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Domains with dashes dot com or no dash dot net?



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Domains with dashes dot com or no dash dot net?

I have an exact match domain for my three word keyword but there are 2 dashes - one between each word. I can alternatively buy the .net for a few hundred dollars (it's a great keyword). What should I do? Is the .net with no dashes better than the .com with 2 dashes as far as google ranking is concerned?

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Everett
Hello,

I may not be too experienced in the domain name alternations between dashed names, and combined names. However, due to search engine experience I find that the dashes don't really matter anymore.. The dashes are not being used as much as they were being used in the past. Even huge companies got domains without the dash even if there company name had a dash in it and that was their official site. Commonly these days due to lack of availability in domain names people use dashes as a means to get the domain name they wanted in the first place (if it is available).

Now, you're using that "great" keyword domain probably for flipping/reselling purposes [?], either way you need to take into consideration the domain that doesn't have the dashes and see how well it may compete with the dashed domain. Search engines usually pull same results for dashed or no dash page links, but I think their method of pulling domains is a tad bit different.

Overall summery

Dashed or no dashed domain:
It really depends on the person, if they're old school, yes they may want it for reselling/flipping purchases, or to snag up domains that are alternatives of their own domains. If they're not old school and following the current trend of no dashed domains than maybe not. Dashed domain sales have fallen in the last couple of years.

Dashed or no dashed domain for search engine:
Most search engines combine dashed and no dashed domains. You can search for xxx-xxx and xxxxxx will appear too. No point in having different searches for both as they are the same, just one has dashes and the other one doesn't.

My opinion:
I can't believe people still register dashed domains (no offense to anyone) ... as an example I would never name my business "Everetts-Seoclerks-Store".

Kind Regards,
Everett



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mike719
Hey Everett,

Thanks for the info. I would love to skip the dashes because I don't want them. The .com without dashes though is for sale for $7k which I'm not willing to fork over (at least at this point). The .net is for sale for $300 and I was debating sticking with the dashed .com or chalking up $300 for the .net. 

I agree wholeheartedly though if the .com without dashes is available, definitely buy it over the dashed .com.

Mike



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edtorrez
Hi, if you are still shopping for a domain, I would agree with the summary above and would also suggest skip purchasing anything with dashes.
Stick with .com .net .org and possibly .info depending on the site. If you haven't settled on a name yet let me know, I'd be glad to help you find the right one for new site.



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vinaya
I will choose a dot net domain with no dashes. I don't think dot com is better than dot net. Dot com is the first domain extension and it is the extension used by browsers (by default you don't have to type dot com on browsers, if you hit ctrl enter, the browser will automatically input dot come)
If you have dash or any other punctuation mark, it will be hard to remember. If a user cannot remember the exact domain, then you won't get traffic.



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