URLs - Dash, Hyphen, or None

Which is better for Search Engines

[TheWebographer]

If I had a website that dealt with PHP programming, which URL would Google like best in terms of search engine placement, all other things being equal?

www.xyz.com/programmingphp/
www.xyz.com/programming-php/
www.xyz.com/programming_php/

How about lengthening the path a bit in an attempt to add more keywords:

www.xyz.com/php/programming/programming-php/

Is the longer path better or worse, considering that it does have a few more keywords than the shorter path?

Thank you in advance,

TheWebographer

[TheWebographer]

Hummmm, guess it does not interest anyone.

[agerhart]

Sorry TheWebographer!

If you are targeting PHP Programming, than this is what I would suggest:

I would try to use one of the following URLs:

www.xyz.com/php-programming/
www.xyz.com/php_programming/

or, if it is available....

www.phpprogramming.com/
www.php-programming.com/

I would stay away from the longer URLs, as they look a bit spammy, and in addition I don't think that they are necessary.

[Mohamed_E]

> Hummmm, guess it does not interest anyone.

I believe that most of the question was answered in your previous thread.

www.xyz.com/programmingphp/

matches the single keyword "programmingphp"

www.xyz.com/programming-php/

matches the two keywords "programming" and "php"

www.xyz.com/programming_php/

matches the single keyword "programming_php"

> www.xyz.com/php/programming/programming-php/

matches both keywords twice. There is little evidence as to how useful or, more probably, otherwise such repetition is.

[topr8]

of the three options i'd go for

www.xyz.com/programming-php/

as the underscore character is treated differently to a hyphen on google

test this by doing a search for:
blue-widget
blue widget
blue_widget

you'll see what i mean.

as for the longer path i think shorter paths look better and are more likely to get clicked, as for a seo point of view i have no opinion.

added: LOL three for the price of one in 5 mins!

[deejay]

www.xyz.com/programming-php/

^ That one.

SEs can’t tell where to separate words when they are run together. Consider artsexpress.com or rugrats.com.

Underscores are less readily identified as a word break than a hyphen.

How about lengthening the path a bit in an attempt to add more keywords:
www.xyz.com/php/programming/programming-php/

Might be worth a little bit (emphasis on LITTLE).
If we count the domain name as an eligible keyword, then for the example you’ve given the difference might be something like:

www.xyz.com/programming-php/
Proportion of factor’s available score to each keyword:
33% xyz
33% programming
33% php

www.xyz.com/php/programming/programming-php/
Proportion of factor’s available score to each keyword:
20% xyz
40% programming
40% php

<add> *snort* well there weren't any replies when I STARTED typing.. *L*

[TheWebographer]

Hey, thank you very much everyone.

Webmaster world is a great resource.