Dotcom with dashes v dotnet without?

[MAllie]

Which of these do you guys think is better, first from a domaining point of view and then from a development point of view?

XXXXX-XXX-XXXX.com or XXXXXXXXXXXX.net

The name is a well-known three-word phrase that has 336,000,000 searches on Google.

[draggar]

Why not get both? It'll only be an extra $7-$10.

Use .com and point the .net to it.

[DomainName]

.net

either way the owner of the .com without dashed will receive some of your traffic.

[MAllie]

Thanks, Ed and DomainName.

Yes, I was thinking that getting both might be the best option.

[copper]

I would get both.

[draggar]

.net

either way the owner of the .com without dashed will receive some of your traffic.

True, but I think they would get more of her traffic if she uses & promotes the .net than with the hyphenated .com

[Melly]

I would purchase both. Develop the .net and point the .com. Im rather backwards.

[ecomindia]

both
XXXXX-XXX-XXXX.com and XXXXXXXXXXXX.net

or
XXXXX-XXX-XXXX.com + xxxxxxxx-xxxx.com + xxxxx-xxxxxxx.com ;-)

i still remember debating on hyphens from 2003 in one of the forums webmasterworld.. and expect i will discuss it in 2033 as welll

[MAllie]

Hmmm, thanks, everyone. Plenty of food for thought here. I've taken both the hyphenated dotcom and the nonhyphenated dotnet. I wonder if the others aren't a step too far.

I read somewhere recently that the search engine can sometimes even prefer the hyphenated dotcom over the nonhyphenated, as it's easier to make out the words, but I'm not sure if that was a wind-up. Does a computer read in the same way we do?

[draggar]

I read somewhere recently that the search engine can sometimes even prefer the hyphenated dotcom over the nonhyphenated, as it's easier to make out the words, but I'm not sure if that was a wind-up. Does a computer read in the same way we do?

In a nutshell - search engines only care about SEO. Keywords in the domain can help but it seems like you'll have this with both domains.

[copper]

I read somewhere recently that the search engine can sometimes even prefer the hyphenated dotcom over the nonhyphenated, as it's easier to make out the words, but I'm not sure if that was a wind-up. Does a computer read in the same way we do?

Early days, yes.
Not any more.

However, some European countries especially German like hyphenated domains.
At least that's what I heard

[katherine]

I would say it depends on how you intend to promote the domain.
If your approach is SEO-only then you don't care about the hyphen. Actually you don't care too much about the extension or the domain itself.
On the other hand if you want to do heavy branding, IMO it's a must to avoid the hyphen.

[ecomindia]

totally agree with kate .. websites do not care much about its name (not totally), good domain name in such cases is good 2 have, not must to have!

[MAllie]

If your approach is SEO-only then you don't care about the hyphen.

Thanks, that's most interesting. So this is a general guide to how to develop particular mini-sites - any hyphenated ones should be heavy on SEO, the others can be less so?

[Dale Hubbard]

One hyphen is fine. Three keywords spread over two hyphens -- no so cool.

[james2002]

Neither.

Will try to get a .com without any hyphen.

[Dale Hubbard]

Trying is the name of this game

[MAllie]

Exactly, Dale - easier said than done.

So, James, if you can't get the nonhyphenated dotcom, you'd go for the dotnet? Or you simply wouldn't bother?

[james2002]

Exactly, Dale - easier said than done.

So, James, if you can't get the nonhyphenated dotcom, you'd go for the dotnet? Or you simply wouldn't bother?

I will try to buy an appropriate .com. If I go for .net, you are working hard for .com owner in a way.

You can always combine with "e, i , my , your, the, site, website " etc...

[MAllie]

Yes, I see that, James. But if you do a good job, isn't there a chance that after a few months your dotnet will come above the dotcom on the search engine? Unless people put the address straight into the bar, when that won't matter.