hypens in domains and are they better?

[mikeylondon]

Hi

Just wanted to know if for example i was buying a domain name based on two keywords E.g "blue" and "car".

I could buy the domain in two ways

1) bluecar.com

2) blue-car.com


My question is by having the hypen in there does this mean that if a user was to search with the words the opposite way i.e "car blue" my site would appear if i had the hypen and maybe would not appear if i didn't it? Is this correct?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[ScottJ]

A hyphen does not make a difference, there is no advantage in it for seo purposes nowadays.

 

[mikeylondon]

Thanks Scott

But would my site stand a chance of appearing if the domain was BlueCar when the search terms "car blue" had been searched instead of "blue car"?


I am doing some research and i am seeing some sites appear i.e BLUE-CAR.COM if there is a hypen and the keywords are searched opposite to the way the URL is i.e "car blue"

Cheers,

Mike

 

[rjs_essex]

A hyphen does not make a difference, there is no advantage in it for seo purposes nowadays.

And thats why I think hypenated names are undervalued... Aside from possible traffic leak and the pronounciation of a non-hypenated name being prefered due to the 'radio test' I think hypenated keyword generics are a good investment and ideal for development.

Rich

 

[mikeylondon]

Thanks rjs_essex

So from your experience are you finding this as well?

Do you buy mostly hypenated domains?


Mike

(PS where in Essex? I have a friend in Southend)

 

[accelerator]

Hi

Just wanted to know if for example i was buying a domain name based on two keywords E.g "blue" and "car".

I could buy the domain in two ways

1) bluecar.com

2) blue-car.com


My question is by having the hypen in there does this mean that if a user was to search with the words the opposite way i.e "car blue" my site would appear if i had the hypen and maybe would not appear if i didn't it? Is this correct?

Cheers,

Mike

In terms of domain value, then bluecar.com is much better than blue-car.com.

My advice would be aim to buy bluecar.com and only buy blue-car.com if the former is not available.

Search engines can recognise the two words in bluecar.com, they don't need the hyphen to be able to do this.

Your question about getting ranked for "car blue" isn't relevant because neither of these domains will give you an advantage for that - if you want to rank for "car blue" you either need a separate page on your site optimised to the phrase or buy the domain carblue.com as well.

Rgds

 

[rjs_essex]

I buy hypenated domains because I think they are undervalued... I don't see any reasons not to buy them except for the fact that their resale value is lower than their non-hypenated counterparts but if you intend to develop them I think they are an excellent oppurtunity.

Rich

P.S. Just up the road from Southend!

 

[mikeylondon]

Hi accelerator

Thanks for your advice and taking the time to reply.

Just that when i do a particular search this has occured. So when i search (not the real example) "blue car" both BlueCar and BLUE-CAR.COM appear.

However when i search "car blue" only BLUE-CAR.COM appears. Now what i don't know is this site raking higher due to other factors etc

Mike

 

[philiporchard]

I like hyphenated names

However, no comparison in terms of value.

Possibly 2-5% of non hyphenated name at best

I sold San-Jose.com for $12,500. The non hyphenated would be worth at least 30x this.

I own Hardwood-Flooring.com. Probably only worth 5% that of the non hyphenated.

Undervalued - yes I would agree, especially as no difference in terms of SEO.

 

[Admin]

The top selling hyphen I know of is still Online-Gambling.co.uk

I think if you choose carefully they do have value.

Admin

p.s. if you put just a "-" in the keywords search box on domain prices, you will get a list of all the sold hyphens in my database

 

[accelerator]

However when i search "car blue" only BLUE-CAR.COM appears. Now what i don't know is this site raking higher due to other factors etc

I would guess it is other factors at play, but maybe you have discovered something. The only way to settle this question would be to register some test domains and set up test sites.

Either way, if you want to rank on "car blue", then you are better off using dedicated SEO on this term or dedicated domains on the term and not trying to make bluecar or blue-car rank for it.

I do register hypenated domains, but usually only when I can't get the non-hyphenated - if you set up a successful site on the hyphenated, you will get inevitable leakage to the non-hyphenated.

Rgds

 

[retired_member34]

Undervalued - yes I would agree, especially as no difference in terms of SEO.

I would agree Philip that they are undervalued, but I think there is one major difference in SEO terms.

Whilst they still give you the advantage of having the search term in the anchor text, I believe the hyphenated misses out on a Google exact match "boost".

I recently sold a hyphenated domain and matching website (2 keyword phrase) to the owner of the non hypenated domain. The exact website was then placed on the non hyphenated version, with a 301 redirect from hyphenated to non hyphenated.

Within weeks it went from being not in the top 100 to being no 10 in the Google results for the exact match search term (and this is a very competitive, easily monetised term) and with barely any links.

I haven't given the domain as the owner is a member on Acorn, I'll leave it up to him if he wishes to post it, but the difference was startling to me.

Cheers.

 

[Jonny Boy]

this thread has been very helpful cheers all

 

[dashu1]

And thats why I think hypenated names are undervalued... Aside from possible traffic leak and the pronounciation of a non-hypenated name being prefered due to the 'radio test' I think hypenated keyword generics are a good investment and ideal for development.

Rich

I agree with that, I have a few hyphenated domains that are at very high in google & yahoo.

There is also the problem with non hyphenated names that you can end up with multiple words that you don't want that might confuse google - ie where the last letters of one word & first letters of the next create a new word, like the infamous:

whorepresents - who represents or whore presents?
expertsexchange - experts exchange or expert sex change?
penisland - pen island or ...?

 

[Jonny Boy]

ha someone has been watching too much QI

 

[Webtoolkeeper]

one word domains are alreays better than hypens..

 

[khalid]

A hyphen does not make a difference, there is no advantage in it for seo purposes nowadays.

I have to agree, and certainly without makes it easier to type in!

 

[marka]

I recently sold a hyphenated domain and matching website (2 keyword phrase) to the owner of the non hypenated domain. The exact website was then placed on the non hyphenated version, with a 301 redirect from hyphenated to non hyphenated.

Within weeks it went from being not in the top 100 to being no 10 in the Google results for the exact match search term (and this is a very competitive, easily monetised term) and with barely any links.

I know that this is probably not the right place to extend this point, but could you elaborate a bit more about this? Are you saying that it is worth buying hyphenated domains if you have the non-hyphenated version and doing the 301 redirect from hyphenated to non hyphenated as a matter of course? Or was it just in this case the website you had did the trick in combination with the non-hyphenated domain?

Alternatively I may have just misinterpreted what you meant anyway

 

[retired_member34]

I know that this is probably not the right place to extend this point, but could you elaborate a bit more about this? Are you saying that it is worth buying hyphenated domains if you have the non-hyphenated version and doing the 301 redirect from hyphenated to non hyphenated as a matter of course? Or was it just in this case the website you had did the trick in combination with the non-hyphenated domain?

Alternatively I may have just misinterpreted what you meant anyway

The point was that the non hyphenated did vastly better than the hyphenated in the search results, with all other things remaining equal (same website on the domain, same inlinks). Wasn't trying to make any other point.

 

[dashu1]

The point was that the non hyphenated did vastly better than the hyphenated in the search results, with all other things remaining equal (same website on the domain, same inlinks). Wasn't trying to make any other point.

But had the non-hyphenated domain been indexed previously? If it had then you also have to take into account that you then had 2 websites, each of which had been indexed, had both the same words in the domain, probably similar content, definitely the same keywords, and then one of them is suddenly exclusively pointing at the other - that would give the non-hyphenated a huge boost & it wouldn't solely be down the the hyphen/non hyphen debate.

You may have found the same thing if the 301 had been the other way around.