Re: Domain name vs. Domain-name ....

It does not matter that if the search engines love the hyphenated version more if you are looking to establish a business. That sounds stupid but it is true. Your main concern with your domain name is marketability. Hyphenated domains are significantly less marketeble than a long (over 10 charachters) domain name simply because they are less memorable.

I suggest you go to http://www.namepros.com - the #2 domain name industry forum. I'd tell you to go to the #1 forum but it is no longer free to post and you can't even read without a paid membership. It does not matter, some argue that nameProse.com is better anyway.

You should go there and post your question. However, your question has been asked a bunch of times so all you really need to do is do a search and browse through the posts and you'll find a good many threads devoted to your exact situation.

I'm not saying hyphenated domains are all bad, but in most cases they are not the best choice.

I never buy anything from an eShop that has a hyphenated domain. It shows me that these are newbies. Not that buying from a newbie is bad, but it also shows me that they are not too savvy and perhaps not serious about their business. Hyphenated domains with an ecommerce is a terrible marketing move. People simply would rather not type in the hyphens (especially if there is more than one) if they even remember them anyway.

If you are setting up a business site, here something you might want to consider. If you can find a domain name that is a keyword domain like workathome.com then register both that and it's hyphenated counterpart work-at-home. Develop the non hyphenated domain as your mains site. then, use the hyphenated domain as a content site. SE's love content. But do not duplicate any part of your non-hyphenated site as SEs hate this. Simply make the hyphenated domain a cotent rich site pertaining to subjuect closely related to your business devoting a page to each of the search terms that people use to search for your businessinfo. but the key is that you include links to your non-hyphenated site. This will help you to get traffic to your main site in the long run (your non-hyphenated site). this way, you are still getting exposure for your non-hyph site but not using any redirects which will most likely hurt you SE-wise in the long run.

One last thing on the domain. If you find a name and there is only the .NET available, do not bother as you could through some of your future traffic away to the .COM owner. Not worth it. Just think of another name where the .COM is available. .COM is the most widely known TLD. I suggest you go woth no other even if .NET or other TLDs suit the site better (like if you have a tech forum, .net would be more suited). Let's face it, all the TLDs are abused at this point. People are using .COM for not COMmerce sites. So is the game and I think everyone should play the game accordingly if you can. even if you plan on using the .NET as your primary site, make sure you get the .COM and redirect to it. In this case, redirecting will not be a problem as you do not care much about the .COM. You simply are protecting yourself from traffic stealers and even domain squatters (should your site ever become even remotely successsful).

Good luck.

> If you had to choose a domain name, which is better:

> www.my-domain.com

> or

> www.mydomain.com

> I've heard the search engines like the top one. But humans like the
> latter. If you set the domain for the latter, but submit the former to the
> SE, then you have a re-direct, and SE's don't like those?

> What's best?
> Thanks in advance!