Is a Hyphenated Dot-Com Better Than a Clean Dot-Net?

What makes for a better domain name, a hyphenated dot-com like "Cheap-Domains.Com" or a "clean" dot-net name like "CheapDomains.Net" with no hyphen? To find the answer you first have to ask yourself what "better" means in this instance. Better for what? What do you plan to do with the domain?

Are you just planning to register and park it with hopes that people will stumble across it by accident and hit on an ad or two? If that's the case than forget the hyphen; people aren't in the habit of typing hyphens in the address block and you won't see much traffic. But keep the dot-com if you can; dot-nets aren't exactly second nature for address-block typists in the real world either.

Planning to auction it off with hopes of a high price? In that case the hyphen will probably weigh it down; for better or worse, the people who make the market in domain names have decided that hyphens are a negative influence on price. A dot-com is usually preferred; but burden it with a hyphen and the same domain name with a dot-net would be much better.

Or maybe you're planning to build your business website around the domain name? If that's the case than be careful with the hyphenated name. If you have to use a hyphen that means somebody else already has the clean dot-com and you don't want to do his advertising for him; he will likely get the most benefit from address-block searchers. It's possible to run afoul of the trademark laws too; a name like I-B-M might cost more in legal fees than you could ever hope to make with it. Go with the dot-net or even a dot-biz or dot-bz.

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Keyword Rich Vs Branded Domain Names - Which is Better For SEO?

Keyword Rich/Targeted Domain Names

One belief is that you should have generic keywords you want to target in your domain name. For example, if you are a web designer in Sydney you might choose a domain name such as qualitywebdesigninsydney.com.

Branded Domain Names

The second belief is that your domain name should represent your brand. You might run a company called Whicked Reality Inc, so your domain name would then be whickedreality.com or something along those lines.

Keyword vs Branded Domain Names - Which is better?

So which is better for SEO, the keyword or the branded domain name? Branded domain names are the cleaner, safer bet.

Sure, search engines analyse URLs for keywords, but they clearly filter out questionable domain names. In the two examples above, qualitywebdesignsydney.com looks horrible to the human eye, so chances are it will look horrible to the search engine algorithms. That is, it will look horrible unless the page contains some great quality content.

You only have to look up a popular search term in Google for proof that long, wordy domain names aren't generally the way to go. SEO is a term that would certainly come up with sites that have been optimized to the nth degree. Put it in Google and you won't find any mega-long-silly-domain-names.com. It's a similar story when you search for the term search engine optimization.

Some of the sites in the SERPs do contain the term seo but it is always used within a branding context and not simply to boost a search engine ranking.

Keywords in Page Names

If you really feel the need to have some keywords in your URL, then I suggest putting those keywords in either directory or page names. For example, if you run a web hosting and web design company you might structure your pages as so:

www.companyname.com/web-design/quote.html

www.companyname.com/web-hosting/packages.html

As you can see, we've hit the target keywords of web design and web hosting without compromising a simple and classy looking companyname.com.

Conclusion

• Choose a simple, relevant, branded domain name. The one exception is if you manage to pick up a nice one or two word generic keyword domain name, but most are taken already.


• Structure your site/URLs so that you hit the most important 1 or 2 keywords in your directory or page structure.


• Keep optimizing your site with other SEO tips and tricks.


• Always remember - content is king - so make your pages useful and informative for people.

Scott is an active author at Goo Theory, a site dedicated to helping you market your web sites and maximize profits.

Why Keyword Research is Better Than Sex

I have all my websites and affiliate sites all set up for the festive season so I thought I would have a crack at micro niche AdSense sites which are going off like gangbusters at the minute.

6 days ago I crank up Google AdWords keyword tool (GAKT) and start throwing in any old niche and start drilling down. I already have my criteria set out that the keyword phrase has to meet and you go through quite a few before you hit a nugget.

I am sitting here clicking away when my daughter walks in the room and tells her mother that she just bought a popular brand of perfume for herself. Now my family accuse me of turning off when I am on the computer but when my wife asked what brand of perfume, and my daughter told her, my ears stood to attention immediately.

Bang!! I whack my term into GAKT and while the little coloured balls are jiggling across the screen deciding my fate I tell my 18" screen how much I love her and to please be good to me. ( I don't really...)

YES!! She comes back and tells me that 6,600 other people are searching for her exactly every month and that there are numerous people paying money to advertise her assets.

SAFE AT FIRST BASE

I am fairly excited at this stage but have to tell myself to calm down, go reeeeal slow, there is a lot more boxes to tick before we snatch up this little hummer. Right now all I want to do is go hammer and tong at this to find out if I have a winner but I decide to pull back and simply admire my technique so far.

At this stage I invite GAKT's sister to join in the act. Google Search is going to tell me about the competition I have for this little beauty. Once again, I have criteria that have to be met in terms of my competitors. I will only be successful if I am on top. After all, top 5 on page 1 is vital.

I JUST STOLE 2 BASES

The competition is quite low. I will not go into figures etc, that is for a different post, but I am delighted so far. High searches and low competition on a term that, especially with xmas coming up, is going to be more popular than the queen of the prom.

Right now I am sweating profusely. I can feel the excitement building up as I am getting closer to utopia. My muscles start to tighten. My keyboard strokes are getting faster and faster with more intent in each one. My only hurdle between climbing Everest or certain doom is the domain name. I have recently come to the conclusion that exact name domains are the way to go. No dashes or hyphens.

Please, don't stop now. I grab one of my favorite tools, ajaxwhois.com, to check availability. For those that don't know this tool tells you if the domain is available as you are typing in your keyword. I begin typing in the 3 word phrase. I am checking.com,.net and.org. The pressure I am feeling is enormous. I am going to explode soon.

Firstly,.com is gone. I sigh but push on relentlessly. Soon I am told that.net is a no-no too. It cannot be happening. All the ground work has been laid. I can't fail now. I refuse to accept defeat.

STOP RIGHT THERE.. I GOTTA KNOW RIGHT NOW

It all hinges on.org. Whats it gunna be boy. Yes or No, Whats it gunna be boy.

YEEES OR NOOOO

I couldn't take it any longer..... (you know the rest)

YES....YES....YESSSSS (Think Meg Ryan here)

I have done it. It is available. A sense of relief envelops me as I have reached my climactic end of research. I jump wildly up from my chair, pumping the air with my fists and yelling in rapture when it finally hits me.

My wife's feather duster that is. Smack in the back of the scone. She is so over my rantings for the last 10 minutes and had an explosion of her own. I bet the Earth didn't move for her.

I sprint over to GoDaddy and pick up my beautiful .org and race her back to our cozy little C Panel. While tucking her in to her new home I spoil her rotten. I give her optimisation like you have never seen. I lavish her with the most beautiful jpg's and I give her a title and description that any search engine would fall in love with.

I introduce her to the world in all her splendor. She is radiant and I stare at her, mesmorised by her beauty and elegance. But will the rest of the world have the same feelings as I?

I go to a few neighbours houses and introduce her. I even dropped her name to people I didn't know. Important people, like Mr and Mrs PR7 and above and it worked, for within 5 days she makes her debut to the world at #10

I am so proud of her. Such a rapid riser and a hard worker for since debuting 2 days ago she has earnt me $3.85. Now, I am going down the pub for a beer and brag to my mates about my latest conquest.

Craig has been researching and writing articles for over 6 years. You can view his latest work at www.pcroleplayinggames.org or head over now to red door perfume