

What is the general consensus regarding hyphens in domain names? - lowglow

I'm working on a project and we're stuck between a really good name with a hyphen, or an OK name with 4 syllables. We're wondering if the hyphen is a death-kiss for domain names.
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homecoded
We actually talked about this today in our team since we are trying to find a
good name for the new company we are about to form. We decided against hyphens
mostly because we thought it's 'just not cool'.

There are other things to consider. If you spell out your domain name over the
phone, a not-so-techie person might not know what to do when you say 'hyphen'
(as in spell it out or use "-").

Besides, since the word 'hyphen' is usually only used when you spell out the
domain (it's not actually part of the company name) people will probably
forget about it.

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lowglow
The phone test -- we talked about this as well. Dash, hyphen, and minus sign
are all bad descriptors for lay-people.

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Jsarokin
Hyphen is death. Have you ever typed in a hyphen? Unless you're getting all
your traffic from search then it may be fine.

Imagine users telling each other in person. Then the person almost always will
forget to add the "dash" when they type it in.

Id say keep coming up with names for go with the 4 syllables.

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lowglow
I agree, but some of our advisors like the dash name better than the four
syllable one. Mainly because the four syllable one isn't actionable and starts
with an 'O'. They said you want to either have your name at the top or bottom
of any alphabetical list.

On my iphone I have to flip to another keyboard just to find the dash. It took
me 2 seconds to find it. This is just another step a user has to take to get
to our destination.

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allwein
www.penny-arcade.com doesn't seem to have been slowed down by the hyphen.

And I've been going to M-W.com for dictionary lookup for years until they got
a better domain name.

Also, why not get both? Brand it with the hyphen name but have the other one
redirect.

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lowglow
Do you know of any hard data that has been collected on how hyphens in domain
names affect traffic or user engagement and adoption?

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lowglow
Also, let me preface this by saying the people that like the hyphen are the
same people that would give us money.

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rjdempsey
I'd avoid hyphens when selecting domain names. How many of the really popular
domains have hyphens? Not many.

