Multiple dashes in domain name

[pow-wow]

Some webmasters said it's looks spammy having dashes in domain, then it is good for SEO purpose because it helps search engines accurately discern the keywords from the domain name.
Is it okay to register a domain with multiple dashes?

[OldWelshGuy]

It depends. The domain name does not have benefit, it is the links pointing to it that gets the benefit.

Although this is eabted time after time.

There are considerations other than SEo however.

[livetech]

Originally Posted by OldWelshGuy

There are considerations other than SEo however.

I couldn't agree more. One such consideration is if you're buying a domain name which is two words where the last letter of the first word is the same as the first letter of the last word. Then I'd try and use the hyphenated version, as it would read better. But - if it's a sizable venture - I'd also buy the unhyphenated version as well.

[OldWelshGuy]

yep, try and own the 'simple' versions to prevent loss of traffic and worse, passing off by bandwagoners.

[BungeeBones]

And did you know you can get double and triple dash domain names?

You would be amazed at what scare domain names are available. Last time I checked boston--red--sox.com for instance was available or New--York--yankees.com

Needles to say, whether single hphen or no hphen, both those names are long gone.

[smeagain]

I always think one of the most important things about a domain name is that it should be "Memorable" or easy to remember. This in my opinion is more important (by far) than stuffing a domain name full of keywords.

Think of Amazon, they have a briliant name. Every schoolchild throughout the World learns about the Amazon River in geography. The most succesful selling site inthe world started life as an online bookshop yet amazon.com is nothing whatever to do with books.

[Andyrose]

Google also seems to largely ignore dashes. I was searching for some spyware recently where every other character in the domain was a dash. I couldn't find what I wanted because it kept finding versions of the name with less dashes.

[BungeeBones]

Do you mean like I mentioned?

If so, yes and there are many. Like I have web--masters.com and got it last year. The version without a hyphen and the single hyphen are long gone so that tells you a little bit about how few people use them.

Something else that is EXTREMELY important is who will be using your website and how much will you be depending on "word of mouth" to spread the word.

If you are going to do business entirely on the web where everything is copied and pasted or saved in favorites then it really doesn't matter how convoluted the hyphens are (www.t-h-i-s-h-y-p-h-e-n-t-h-i-n-g-isoutof hand.com) but try saying that to a customer on the phone!

The other thing with dashes is there is a certain place, the fourth character I believe, where you cannot have one. Boston--red--sox.com would work but red--sox.com won't

[arora]

I am all for it for example - see Delhiinn dot com and see Delhi-Inn dot com

See the difference! here the hyphen makes sense! Invariably the url without hyphen will always be mis-spelt the first time around!

Don't always think about the SE's bots - you have to make the url "user freindly" - so keep in mind the user! It is the user who is giving you business - not the SE bot or webmasters!

My 2c.

Originally Posted by pow-wow

Some webmasters said it's looks spammy having dashes in domain, then it is good for SEO purpose because it helps search engines accurately discern the keywords from the domain name.
Is it okay to register a domain with multiple dashes?

[bjdea1]

I wouldn't because in my opinion it does look spammy and will lose you some trust.