Hyphens in URLs: Good or Bad for SEO?

People frequently ask whether or not using hyphens in a URL is good or bad for SEO.  It is probably one of the most frequently discussed topics on SEO forums around the web and is often one of the first questions asked by new webmasters. So I thought I would do what any red-blooded SEO would do… and toss out my opinions on the topic. 

Hyphens in URL folder and page names – The Good! 

I like using hyphens as word separators within folder and page names in the URLs of my sites.  I do so primarily for the benefit of my users.  I also do it to give the search engines a hand by explicitly indicating how they should parse my URL’s folder and file names into their targeted keywords.  After all, I wouldn’t want them interpreting “expertsexchange” as “expert sex change” when I meant it to be interpreted as “experts exchange”, or visa versa I guess!

Since search engines typically display your URL as part of your organic listing in the search engine results pages (SERPs), a keyword rich URL can give users strong clues about what they can expect if they click on your link.  In other words, it can affect click-thru-rates and therefore traffic. Using hyphens in the URL to explicitly separate words in the folder and file names makes it VERY easy for a user to read the words in the name of your folders and pages.  URLs without hyphens are not always so easy to read if youcramthewordstogether. 

Yeah!  Yeah! Yeah!  I know!  Having hyphens in the folder or page name portion of the URL does make the URLs harder to remember and type.  But how often do you really think a user is going to remember the entire URL to some inner page 3 levels deep in your site and actually type it into the browser address bar?  Almost never!  So having hyphens in the URL doesn’t really hurt the user experience in any way… it only helps by making the URL more readable. 

Also, every search engine that I am aware of treats hyphens in the URL as word separators.  Using them makes it easy for search engines to match keywords in the URL to keywords in the search phrase.  While it likely doesn’t make any noticeable difference from an SEO perspective, having hyphens in a URL’s folder and page names certainly doesn’t hurt your rankings in the SERPs, and provides a benefit to users.  

I would, however, suggest keeping folder names short so that they have one, maybe two, hyphens at most.  For page names on the end of a URL I don’t worry so much.  This is quite common since most blog themes and templates convert the post title to a page name by replacing spaces and punctuation with a hyphen.  Just make sure that the URL does not appear spammy. 

Hyphens in the domain name of the URL – The Bad! 

I am typically a strong advocate of NOT using hyphens when selecting a web site’s domain name.  Deciding on a domain name is one decision where usability benefits almost always outweigh the SEO benefits. 

I usually try to select domain names with usability in mind.  I try to select domain names that are: 

• short,
• easy to remember, and
• easy to type. 

Having hyphens in the domain name portion of the URL is counter-productive to all three of the above usability goals.  

Of all of the URLs on your site, the one URL that a user is most likely to remember is the home page URL… in other words, the domain name.  So it is important to make it as easy to remember and type as possible.  Having a short domain name without hyphens also makes it easier to speak your domain name when telling others about your site. 

Webmasters and budding SEOs get hung up on having keywords in their domain name, which is one big reason for the proliferation of domains with hyphens.  But what most don’t realize is that they will ONLY get a noticeable boost in rankings when the domain name is an EXACT match for the search phrase.  Domains that only provide a partial match for the search phrase typically yield no more of a boost than having the same partial match to keywords in the folder or page name portion of the URL. So keyword rich domain names containing multiple keywords (with or without hyphens) are going to boost your rankings for at most a couple search phrases – “keyword1keyword2keyword3″ and “keyword1 keyword2 keyword3″. 

NOTE:  The one exception where one might want to consider using a domain name with hyphens is if their plan is to ONLY promote the site online, if there is no desire or expectation of promoting repeat visits to the site by the same users, if they have no desire to create any type of brand awareness for your site, if they are okay with users ONLY being able to find their site via a search engine, and if the non-hyphenated version of the domain name is not available. 

So there you have it.  That’s my take on the whole “Hyphens in the URL” debate! The good, the bad… and well I am the ugly!