Hyphenated Domain Names: Do They Rank?

bynathaniell

101K followers

Updated 9 years ago

Back when I started one of my websites in 2012, I chose a hyphenated domain name. The non-hyphenated version cost over $3,000, so I opted to buy the $10 version instead!

But then I was constantly haunted by the idea that a hyphenated domain name would hurt my rank, or damage my business in the long-term.

After asking around SEO circles, the consensus was that YES, I had made a mistake! Bummer. But then I continued to ask normal bloggers as well as do my own research int Google's "official" word on the matter, and there seemed to be no evidence of it.

The only case study I could find was from back in 2010-2011, where someone purchased and EMD with all possible domain extensions, including the dot com with hyphens. The hyphenated version did rank poorly (near the bottom), but it had multiple hyphens, and the study only followed the rank over the course of a month, and was populated with mediocre content.

4 years later, my domain has no problem ranking. In fact, I've collected a few examples from recent searches (and will continue to add), showing that hyphenated domain names in fact, do rank well in search!

That being said, I still advice against using them, when possible. For one, it's a pain in the butt to explain your website address. Where's the hyphen? Is a hyphen and a dash the same thing?

Also, EMDs are not as powerful as they were in previous years, so it's not really that big of a deal whether you get a keyword in your domain or not. It's great if you can, but not required, since your pages will rank individually based on their own keywords.

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Conclusion

If you have a domain with a hyphen, rest easy, you'll be fine. If you are considering buying a domain with a hyphen, consider other options before purchasing. There are more factors to consider when building a business outside of just "keyword in the domain name".

Should you opt for a hyphenated name, I suggest using just one, as well as putting it in a place that's easy to remember. I don't have any evidence that more hyphens are worse than fewer, but that's the general consensus. It could however, just be another case of SEO voodoo!

Also keep in mind that the vast majority of domains ranking do not contain dashes, so I'm not saying you should go buy a bunch of keyword-optimized dash-filled domains!

Don't forget, you can now purchase domains at Wealthy Affiliate! https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites/domains

They've done away with the shady upsell process and expensive renewal rates you'll find at a lot of domain registrars these days.

Here are the examples I've found so far, and I'll continue to add them as I come across them in SERPs.

Example #1

Actually, I can't remember search term. I was researching something about canned food and survivalism. That's a lot of hyphens!

Example # 2

This is a very famous brand and website in the online entrepreneur circle of influence. I tweeted the owner a few years ago and he said he's never had any issues ranking or growing his business.

Example # 3

My own domain ranking for a highly searched, competitive phrase!

Example # 4

135 searches, 27 QSR

Notice that the location of the hyphen can vary!