discuss Hyphens in domain name?

[urljunky]

I know this has been discussed before, but 4-5 years ago nobody wanted hyphens in domain name, said it wouldn't rank, said they were worthless.etc..etc.
Fast forward to today. There are plenty of hyphenated names ranking First Page Google. And some sales in the 5 figure range in 2017.
Now to the discussion of double hyphenated domain names? Today nobody wants them, they are worthless, they can't rank on google.
Fast forward 5 years.... Will they be valuable? Will they be just like single hyphens of before?
Let me know your thoughts.

 

[urljunky]

I will throw one I have out for example e--commerce.com.
Will this be worth 5 figures in 5 years?

 

[alwaysforGod]

That certainly is an interesting train of speculation, and I suppose that to the right buyer perhaps it would be worth something even now. Gotta be careful of what people hop on the hype train and tell you is the only way, you dig?

 

[BaileyUK]

If anything, hyphenated domains are getting harder to sell (apart from common use in the German market) they do appeal to businesses looking to hand register a suitable domain to host/advertise their business.(as a secondary presence) But, these are mostly businesses that just wouldn't enter the resellers market due to the web being a secondary support, or prepared to pay any premium A frequent review of the weekly sales market that's published by several good resources shows they are rare right down to $50 resales.

I agree they are frequent in business use, but virtually all hand registered

 

[urljunky]

That certainly is an interesting train of speculation, and I suppose that to the right buyer perhaps it would be worth something even now. Gotta be careful of what people hop on the hype train and tell you is the only way, you dig?

Most of the premiums like auto--insurance and alike are taken and have been. I am going to develop a double hyphen and see if it will rank on google. Just to see. It for sure doesn't pass radio test, but if it pops up first page you will get traffic.

 

[BaileyUK]

Naturally hyphenated domains in .com were always in demand from domain speculators, even back to when I started in 1999 (started looking in 1996) They just haven't really taken-off on the resale market. They do get good positions on Google, but mostly with junk-sites that most of (todays generation) know not to click

 

[urljunky]

Naturally hyphenated domains in .com were always in demand from domain speculators, even back to when I started in 1999 (started looking in 1996) They just haven't really taken-off on the resale market. They do get good positions on Google, but mostly with junk-sites that most of (todays generation) know not to click

Yeah there were some 6 figure sales of hyphenated domains back in the day.
So what would you say is the click through rate of a hyphenated domain that ranks first page serp?

 

[BaileyUK]

The work has been done on domain positioning. The Click through rate wouldn't come from sensible product buyers/enquirers, and that position is only going to get greater

As always google and the rest will get wiser

 

[Domaindogged]

shortnames.com has sales reports on hyphenated names

DD

 

[urljunky]

The Click through rate wouldn't be from sensible buyers

Those are usually your best customers. They are impulse buyers. They click, the like, they buy. Your website has just done it's job. Isn't first page serp every ones goal? And customer conversion?
I understand that no brand wants hyphens in its name, but if you are running an e commerce website or selling insurance you want first page results without having to pay CPC.

 

[BaileyUK]

Indeed I agree with you ,. so we also agree pretty much anything decent isn't going to rely on a hyphenated domain, lets also accept pretty much every internet user is getting wiser. even those ol'bods

 

[urljunky]

When i look at search results i don't necessarily think that a hyphenated name is junk, but i do see them as less authoritative. Kind of like the Times and a Bee. Better writers better content, but the Bee does have it own to offer as well.
Not saying that there isn't junky and spammy hyphenated domains cause there are.

 

[NYRE]

Two words.... Radio. Test.

"...For all your business Internet needs, visit us at E... Hyphen... Hyphen... Commerce... Dot... Com"

(Of course, it goes without saying that the same principle applies to 'purely visual' mediums as well, in the context of memorability and retention ...i.e., flyers, coupons, billboards, business cards, tv commercials and late night infomercials, google results, and so on.)

