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Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:45 am
by GimbaL
I'm considering a new domain name consisting of two words, and wondering if it's better to insert a dash or not:

gimbal-design.com or gimbaldesign.com ???
(btw the name Gimbal Design is purely fictitious, I dunno if they even exist but it's just meant as example here :))

When registering the actual name, I'll register both domains obviously, having one redirect to the other. But what would be best to use as 'main' domain?

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:19 am
by s.dot
Dashes are harder to remember when manually typing in the address.
Ideally, when people choose a domain name, they try to get the shortest most remember-able address.

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 10:05 am
by alex.barylski
I think at one time it was impetus you select a domain name that was easy to remember. Today, it's far less important. More important is to pick a domain name which is keyword rich - if posisble.

Most visitors to your site will find you from email referral, other web sites, etc. Traditional print media, people are starting to use QR codes, so really, the only time a easy to remember domain is required is if you plan on advertising on the radio, which is really only effective at strengthening brand awareness, but fails horribly when you expect people to call in, email you or remember a web site domain.

Cheers,
Alex

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:33 pm
by matthijs
Well if you have the choice, pick the name without the dash. The dash only makes it a bit more complicated (to remember, explain, write)

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:35 pm
by social_experiment
Go with no dash (for the main domain). When you say your domain people will hear gimbal dash design and look for just that. Now the onus is on you having to explain (more often than not to less web-savvy people) that the address is in actual fact gimbal-design instead of gimbal dash design, probably not such a big point but it might cause a loss of at least 1 potential client who will curse you for not giving them the right info and wasting their time.

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 5:44 pm
by josh
I'd register both, but I think both names are a little cliche (I just hate the concept of "design" in the company name )

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:27 pm
by Jade
I try to go without a dash in domain names if at all possible. One exception would be words or sayings that typically have a dash in between them.
josh wrote:I'd register both, but I think both names are a little cliche (I just hate the concept of "design" in the company name )
I disagree. If you have design in your domain name you're more likely to show up in results with design or design-related keywords. WebDesign.com will show up higher in search results for "web design" than WebMaker.com.

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:53 pm
by josh
Of course we all know the domain name is not the sole factor of search result positions. For example does http://www.marinas.com show up #1 for "marinas in florida" because marinas is in it's name? How would you explain it showing up #1 for "lighthouses in florida", "inlets in florida", "bridges in florida", etc.. :D

I do agree that the domain name helps, but if its hard to type is the extra SEO handicap worth risking your word of mouth traffic?

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:03 pm
by alex.barylski
Of course we all know the domain name is not the sole factor of search result positions. For example does http://www.marinas.com show up #1 for "marinas in florida" because marinas is in it's name? How would you explain it showing up #1 for "lighthouses in florida", "inlets in florida", "bridges in florida", etc..
I am not an SEO/SEF expert (if there ever was such ahting) but I do monitor many practices/aspects of SEO for the company I work as well as other sites I manage for friends, family, etc. My word is nothing more than personal experience/observation but...Google will apperently match synonyms or related words to a search even if you don't even have that keyword on your site. For instance, I work for an aerospace company, some keywords are helicopters, rotary wing aircraft. The latter is not on our site, and yet recently we have had a small percentage of visitors from SE's coming to us via those keywords.

p.s-I wanna live in Florida so if anyone wants to adopt a Canadian or whatever thats called (sponsership?) and get me away from Winterpeg Manisowba I'd be more than willing to move. :)

Cheers,
Alex

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:06 pm
by Jonah Bron
alex.barylski wrote:p.s-I wanna live in Florida so if anyone wants to adopt a Canadian or whatever thats called (sponsership?) and get me away from Winterpeg Manisowba I'd be more than willing to move. :)
They tell us that America is so great. Turns out that it's just California. Move here instead :D

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:45 am
by josh
alex.barylski wrote:Google will apperently match synonyms or related words to a search even if you don't even have that keyword on your site. For instance, I work for an aerospace company, some keywords are helicopters, rotary wing aircraft. The latter is not on our site, and yet recently we have had a small percentage of visitors from SE's coming to us via those keywords.
Could be that someone had linked to you with those keywords as the link text. George Bush's page was the #1 result for "miserable failure" and neither word was on his page, it was just bloggers who decided to link that phrase and made him #1 for that query... my point is there is too many factors, no factor alone will guarantee rankings.

Re: Domain name: with or without dash?

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:17 pm
by greyhoundcode
josh wrote:no factor alone will guarantee rankings.
Although high quality content is a good start ;-)