Many Hyphens in File Name - any ranking problem for page?

[gunjanp]

Hi All,

I read on so many blogs about that having so many hyphens (-) in domain name like 4 to 5 hyphens in a domain name will create problem for your website. Google thinks that this kind of URL as a spamy URL and if there is lots of keywords in the domain name then it is keyword stuffing in domain name. So this kind of domain name will create problem for website and may increase the chances of getting penalty from Google.

But now my question is that my domain is very genuine and it’s a domain of branded product. There is also no any hyphens in the domain name. But there are so many hyphens (-) like 6 to 7 hyphens (-) in my page name with different keywords.

So these kind of pages which has a massive hyphens in its file name can create problem for my page or my website? Does Google thinks that particular web page or website is spammy?

Please let me know your ideas ... What do you think about this?

[tedster]

Google's algo does not need a shortcut such as counting hyphens in the file name. Many wordpress set-ups today automatically generate files names with many hyphens and I haven't noticed any problems with this. But a really long url with LOTS of hyphens might not get clicked on as often.

I still suggest limiting the number to something that doesn't look so unwieldy. Stuffing keywords into the file name is not going to give you much advantage either.

[skweb]

I think you may be talking about a product like "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." Obviously if you have a hyphen between each word, most users will make a mistake typing them anyway. In this case it is best to choose a domain name that is easy to remember and does not require hyphen use, at least not more than one. But as far as file names are concerned it is OK to use as many as making sense because Blogspot blogs do have many hyphens and they rank just fine.

[cabowabo]

Bruce Clay has mentioned that he has tested URLs with 10+ hyphens without issue. I agree with the comments above, it is very user unfriendly and you will have secondary issues with lots of hyphens.

[Reno]

...automatically generate files names with many hyphens and I haven't noticed any problems with this.

I'm very glad to get this reassurance. I like naming graphic files and html files so I can immediately tell what they are simply by looking at the names in a folder when using "details" view. So, while I prefer underscores to hyphens, it would not be unusual for a file to be comprised of 4 or 5 descriptive words. The intent is not to keyword stuff, but rather to help me find what I'm looking for without having to open that file. This sort of html file naming is especially useful since Vista does not allow html page previews, as previous Windows operating systems would do, so I'm relieved that Google recognizes this efficient approach to site design.

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