Does it matter?¿

bluewidget.htm vs blue-widget.htm

[JVB_Mktg]

I've heard both sides of the story and I guess this is the best place to try to get a (¿final?) answer.

Does it really make a diffrence to have blue-widget.htm instead of bluewidget.htm or does google consider both the same?

Javi :)

[hurlimann]

I think the consensus is to use hyphens.

[WebGuerrilla]

We have had this debate so many times. The answer is that some think it helps alot, while others don't.

You can read all the past debate by searching on hyphenated domains [searchengineworld.com] or keyword domains [searchengineworld.com].

[ciml]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, Javi. Opinions are more likely than 'final answers'.

blue-widget.htm will rank slightly better for blue and widget than bluewidget.htm, but the affect is less than using the word a second time in normal text so I wouldn't worry about it.

[jomaxx]

Both names are generic - not compelling, memorable or brandable - so IMO they both suck. But from a pure SE ranking point of view, the hyphenated name is probably slightly better.

(Edit: oops, the first half of the post referers to domains, not page names. Nonetheless hyphenated is still better.)

[edited by: jomaxx at 8:19 pm (utc) on Feb. 3, 2003]

[Brian]

You can test this for yourself on Yahoo. At present, SEs will read 'blue' in bluewidget.htm, but not 'widget'. In the case of blue-widget.htm, they will read both words. How much difference this makes is hard to tell, and how long this will be so is likewise up for grabs.

[rfgdxm1]

WebGuerrilla, he has a .htm at the end. He is referring to page names. Definitely blue-widget.htm is better. Google doesn't try to parse if not hyphenated. As someone pointed out, a rug is one thing, a rat is another, and a rugrat a completely different thing. Such parsing could be bad.

Also, a comment. If he had been talking about domain names, he would need to register BOTH. If this is an online business, it could be bad if you are blue-widgets.com, and later someone else registers bluewidgets.com.

[ga_ga]

As a side issue, I have many pages on my site where the name is not hyphenated, rather, um, spacer-ated.

eg. blue widget.htm

which ends up in the address bar as

blue%20widget.htm

Is this a bad idea?

[rfgdxm1]

Don't spacerate, hyphenate. That way, you get search engine bonus points.