hyphens in domain name

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

Thanks

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:04:10 -0500, "John" <nospam (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

Thanks

Probably not. I'd be happy to use it.

BB

--
www.kruse.co.uk/ seo (AT) kruse (DOT) demon.co.uk
The buffalo have gone

John wrote:

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?

I seem to recall Matt Cutts writing about exactly this issue of hyphens
and their effect on SERPs in his blog not too long ago. I don't
remember if he said anything about hyphens in domain names, though.

RFM

"www.1-script.com" wrote:

John wrote:

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my
serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

MOST my sites have hyphens in the domain name. I started doing it years
ago because all the good names were taken. Then I started using them
because I thought I'd gain something from SEO stand point. The end result
so far: it does not hurt but the advantages are so minor that, if you had
an easier-typable name, I'd advise you to grab it. This seems like a
traditional business looking for some Web presence, therefore you should
be prepared to give this name to people over the phone or maybe even in a
radio ad. Is it going to sound catchy? I don't think so. Besides, people
are going to drop at least one hyphen every time they type it, get errors
and get frustrated.

To round up: no harm, but utility is questionable.

I agree, and would add that if you advertise on the radio or give the
domain name by telephone, you may wish to have TWO domains:
newjerseywedding.com and your-new-jersey-wedding.com -- any benefits
that the hypens give you wth google will be cancelled out by
difficulties transmittng information by voce. Make one of them redirect
to the other; google does not penalize such obviously commercially
necessary use of redirects. Example: itunes.com redirects to apple.com/itunes/

codially,

cat yronwode
archive of african american folk magic
http://www.southern-spirits.com

John wrote:

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my
serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

MOST my sites have hyphens in the domain name. I started doing it years
ago because all the good names were taken. Then I started using them
because I thought I'd gain something from SEO stand point. The end result
so far: it does not hurt but the advantages are so minor that, if you had
an easier-typable name, I'd advise you to grab it. This seems like a
traditional business looking for some Web presence, therefore you should
be prepared to give this name to people over the phone or maybe even in a
radio ad. Is it going to sound catchy? I don't think so. Besides, people
are going to drop at least one hyphen every time they type it, get errors
and get frustrated.

To round up: no harm, but utility is questionable.

--
Cheers,
Dmitri
See Site Sig Below
-------------------------------------


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On 18 Nov 2005 13:13:11 -0800, "Fritz M" <nospam (AT) masoner (DOT) net> wrote:

John wrote:
I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?

I seem to recall Matt Cutts writing about exactly this issue of hyphens
and their effect on SERPs in his blog not too long ago. I don't
remember if he said anything about hyphens in domain names, though.

RFM

That was about really-really-really-dumb-and-obviously-seod-phrases
though. A basic thee-er should be ok.

BB
--
www.kruse.co.uk/ seo (AT) kruse (DOT) demon.co.uk
The buffalo have gone

Probably not. Nor would it make much difference if you had run all the
words together as newjerseyweddings.com as you will see if you follow the
link:

http://www.google.com/search?num=100...jersey+wedding

When I checked your site hadn't made it into the google index but even when
it does you will still have major problems as there are so many other sites
offering similar services.

If you regularly deal with some service providers eg: photographers,
caterers, locations, florists, dress and costume designers or renters, etc
etc ask them to put a link to your site on their webpages.

If I were planning a wedding in New Jersey, I would want somebody in my town
to deal with, not somebody from the other side of the state.

Get a lot more text on your site. See as an example:
http://www.weddingplanning.co.nz/


"John" <nospam (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

Thanks

"Big Bill" <kruse (AT) cityscape (DOT) co.uk> wrote

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:04:10 -0500, "John" <nospam (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

Thanks

Probably not. I'd be happy to use it.

BB

Thanks for the quick reply, Bill.

--
www.kruse.co.uk/ seo (AT) kruse (DOT) demon.co.uk
The buffalo have gone

"www.1-script.com" <info_at_1-script_dot_com (AT) foo (DOT) com> wrote

John wrote:

I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my
serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

MOST my sites have hyphens in the domain name. I started doing it years
ago because all the good names were taken. Then I started using them
because I thought I'd gain something from SEO stand point. The end result
so far: it does not hurt but the advantages are so minor that, if you had
an easier-typable name, I'd advise you to grab it. This seems like a
traditional business looking for some Web presence, therefore you should
be prepared to give this name to people over the phone or maybe even in a
radio ad. Is it going to sound catchy? I don't think so. Besides, people
are going to drop at least one hyphen every time they type it, get errors
and get frustrated.

To round up: no harm, but utility is questionable.

Thanks for the info. I want to use the main key phrase (New Jersey Wedding)
in my domain name for in bound links and I'm stuck with a long domain name.
Your reasoning makes sense so I will use another domain name, for print
advertising, and just point it to the existing website.

--
Cheers,
Dmitri
See Site Sig Below
-------------------------------------


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Article posted with Web Developer's USENET Archive
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Web and RSS gateway to your favorite newsgroup -
alt.internet.search-engines - 19402 messages and counting!
##-----------------------------------------------##

"Colin Wilson" <vortigern (AT) hell (DOT) net.nz> wrote

Probably not. Nor would it make much difference if you had run all the
words together as newjerseyweddings.com as you will see if you follow the
link:

http://www.google.com/search?num=100...jersey+wedding

When I checked your site hadn't made it into the google index but even
when it does you will still have major problems as there are so many other
sites offering similar services.

Lots of competition. The website is new but I'm going to work hard on a
link campaign to get indexed and move to the front of the SERP's

If you regularly deal with some service providers eg: photographers,
caterers, locations, florists, dress and costume designers or renters, etc
etc ask them to put a link to your site on their webpages.

If I were planning a wedding in New Jersey, I would want somebody in my
town to deal with, not somebody from the other side of the state.

Get a lot more text on your site. See as an example:
http://www.weddingplanning.co.nz/

The website will certainly grow but I don't see it getting as large as the
one you link to. I think it will probably stay < 50 pages. Do SE's value
the amount of content very high?

"John" <nospam (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message
news:Nsqff.18038$oP5.7248 (AT) fe09 (DOT) lga...
I have a long domain name with 3 hyphens in it. Will this hurt my serp?
http://www.your-new-jersey-wedding.com

Thanks