In 2018, even brick-and-mortar small business owners and other lay people are savvy to the vital importance of branding (or, at the very least, are only a click away from a million pages of good advice on the web counseling them against bad branding ...of which "e -- -- c o m m e r c e . c o m" is a prime example).

 

[urljunky]

Two words.... Radio. Test.

"...For all your business Internet needs, visit us at E... Hyphen... Hyphen... Commerce... Dot... Com"

(Of course, it goes without saying that the same principle applies to 'purely visual' mediums as well, in the context of memorability and retention ...i.e., flyers, coupons, billboards, business cards, tv commercials and late night infomercials, google results, and so on.)

In 2018, even brick-and-mortar small business owners and other lay people are savvy to the vital importance of branding (or, at the very least, are only a click away from a million pages of good advice on the web counseling them against bad branding ...of which "e -- -- c o m m e r c e . c o m" is a prime example).

I totally agree with you. No company is going to use a hyphen in their name, but what i am saying is if you have an affiliate site or just an online store (i.e. dropship, ecommerce) And you can get first page serp using a hyphenated name, why wouldn't you?
All the BIG players in domaining have premium hyphenated names in their portfolio and have for quite some time.
If auto-insurance.com or auto--insurance.com were available would you reg it? I know I would.
I personally haven't seen double hyphenated names in serp results, but I have seen them for sale for 4 and 5 figures and I'm sure their are some for 6 figures.
Their has been 6 figure sales in single hyphenated names, so my question is; Do you or anyone else see a double hyphenated name going for 6 figures in the near or not so near future?
I think their are a lot of people believing there will be. If they didn't they wouldn't be renewing their double hyphenated names year after year.
I wonder if @Mike Mann has any single or double hyphenated names in his portfolio?

 

[urljunky]

(apart from common use in the German market)

Are the Germans just ahead of the curve?

 

[BaileyUK]

Are the Germans just ahead of the curve?

Germans just seem to prefer the visual clarity of the hyphenated domains, they've been like that since the early days of the internet. Not so good for spoken sharing though

 

[Bob Hawkes]

There are a few companies that have gone the route, but not many in North America. Exceptions include
https://www.chick-fil-a.com/
https://www.t-mobile.com/

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Germans just seem to prefer the visual clarity of the hyphenated domains, they've been like that since the early days of the internet. Not so good for spoken sharing though

I had a look at all .de sales in the Namebio database. There are 2372 sales of domain names with hyphens, compared to 13,405 sales in total, or 17.7% of .de domain sales had hyphens. So them being popular in Germany is indeed supported by the data!

 

[BaileyUK]

Well that's kind of you to get the figures MetBob, Living in the UK and a fairly frequent traveler. I get a good overall picture of domain usage. Actually I thought the German usage would be higher. I believe If they had both (hyphen and not) they are more likely to point to and use the hyphen

 

[EmpireNames.com]

evryone say hyphen doesnt work but i acquired on domain with hyphen in 100 usd from GD auctions recently got offered on that 500 USD i countered 1000 usd he left but never mind i know its worth of 2000 usd

 

[creataweb]

I think for the right combo a hyphen can work. I own 1 at the moment and it's the standard way to use it with the hyphen intact.

 

[EmpireNames.com]

I think for the right combo a hyphen can work. I own 1 at the moment and it's the standard way to use it with the hyphen intact.

TRUE if keyword is strong hyphen can give you good outcome maybe not but my very first experience went well

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I just realized, among all of my domains in different topics and extensions, I own not a single one with a hyphen! But I do like the look of them aesthetically in certain cases, and would definitely consider one.

There is always talk of them being popular in Germany (or perhaps central Europe more generally?) Can someone more global than me suggest if there are other regions that are particularly positive on the use of hyphens? e.g. How are they viewed in China? India? Other countries in Europe?

 

[urljunky]

How are they viewed in China

I have seen hyphened number domains.

 

[BaileyUK]

I think it's difficult to place yourself in the cultural-set of other languages or Countries , and it's where a lot of foreign language mistakes are made in domain registrations. We should count ourselves lucky that we use good ol'english , or the American version of