Dashes In Web Domains

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I am considering buying a domain with a hyphen. I have listed two domains below. The hyphened domain is NOT the one I am considering buying. I am using these as an example.

So...hypothetically...if I bought life-insuranceplans.com and someone else already owned lifeinsuranceplans.com...would that be a good idea? All of my traffic would be search traffic. My main question is if it is OK to buy a domain with a hyphen (just one) in it when it is rich in key words.
Thanks

The idea, of course, is that there are a lot of "life insurance plans" searches and other related searches, and perhaps, with hard work and sharp SEO, I can get some of that traffic?

Make sense? Remember...these domains are just examples. I am looking at a few domains in the insurance field, but not these.

 

[padthaiforlunch]

iirc, a dash in the name will impede seo, compared to the same name without the dash.

That said, E-Z-Terminsurance.com (hmm, I should see if available), could still perform relatively well on google local.

 

[valdet]

Chumps, it is true that dashes affect the SEO, but not as much as it's claimed. In your case, the biggest disadvantage I think would be shortage/lack of type-in traffic.

The best example is this forum. It has a dash, it isn't a .com domain, yet it outranks every other insurance board with keyword-rich domain names. The search engine referrals are the biggest source of traffic this site gets.

Val.

P.S. Were you looking into www.putin-health-quotes.com ?

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Thanks Val...and Pad. I do like that Putin health insurance website idea. Of course, if you file too many claims, you get thrown in jail.

 

[Mark]

I know someone people take popular sites and buy domain names very close to it in case the client can't spell correctly they will get their website instead.

I find it hard to remember domains with a hyphen.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I would not be concerned with someone remembering the name. I'm after organic searches, not having people I talk to remember the name. That's what emailing links and "favorites" are for.

 

[SoundsGood]

If you want people to type in your URL, then you're best off not using dashes in the domain name.

But if your target is search engines (namely Google) and the people are simply clicking on your link, then it makes no difference if you use dashes or not.

And frankly, it's easier for Google and people to read "the-name-of-your-website.com" than "thenameofyourwebsite.com"

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Sounds good. Well...I meant it actually sounds good and I was responding to SoundsGood's post. If you knowhatImean. I mean...If-you-know-what-I-mean.

This post was not needed.

 

[SoundsGood]

When someone sees a bunch of search results, they automatically seek out the better domains, if the meta description is equal.

Tis true. But in this case the OP said that the domain had just one hyphen and that it was rich in keywords. This might actually look better to a potential clicker than a domain that was not rich in keywords (with or without a dash).

Hard to say without knowing the particulars, of course.

 

[djs]

So, bottom line is the hyphens are better than abbreviating or misspelling the name since 'insurance.com' is already taken?

We have added to lifes mysteries?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Which is better, an 800 number or an 866 number?
Which is better, a domain with hyphens or a domain that is misspelled?

All of us would take .com domains over .net domains. All of us would take short, properly spelled domain names over hyphenated or long domain names. Problem is, there are a limited number of domains available that are 'perfect' fits.

Dan