Google’s John Mueller recently confirmed that using hyphenated domain names is acceptable for SEO. Hyphenated domain names, long avoided in the SEO community as spam, are apparently confirmed to carry no negative signals.
Hyphenated domain names and SEO
Hyphenated domain names were a big problem in the early days of SEO because search engines initially used primitive keyword-based algorithms to rank web pages. Hyphenated keyword domain names were quite common and they consistently ranked well. This was over 25 years ago when SEOs placed the keyword in the title, meta description, H1, at the top of the page, then used successive H2 headers to put variations of the keyword, and added them to the content with applied bold 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 very popular for backlinks to personal injury sites until 2006, because SEOs at the time believed that keywords in the named domain helped pages be relevant. As I understand it, SEOs were renting packages of these hyphenated domain names for thousands of dollars per month.
A Cache Archive.org of the DMOZ open source directory for California personal injury law firms showed that about 16% of listings on that page used hyphenated domain names. What makes this remarkable is that the DMOZ lists were closely reviewed by editors, so that typically only the best of the best were listed there. The fact that almost 20% of the personal injury companies listed in this category were hyphenated is a testament to the power of hyphenated domain names at that time.
Screenshot from the September 2000 DMOZ Personal Injury Directory
Google says hyphenated domains are acceptable
Google’s John Mueller responded to a job on Bluesky, this was the upper limit of hyphens that could be used in a domain name.
John Mueller replied here:
“From time to time we receive questions about whether hyphens in domain names are acceptable for SEO (they are acceptable).
So far I haven’t seen anyone ask the other question: HOW MANY DASHES ARE OK?
My friends, the answer is apparently 61.”
Are hyphenated domains inherently spammy?
In the SEO community, it is commonly believed that hyphenated domain names are spam. At some point, these domain names stopped ranking in Google and SEOs stopped using them. But the fact that they stopped working may have more to do with the quality of the sites that used them than the hyphenated domains.
But back then, hyphenated domain names contributed to good rankings and did a great job of encouraging users to click from search results to the domain name. The fact is that keywords in a domain name quickly tell 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 sites from big brands use them and rank well among 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 hyphens. It’s probably notable that of these examples they only use a single hyphen, but I think if I dug deeper it wouldn’t surprise me to find domain names from major brands that use more than one hyphen.
The United States government uses hyphenated domains
The United States government also uses hyphens in some of its domain names.
e-verify.gov: Operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this is the official domain of the system used by employers to confirm their employees’ eligibility 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 domain words so that they actually make sense when you read them. everify is confusing but e-verify makes sense. The bottom line is that a hyphenated domain name makes sense if it makes it easier for users to read the domain name.
The World Wide Web Consortium uses hyphenated domain names
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the international web standards body responsible for things like accessibility standards, HTML, and the internationalization of web technologies. The W3C also uses hyphenated domain names.
Example of an AW3C affiliated site with a hyphenated domain
Web-Platform-Tests.org is part of an open source project involving the W3C, Google, Apple and other stakeholders.
Web-Platform-Tests.org: Offers documentation on how to write web platform tests.
The fact is that hyphenated domain names are used by legitimate websites.
Is it OK for businesses to use hyphenated domains?
John Mueller said they agreed on 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
- Difficult to type for users, especially on mobile devices.
- Take a look at spam.
- May be perceived as less trustworthy.
These 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 it will motivate a site owner to work harder to overcome these issues and biases and, in the long run, end up building a brand through this extra work, thereby overcoming any particular concerns.
Are hyphenated domains back on the SEO menu? What is your opinion?
Featured image by Shutterstock/JR-ART
