/sub-directory or /sub_directory.html

Whats better?

[indiandomain]

i know this question is asked before.
just need to know what you guys are using.
whats the safest to use

site.com/home_business
site.com/home-business
site.com/home_business.html
site.com/home-business.html
site.com/home_business.php
site.com/home-business.php

[Yidaki]

The difference between using a dash or a underscore [google.com] has been diskussed here many times.
<added>I'm using dashes *and* underscores without seeing a significant difference.</added>

[edited by: Yidaki at 7:56 am (utc) on May 17, 2003]

[coconutz]

Try the site search [webmasterworld.com] for hyphen or underscore ;)

[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]

"I would go with hyphens, personally."
GoogleGuy [webmasterworld.com] message #8

[Marcia]

>>site.com/home_business

You could also go with site.com/home-business/ if there will be more added on the topic.

I prefer hyphens to underscores aesthetically, because you can always see them. With underscores, if the URL is used in a link that's underlined it looks too much like a blank space, which can confuse some people.

[rfgdxm1]

I agree with Marcia. I'd never use an underscore unless I knew it improved rankings.

[hitchhiker]

Can we have a shout on how well people with sites:

1) site.com/home-business/

are indexed as compared to

2) site.com/home-business

or

3) site.com/home-business.(extension)

-----------------------------------

I used / at the end (1), and i've had trouble lately (tho, nothing is normal this month or last)

[Yidaki]

What if it doesn't make any difference at all in regards to rankings? It's at least *not very* important if you use hyphens or underscores, extensions or directories.

A proof of this theory is WebmasterWorld. If i search google for ie. specific bot names or a javascript hint or something about affiliate marketing, i often (quite allways) find a valuable WebmasterWorld thread ... which obviously uses url's like forum3/13153.htm as file name. ;)

Instead of doing brain sex about the right keywords in a page name or about using hyphens or not, it's better to think about good page titles, anchors and linking structure - thats more important if you want to cook a good spider food meal. Same goes for every new thread title here at the "example site" WebmasterWorld. If the title is good, more people get help by this forum because they find good discussions related to whatever they search. No matter if the page name is serious-google-analyzes/tell-me-why-my-site-is-banned.htm or forum123/456789.htm. ;)

<added>
currently a google search for "whats better" [google.com] returns this WebmasterWorld thread at #13. Unfortunately only a few people might searches for what's better? ;)
</added>