hyphenated domains xxx-xxxx.xx - Hurt Value?

[GoPC]

Perhaps I should have asked this BEFORE I bought a bunch of them but does a dash (or hyphen) seriously hurt an otherwise good domain?

For example: Real-Mortgages.com or Loan-Spot.net or say Coffee-Machines.com

I like them but how does the hyphen affect searches, SEO, traffic, resale... whatever?

GoPC

 

[Andrew Shaw]

Yes, a hyphen will always hurt the domain name, unless the words used are intended to have a hyphen (example: pop-up.com) It also depends on what keywords you use, more generic keywords will lesson the value as well. (examples: Home-Mortgage.com is better then Quick-Mortgage.com)

Although there are some that see nothing wrong with a hyphen, over-all you will see that people will tend to turn their heads when they come accross a hypenated domain name.

 

[hugegrowth]

They are generally good for search engines, easier for search engines to read them I guess. I see them more in advertising now too, I think generally people are getting more used to them. If it's two strong keywords then all the better. I noticed they were getting more popular a while ago and after doing some searching found that most strong two word combos are already gone (with the dash in between). Have also seen some decent xxx to xxxx sales of hyphenated domains at dnjournal.

 

[Bookworm SEO]

they're easier for humans to read and avoid confusion, a la expertsexchange ... expert sex change or experts exchange? no problem if you've got experts-exchange...
my seo readings have said it makes no difference. i also know of a travel site doing well with hotel-city.com

 

[StockDoctor]

Url bar type in traffic Commies hate them.

Search bar type in traffic Alties love them.

Pick your poison.

 

[loho27]

The only time they are a problem is if you have to say "dash", It is hard to market offline when you say the the term dash.

Most search engine read the "dash" as a "space" so it can be very beneficial.

They are best for generic terms, not brands.

 

[etech-peter]

I think a hyphen in a domain does affect the value of the domain. Hyphenated domains are not good for branding purposes, you tend to loose type-in traffic to your site to the non-hyphenated name and they are certainly not good for word of mouth publicity.

 

[GoPC]

A popular hyphenated name that I see around alot in this part of hte Country is Cars-4-Sale... See it everywhere.

I agree... in "natural" usage, it works... to use a dash just to get a phrase that you can't get normally, that's when it doesn't.

In that case, hope for the Search engine to make up the difference

Thanks for all your input. Great discussion!

GoPC