hyphenating KW domains?

[jlknauff]

quick question on KW domains-should the be hyphenated or not?

[seokid]

Doesn't really matter, Google seems to be able to pull keywords out of nonhyphonated domains. Hyphens in my opinion don't work as well for word of mouth visitors. If you can't get the non hyphonated domain try for something else that is short and relevant to your industry but if it's not available then get the hyphonated domain.

[SPARKO]

its nice to see your domain glow when you put in a search for well whatever.... Its a good start. Do you mean also url's like www.mysite.yea/targeted-keyword.html thats a good think also ...

[owlcroft]

Google seems to be able to pull keywords out of nonhyphonated domains.I have a special fondness for "seems", "apparently", and their many cousins.

Granted, once a domain is gotten, it's gotten; but, when looking forward, whyever not use hyphens? If there is a 99.9% probability that Google can successfully extract the keywords without hyphenation, why take even a .01% chance?!?

(Incidentally, it seems commonly believed that the common underscore separator does not work as well as a simple hyphen.)

Hyphens in my opinion don't work as well for word of mouth visitors.You try telling someone to visit ritzvillemuseums-dot-org. Me, I prefer telling them to visit ritzville-hyphen-museums-dot-org. Mais chacun a son gout.

[JohnScott]

[QUOTE=seokid]Doesn't really matter, Google seems to be able to pull keywords out of nonhyphonated domains.[/QUOTE]

Google isn't able to parse keywords that are run together, even though the highlight function leads many to believe otherwise.

[SPARKO]

Thanks John Scott, I was curious about that. Nice to have something cleared up.
It's not my strand but hey just curious if you did a search for computer sales and in your site you had computersales (without the space) would that show up highlighted?
Of course I could try myself but hey...

[I, Brian]

Domain names seem to have particular weight in Inktomi-fired engines, but Google seems pretty ambivalent - you can simply use keyworded folder paths anyway, and focus on branded domains if you're looking at setting up a long-term site investment.

However, as I've said elsewhere, it is often worth registering variations of your important business sites - and that includes with and without hyphens - otherwise someone may well register them for you, and try and pick off traffic from mis-spelled URLs, links, etc, to your site - or simply try to claim on the reputation of your brand name.

[jlknauff]

Thanks for your input everyone.

[brkseven]

I'll throw in my opinion:

Quote: Google seems to be able to pull keywords out of nonhyphonated domains

Yes, I would confirm this as long as the domain contains keywords for which the page has been optimized.

[Virginia SEO]

Look at the domain name we are on right now (http://www.seo-guy.com)! Do I need to say more!!! ;)