“Dashed” or “Non-Dashed” Domain Names

There is an ongoing debate in the internet marketing world about whether “dashes” in a domain name are detrimental to search engine optimization, i.e. Chris-Sutton-Is-Cool.com. The answer? It definitely can be! I have always used dashes in domain names to help separate the keywords and, up until now, it has worked fairly well.

Now, however, there are more pitfalls to using dashes than there are benefits.  Recently, Google has been changed the way they look at domain names with dashes. In a best-case scenario, Google will simply ignore your domain name. The dashes won’t help at all. In a worst-case scenario, Google will penalize you for using dashes. Why the change? Well, it’s really very simple.

People were using domain names with dashes in very aggressive search engine optimization campaigns. Because of this many search engines started viewing websites that used domain names with dashes as suspicious and they started penalizing websites that used them.

There is also another drawback to using dashes in a domain name. They are harder to remember and they are harder to type in when people want to go directly to the URL. You want to make it as simple as possible for people to find you on the Internet.

What are some guidelines for registering domain names? Well, I’m glad you asked…

1. Don’t use “dashes” in the domain name.

2. Keep your domain name as short as possible. You need to try to keep it under 25 characters.

3. Always try to get the .com version of your domain name. If it is taken, the .net or .org would be your next choice.

4. Try to use your primary keyword or keyword phrase in your domain name.

5. If you are going to brand yourself, use your brand name as the domain name. Some famous brand names are cocacola.com, microsoft.com, apple.com, drpepper.com, nike.com, etc.

6. Mainly, try to keep your domain name as simple as possible. Make it as easy as possible for your customer to find you.

If you already have an established domain name, don’t change it to try to make it better. Search engines have started giving more precedence to websites that have been around a while. The age of the website is becoming more and more important. Search engines have also started looking at the age and quality of your links. For these reasons, changing domain names in the middle of the stream can cause you more harm than good!