hyphen question

[Corwin]

EDIT - SE Indexing

 

[sponk]

i read on www.webmasterworld.com that it hyphens don't really matter, however the keyword in the domain does for ranking purposes.

 

[mole]

Hyphens are horrible for site branding imho, but if all you want is to play the search engine game, then maybe its of value given the way the search bots parse keywords on the domain. But of course, that's only a small part of the equation that determines where you finally rank on the search pages.

 

[Corwin]

EDIT - SE Indexing

 

[domainduck]

My first choice is always dot-com - but

Use both names for better SE visibility.

I would register the hyphenated dot-com and the non hyphenated dot-net, then build my web site on the dot-net.


quack

 

[adoptabledomains]

Originally posted by FoxDale
So is it better to have:

usa-bank-account.com or usaBankAccount.net
racingcar.net or racing-car.com

etc..

Dot-com is popular because it's the default standard that people type first, meaning the owner of a hyphenated or alternat TLD will likely lose some traffic to the .com owner. If they're not direct competitiors, then i think the .net makes a lot more sense giving a different character to the name. There are a lot of markets that are well worth being second fiddle to the dot-com owner.

It the domain is secondary generic, different from the actual company name, and only used for keyword search engine listings, then the hyphenated may be a good choice.

If both were available, I'd register both and point the hyphen at the .net which I'd market.

 

[Whois-Search]

Sometimes its better

whoissearch whois-search

 

[Biggie]

Originally posted by Whois-Search
Sometimes its better

whoissearch whois-search

I agree...

whoisdirectory.com >> whois-directory.com

 

[domainer111]

It's a fair question.

I bought moviescripts.net a while back as a compliment to movie-scripts.com.

The com has a few hits.

I'm thinking .com has the edge.

JMO.

 

[GT Web]

as everyone knows, I have fast-autos.com which gets about 1000 hits a day, good traffic, but its hard to sell cause of the hyphen, I would rather own fastautos.net with the same traffic....

lol anyone interested in my hyphen domain.... I must say it is hard to tell to someone when speaking aloud....fast -dash- autos just sounds awful

 

[jberryhill]

For a commercial site, you are better off without the hyphen. A domain name only works if you can say it on the radio and not leave people guessing.

 

[actnow]

If fastcars.com and fastcars.net are not available. Then, I have
to settle for fast-cars.com. And, wait for one of the other domains to drop.

Also, as a general rule. I alway buy both (fast-cars.com and fastcars.net) when possible.

 

[TrafficMonsterRRR]

hyphen vs .net is a tough call
THe future use of the name should be a greater factor, also the level of sucess of the non-hyphenated name that is presumably taken.
If your name cannot be described by a synonym and a .com is a must then go with the .com hyphen, esp if (the part before the TLD) has a lot of type-ins.

I think it's the entire picture not jsut .net vs the hyphenated .com
Just my.02 DNF$

 

[adoptabledomains]

Here's my favorite list of REAL and ACTIVE domains in desperate need of a hyphen.
(Are these people blind not to see "SexChange" in their domain name?)

Antiquesexchange.com (old transexuals, or trading of antiques?)
Bankersexchange.com
Boatersexchange.com
Buildersexchange.com
Homebuyersexchange.com
Homesexchange.com (wow, do it yourself)
kidsexchange.net (sounds illegal)
Salesexchange.com (expains how to be successful in an internet business...Maybe they could start by looking closely at their own name...)
Sportsmensexchange.com
Tradersexchange.com
Truckersexchange.com
Womansexchange.com (to or from?)

and the *s hits sites:
Kidshits.info
mp3shits.com

Or
PrinterSexPress.com (PrintersExpress.com - Fast printer or pornography press?)

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

[Corwin]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: