Google’s John Mueller recently confirmed that using hyphenated domain names are okay for SEO. Hyphenated domain names, long shunned in the SEO community as spammy, are apparently confirmed to not have any kind of negative signal attached to it.
Hyphenated Domain Names And SEO
Hyphenated-domain-names were a big deal in the early days of SEO because search engines initially used primitive keyword-based algorithms for ranking web pages. Hyphenated keyword domain names were fairly common and they routinely ranked well. This was over 25 years ago when SEOs put the keyword phrase in the title, meta description, H1, at the top of the page then use successive H2 headings to put variations of the keyword phrase, plus add them to the content with bolding applied, and in outbound links to internal pages as well as to a relevant .edu and .gov web page. Those were the days, right?
Hyphenated domain names were also highly popular for backlinks to personal injury sites as late as 2006 because the SEOs of the day believed that keywords in the domain named helped pages be relevant. As I understand it, SEOs rented packages of those hyphenated domain names for thousands of dollars per month.
An Archive.org cache of the open source DMOZ directory for California personal injury law firms showed that about 16% of the listings on that page used hyphenated domain names. What makes this notable is that DMOZ listings were tightly scrutinized by editors so that generally only the best of the best were listed there. That nearly 20% of personal injury firms listed in that category were hyphenated attests to the power of the hyphenated domain names at that time.
Screenshot Of September 2000 DMOZ Personal Injury Directory
Google Says Hyphenated Domains Are Okay
Google’s John Mueller responded to a post on Bluesky that was about the upper limit of hyphens that can be used in a domain name.
John Mueller responded here:
“Occasionally we get questions about whether dashes in domain names are ok for SEO (they’re ok).
So far, I haven’t seen anyone ask the other question – HOW MANY DASHES ARE OK?
Folks, the answer is apparently 61.”
Are Hyphenated Domains Inherently Spammy?
In the SEO community, the common understanding about hyphenated domain names is that they’re spammy. At some point those domain names stopped ranking in Google and SEOs stopped using them. But the fact that they stopped working may have been more about the quality of the sites that used them and less about the hyphenated domains.
But back in the day, hyphenated domain names contributed to ranking well and worked great for encouraging users to click through from the search results to the domain name. The fact is that keywords in a domain name quickly telegraphs to a potential site visitor that the domain name is relevant to the person making the query.
Big Brand Sites Use Hyphenated Domain Names
The truth about hyphenated domains is that many legitimate big brand sites use them and rank well with them.
Examples Of Big Brand Sites With Hyphenated Domains
- Mercedes-benz.com
- Coca-cola.com
- Rolls-roycemotorcars.com
- T-mobile.com
- Harley-davidson.com
- Merriam-webster.com
The fact that big brand websites use hyphenated domain names shows that there is no silent penalty attached to them because of the hyphens. It’s probably notable that of these examples they only use one hyphen but I think with more digging it wouldn’t surprise me to find big brand domain names that use more than one hyphen.
The United States Government Uses Hyphenated Domains
The United States government uses hyphens in some of its domain names, too.
e-verify.gov: Run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this is the official domain for the system employers use to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.
The above use of a hyphen in the domain name is an example of how the hyphen can help separate words in the domain so that they actually make sense when you read them. everify is confusing but e-verify makes sense. The takeaway there is that a hyphenated domain name makes sense if it makes it easier for users to read the domain name.
World Wide Web Consortium Uses Hyphenated Domain Names
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the international web standards making body responsible for things like standards for accessibility, HTML, and the internationalization of web technologies. The W3C also uses hyphenated domain names.
Example Of AW3C Affiliated Site With A Hyphenated Domain
Web-Platform-Tests.org, is part of an open source project that W3C, Google, Apple, and other stakeholders are involved with.
Web-Platform-Tests.org: Offers documentation for how to write web platform tests.
The point of this is that hyphenated domain names are used by legit websites.
Is It Okay For Businesses To Use Hyphenated Domains?
John Mueller said that they are okay for SEO. But I think most SEOs know why a hyphenated domain name is not the first choice for a domain name.
Reasons Why SEOs Avoid Hyphenated Domains
- Hard for users to type, especially on mobile devices.
- Have a spammy look.
- May be perceived as less trustworthy.
Those are all legitimate concerns but as I noted earlier, a hyphenated domain name could make a lot of sense if it makes it easier for potential site visitors to read the words. I also think that it will motivate a site owner to work harder at overcoming those issues and biases and in the long run end up creating a brand because of that extra work, thereby overcoming any particular concerns.
Are hyphenated domains back on the menu for SEO? What’s your opinion?
Featured Image by Shutterstock/JR-ART