space or hyphens in URL ok?

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It does seem to be harder to rank sites initially with a hyphen in the url. However, when domains age this does not seem to be a problem. I've got a 6 year old domain with 3 hyphens in the url that ranks well for some competitive terms. But in the short terms hyphens seem to be a negative factor as far as Google is concerned.
 
goldstrike4u said:
It does seem to be harder to rank sites initially with a hyphen in the url. However, when domains age this does not seem to be a problem. I've got a 6 year old domain with 3 hyphens in the url that ranks well for some competitive terms. But in the short terms hyphens seem to be a negative factor as far as Google is concerned.
Click to expand...

I've experienced the same thing - my domains with hyphens in have all been harder to rank than the ones without, definitely try and get one without.
 
Just put extra effort in your keywords, content and backlinks. Funny how searchengine.com doesn't rank 1'st when you google search engines. Domain name ranking is an asset but over rated.
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One hyphen (linking two different words) is ok. Its not as good as not having the hyphen but its not the end of the world.
 
In my opinion, Hyphens doesnt change anything at all.

I have websites ranking #1 on Google with 2 hypens in the url...
 
Well you can rank domains with completely unrelated words and get the number 1 spot in Google.

Whether you get the same SEO advantage for having keywords + hyphens as you would for just keywords in your url is up for debate.
 
I have an authority site site ranked no.1 on G, bing and Yahoo for all of the niches top searched keys and it has a hyphen in the url.
I find that one hypen is ok. Pure whitehat too!!!!
 
Hyphens are not a problem. Just checked on one of my hyphen sites for a hot keyword. It's in the pimp spot for Google, Yahoo, Bing and the others with only a few backlinks. It has great keyword characteristics going for it however.
 
2 weeks ago some yahoo tried to sell me a domain for $15,000. he said i'd be sorry if i didn't buy it... i typed the name of his domain and it's on the 2nd page of google.

i immediately got a domain with the exact same name as the one he tried to sell me, but it has a hypen.

it's now on the first page of yahoo after only 7 days. :D
 
I've found that domains with hypens are slightly harder to rank, but nothing an extra hour or two of SEO can't handle.
 
5 years ago the experts were saying they got higher rankings, because the hyphens made the words easier to read by the search engines.
 
Great!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

I have a PR ranked 5 site wth 5k visitors... which will feed this new hyphen based site
so I think I might be ok. The feeding site has the same second word... and so the new site is supposed to be a brand name subsidery... you know?

That debate is good... It shows what I knew which was its not ideal but even with the hyphen my URL name is nice. brand wise. Not keyword wise.
 
Hyphens for the most part are death for SERP ranks. My rule is treat a hyphen like what it is, a minus sign .
 
My view on this is a simple one. If you have a choice, stick to the non-hyphenated url's.

My test is simple. Go to Google and search on some of the most popular niches and you'll find that on average, you'll get 1 or 2 hyphenated terms in the top 10 at a max.

Seeing as I don't believe in coincidence... What this says to me is that Google is giving some kind of advantage to non-hyphenated url's even if they're not as exact as the search term.



Peter
 
Just a question for BHW members who claim hyphens are death: is this opinion or is this based on real world experience? In my real world experience hyphens can rank as well any other url particularly if they have good keyword characteristics backed by other SERP characteristics. I had an easy time claiming the pimp spot in Google for a very competitive spot with a hyphenated URL and have had good results with three other hyphenated sites.

I should add that was for a single hyphen; the jury is out regarding two or more based on my own experience.

Again, your mileage may vary and I would love to hear other's real world experiences and not just opnions based on tired cliches.
 
i see a lot of debate. i think if people are ranking #1 it says that there is no SIGNIFICANT difference. i myself have bot and have not seen a big difference.
 
Google hates hyphe's so I would say no don't do it.
 
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