWebServices]

Hyphens make domain names hard to type, and even harder to say. Avoid them. The SEO benefit will be negligible anyway.

Also, I second SiteBroker's point about the importance of short domain names.

 

[G_C]

The hyphens dont make that much of a difference. Ofcourse a non hyphen domain would be preferable but the difference isnt much worth worrying about. That domain in general is to long though, why not go for seostrategy.info?

The reason why I went for a longer site name was the fact that "search engine optimization strategy" is actually an Overture keyword. Furthermore, as this is a minisite, I really don't care all that much about repeat visitors - instead, I want people who will visit the website, consult with the useful information that can be found there and hopefully click on a relevant advertisement. This is also the reason why I'm not particularly bothered whether people will be annoyed by having to type the long name or to memorise it - ultimately, they should only really arrive to that minisite by clicking on a link!

Anyway, thanks for all your feedback, it's really appreciated!

George

 

[bentong]

short name with dash are ok rather than long ones. you are creating sites for your visitors and not to search engines. short and easy to remember names have a higher probability that your visitors will return.

just remember that returning visitors are more important than new visitors.

 

[SiteBroker]

The reason why I went for a longer site name was the fact that "search engine optimization strategy" is actually an Overture keyword. Furthermore, as this is a minisite, I really don't care all that much about repeat visitors - instead, I want people who will visit the website, consult with the useful information that can be found there and hopefully click on a relevant advertisement. This is also the reason why I'm not particularly bothered whether people will be annoyed by having to type the long name or to memorise it - ultimately, they should only really arrive to that minisite by clicking on a link!

Anyway, thanks for all your feedback, it's really appreciated!

George

Thats true, generally most people arrive on a website from a link and never have to type the domain themseleves anyway. If you like the site you bookmark it. But some SEO's will say a long domain like that will get less benefit in the SERPS anyway also that stuffing domains with keywords wont benefit so much, as these are often techniques used by spammers but this could just be more seo myths. I would still go for seostrategy.info as if you are cabable of ranking a site the differences in these two domains really wont matter, but goodluck nonetheless.

 

[peter phillips]

^^Sound advice.

Instead of thinking about which domain to choose, think about other SEO techniques which will help your site rank high. If your site provides something useful to the visitors they will bookmark it and won't bother about the name.