Exact key word domains and Domain name with hyphens - do they still work?

limberg Level 1

October 9, 2017, 7:29 pm

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I've read in a certain SEO course that it is more effective to include your keywords in your domain name. And if you're targeting a long tail keyword, it's better to separate the keywords with hyphens. But this was a couple of years ago.

Fast forward to this day, I would like to know if it's still effective. Does Google still give preference to websites with keywords put in their domain names? What about using hyphens? Is it advisable? Or does Google consider this black hat and penalize your site?

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vinaya

vinaya

A great domain is the one that is one or two words, do not contain special characters (hyphens for instance) and has keywords. If you use an hyphen in a domain, you are less likely to get direct traffic because no one will remember the hypen. Google will understand your two keywords whether you separate with a hyphen or do not use a hyphen. For instance if your chosen domain name is SEO Service, Google will understand it whether the domain is seoservice or seo_service.

9 years ago

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jpyy

jpyy

Exact match domains (what you're referring to) can help a lot, but they don't have nearly the power they had some years back. In fact, EMD used to be a trick for Google SEO and it survived on Bing a few years after that. However, now I'm guessing Bing has cracked down on the practice. Anyway, it was probably a good thing, as it's just a cheating shortcut - because such a situation can be used to fool visitors into thinking a quality website is present.

9 years ago

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overcast

overcast

I think exact match domains work even without SEO. You can see that not everything is about SEO. Some of the times the branding and the demand for the exact match domains may be different for many of us. So we have to look for what may be good for the business. So flowershops as keyword can be used for the branding. And it can pretty much come up with many leads in due time as well. That's what I have found out. So barring the SEO issue. You should focus on branding and have one spare exact match domain on your side.

9 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

I'm not sure where you heard this, to be honest. It doesn't matter that it was from two years ago but I doubt using hyphens in your domain name was ever a great idea and better than not using a hyphen. It's always good to have a short and memorable domain name so the fact that you have a hyphen in it is not at all good. I'm not sure if it is something to do with SEO but as a branding/marketing thing, hyphens in domains is not that good an idea.

9 years ago

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Authord

Authord

Yeah, there are things you should be checking when looking up for or buying a domain name, and one of the things there is the memorability of the domain name, can it be easily memorized?. And I don't think domain names with hyphens can be easily memorized.
And it's also not a good idea to be adding hyphens in the domain name, does not look cool to me though.

9 years ago

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kgord

kgord

I go with short and memorable too. I think that using hypens is adding extra work for nothing. Most people are not going to mess around to get the options they need. This is the thing that you need to understand when writing a domain name. Short and sweet I suggest.

9 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

When we type the address it's almost like an automatic process performed by your fingers and having to remember an hyphen is almost impossible. I don't know, it seems that our mind no longer recognizes this kind of command, haha.

Do you know what I mean? Exact key word domains and Domain name with hyphens - do they still work?

Exact key word domains and Domain name with hyphens - do they still work?

9 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

In my point of view, domain names with hyphens it's like shooting yourself in the foot. The access will be something public and the vast majority of people will always take things the easy way, so... Domain names with hyphens are really a bad / terrible idea.

I'd rather go with something simpler and creative at the same time because in that way, the chance of success will be greater.

9 years ago

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overcast

overcast

They don't necessarily meant to attract the traffic. Some people make use of them in the landing page. Like say optins and other ads. So they have their own use. But if you are branding with them. Then that would be bad. You need good short domain. And hypen use may make it a bit looking odd. So from branding point of view it is really bad.

9 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

I think that opting for the use of the hyphen is really a bad idea because among many other aspects I think aesthetically, is something very ugly. For me, it's an option that doesn't really work (but that doesn't mean it can never be used... if the idea is really good).

9 years ago

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overcast

overcast

Agree. Completely. But we don't have to discard hypen domains. We can make use of them for the affiliate landing pages. Also you can redirect the people to those domains and get the people to sign up. And that always works out for many people. I have seen people making use of the hypen domains. And it can be really good for lead generation.

9 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

Yeah. I mean, if the content is good enough then a domain with hyphens may work and may not be too much of an issue. But yeah, it is definitely much better to go with something that is a lot simpler to remember and one that is also creative enough to be catchy. A domain name is extremely important and is as important as the actual content of the website.

9 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

Unfortunately, wanting to innovate in aspects that until then are already consolidated by the vast majority of people is something very complicated. I'm not saying this should never be done (because I am in favor of evolutions in every respect) however... Resistance is something can easily frustrate people who may not be prepared to deal with it.

So, for now... You'd better stick to the "classic mode". Exact key word domains and Domain name with hyphens - do they still work?

Exact key word domains and Domain name with hyphens - do they still work?

9 years ago

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kgord

kgord

I agree because it is too hard to remember the hyphen. It is just one of the things i shoudn't be necessary to put in I don't think. I would not to want to remember to do it.

9 years ago

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jpyy

jpyy

Hyphens are terrible for memory. In fact, it might even be better to get a non-.com extension in that case. However, though, hyphenated .com domains still have some value. What might be some reasons why?

9 years ago

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keen2write

keen2write

I have a hyphen in one of my domains, but it seems to be doing ok. As, long as I can try get in ranked in google it should be ok as to it coming through in the search results. It is only one hyphen so it shouldn't be to bad.

9 years ago

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itommy

itommy

It still works and I am having domain containing hyphens in it
But anyway, it is not good as non hyphens because everyone used to tend to type no hyphens on domain.

9 years ago

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Authord

Authord

Well, I won't say it doesn't work, but it has little or no effect on the ranking, in fact google don't even look up the domain name when it is ranking the website, except when that exact keyword is typed in line with the words in your content. And that should be a deciding factor, if you are an affiliate marketer. But I don't think you should be adding hyphens to your domains, it looks weak in the eye, and people tend to lose interest in such domain names

9 years ago

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jaymish2

jaymish2

I actually think that you should not put a hyphen in your domain name. I agree with the earlier comment that a domain name with a hyphen is harder to remember and will affect the amount of traffic you get back to your site. I also think that anyone searching for a keyword will definitely not think of adding a hyphen and it will affect the traffic that you get to your site. I think the search results with a hyphen are quite different and those sites without a hyphen will be given preference.

8 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

For me as a layman in seeing the name of the domain, I would prefer is there is a hyphen or an underline that separates the word. It is easier to read pet-zone or pet_zone than petzone simply because the delimiter gives the eyes a better understanding of what is being read. What if the domain name is composed of 4 or more words and you write it without a delimiter, that would be chaotic to my eyes.

8 years ago

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