jj1

hi all

For SEO purposes is it better to use hyphens to separate keywords in a domain or not? That is, for SEO purposes, would you use:

www.keyword1keyword2.co.uk
or
www.keyword1-keyword2.co.uk

The same question applies to info that I need to put in to make a domain name unique but is not really useful SEO stuff. For example, for a new website I've got coming up I could either have:

www.rlkeyword1keyword2.co.uk
or
www.rl-keyword1-keyword2.co.uk

Would appreciate any advice.

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newguy

For SEO purposes the hyphens aren't a disadvantage. For type ins they may be. If the unhyphenated version is available go for it, if it isn't, adding a hyphen isn't the end of the world!

retired_member13

IMO,

Key1Key2 is better than Key1-Key2

I'm not sure if I'd bother spending time and money developing a domain prefixed by RL if it was a web only business (ie reliant on SERPs), as the RL negates the Exact Match search benefits, ie kills off the SEO advantage - otherwise any XYZKeyword.co.uk domain would be as good as Keyword.co.uk, which isn't the case.

If you're paying for the traffic then I guess the domain isn't so important.

donreeco

I agree with Ty_

It used to be that hyphens helped search engines separate the individual words in the domain, but this is no longer the case and imo the hyphen reduces the exact match boost.

Im not sure what your rl stands for, but for me www.rl-keyword1-keyword2.co.uk, looks spammy and wouldnt really be helping your seo either.

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newguy

Yes, two hyphens and three keywords (well, a company name/initial, but for all intents and purposes..) is a tad spammy, and much f the value from having the keywords there is likely watered down.

spondishy

Non hyphen every time... I suggest you try an seo experiment and you'll see why.

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springer

If the non-hyphen version of the domain I want is taken, I will look at other extensions such as .org.uk which can rank just as well in search engines.

jj1

Many thanks all. Have taken your comments on board.

The keyword1keyword2.co.uk is gone, but I can get:
keyword1keyword2.org
keyword1keyword2.info
keyword1keyword2.org.uk

Would any of these be as good as a .co.uk? Are any better or worse than others for seo purposes? It's a Uk company after a UK market.

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aZooZa

Up to three keywords separated by hyphens works for .co.uk. As an aside, that's why this market has many legs to run. Just my 2p.

retired_member12

There's an element of domain owners snobbery to this arguement too, as any domainer who already owns 'superwords.co.uk' is obviously going to diss 'super-words.co.uk' as sh1t!