H ow to create hyphenated domains: best practices, SEO risks, and crucial usage.

2.1. The alternative check: Exploring TLD variety

Do not assume that because the .com version of your name is taken, your journey must end with a hyphen. Domain name availability has drastically increased in recent years due to the explosion of new TLDs.

Here is how you can check for non-hyphenated alternatives:

1. Use Alternative Generic TLDs: Many excellent TLDs have high professional standing and are often available even when the .com is gone. These are suitable for businesses globally.
   • .net: Originally intended for networking infrastructure, but now widely used for general purposes.
   • .co: Often marketed as a shortened version of “company” or “corporation.” Highly popular globally.
   • .io: Extremely popular within the tech, software, and startup communities.
   • .xyz: A global and affordable TLD that offers excellent brandability.
   • .app: Ideal for software applications and digital services.
2. Explore Niche and Specific TLDs: If your brand fits a specific category, a niche TLD can enhance its meaning without needing a hyphen.
   • .store: Excellent for e-commerce shops.
   • .blog: Perfect for content-heavy sites.
   • .tech: Good for hardware and engineering firms.
   • .design: Used by creative agencies and portfolios.
3. Check Country-Specific TLDs (ccTLDs): If your target market is purely local, using a country code TLD can be a powerful alternative.
   • .ca for Canada
   • .uk or .co.uk for the United Kingdom
   • .de for Germany
   • .au for Australia

2.2. Adding functional or geographical descriptors

If your exact name is taken, sometimes adding a relevant word before or after the core phrase can solve the availability problem without introducing a hyphen.

These descriptive words help clarify the purpose or location of the business, which can actually be helpful for branding and search engine optimization (SEO).

• Geographical Tags: If your target audience is local, add the city or region.
  • Instead of: best-widgets-london.com
  • Try: widgetslondon.com or londonwidgets.com
• Functional Descriptors: Use terms that describe your service or offering.
  • Instead of: cool-widgets-shop.com
  • Try: widgetshq.com (for headquarters) or widgetsapp.com (if you offer an app).
• Action Verbs: Use verbs related to your industry.
  • Instead of: find-home-repair.com
  • Try: gethomerepair.com

Always prioritize a descriptor that enhances the brand over resorting to a hyphen that confuses users.

3.1. How to create hyphenated domains: The process

The physical act of registering a hyphenated domain is exactly the same as registering any other domain. You simply enter the desired name, including the hyphen, into the search bar of your chosen domain registrar.

Standard domain registrars like GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Google Domains treat the hyphen as a normal character. If the name is available, you can register it instantly. The complexity is not in the mechanics but in the strategy.

3.2. Rule 1: The single-hyphen limit

This is perhaps the most important rule. You must strictly advise against using more than one hyphen in your domain name.

Historically, domains with two or more hyphens (e.g., long-name-widgets-shop.com) were heavily associated with low-quality, expired domains, or spam sites attempting to stuff keywords into the URL structure.

While search engines are more sophisticated now, the visual signal of multiple hyphens remains a massive red flag for both users and historical ranking algorithms.

Guidance: Keep your domain name simple. If you cannot convey the necessary keywords using one hyphen (separating two clear ideas), the domain name is likely too long anyway, and you should return to the analysis phase (Section 2).

3.3. Rule 2: Logical separation only

The hyphen must be used to separate natural, distinct dictionary words. It should never be used to break up an arbitrary string of letters or numbers. The purpose of the hyphen is to improve clarity, not to jam together unrelated terms.

Example where the hyphen aids clarity:

• Confusing: expertstraining.com
• Clearer: experts-training.com

The hyphen ensures the reader separates the concepts “experts” and “training.”

Example where the hyphen hurts clarity:

• acme-1234-shop.com (Mixing numbers and hyphens makes the domain extremely difficult to communicate verbally.)

3.4. Rule 3: Avoid keyword stuffing

Using a hyphen provides an easy way to separate keywords for search engines. This temptation often leads new site owners to create lengthy, hyphenated domains full of redundant terms.

Keyword stuffing looks like this in a domain: best-cheap-widgets-review-2024.com.

Confirm this is a major SEO red flag, regardless of the hyphen’s separation function. Even though Google reads the hyphen as a space, a domain that is excessively long and stuffed with keywords signals low quality. This approach will significantly hurt your domain authority and rankings. Keep the domain name focused on your core brand and maybe one key product or location.

3.5. Rule 4: Match the non-hyphenated version

If you register a hyphenated domain (e.g., great-cars.com), you should immediately check to see if the non-hyphenated version (greatcars.com) is available.

If the non-hyphenated version is available, register it immediately and set up a 301 redirect to the hyphenated version. Why? Because the vast majority of users who hear your brand name will type the version without the dash by default. Registering both protects your traffic and ensures users land on your site, preventing traffic loss or accidental visits to competitors.

4.1. The memory fail: User errors

The biggest danger of using a hyphen is the memory fail. When users hear your brand name spoken aloud or see it briefly in an advertisement, their brains naturally assume the shortest, simplest structure.

Users almost always forget the hyphen when typing a domain from memory.

Consider this scenario: A user hears your domain, pet-supplies-pro.com, on the radio. They go home and type in petsuppliespro.com.

• Result 1: If you failed Rule 4 and did not buy the non-hyphenated version, the user lands on a competitor’s site or an empty parking page. You lose that customer forever.
• Result 2: If a competitor owns the non-hyphenated version, you have effectively paid for an advertisement that drives traffic directly to them.

For this reason, NameCab recommends reserving hyphens only for names where the words must be separated for clarity.

4.2. Verbal communication friction

Hyphenated domains break the flow in conversation, advertising copy, or podcast mentions. They introduce friction that non-hyphenated domains do not have.

If you use a hyphenated domain, you cannot simply say: “Visit us at great-shoes dot com.” You must interrupt the flow to explain the required punctuation.

You will need to use specific, awkward language every time you mention your site verbally: “That’s [domain name], spelled out G-R-E-A-T dash S-H-O-E-S dot com.”

This extra effort drastically reduces the impact and memorability of your brand name.

4.3. Readability vs. confusion

The only usability benefit of a hyphen is its ability to separate words that accidentally merge into a confusing, awkward, or inappropriate term. This is the strongest argument for accepting the compromise of a hyphen.

Examples of merged confusion:

In these specific scenarios, the hyphen is vital for maintaining brand professionalism and clarity. This outweighs the small usability penalty.

5.1. Google’s parser confirmed

Google has officially confirmed its stance on the hyphen (-). The hyphen is treated as a word separator, functioning effectively as a space.

When Google’s system parses a URL, it treats the hyphenated terms as distinct keywords.

• red-shoes.com is read as the two keywords: “red” and “shoes.”
• best-plumbers-austin.com is read as the three distinct keywords: “best,” “plumbers,” and “austin.”

This means that a hyphenated domain is technically capable of ranking for the separated keywords, provided the overall quality of the site is high.

5.2. Hyphens vs. underscores

It is critical to distinguish between the hyphen (-) and the underscore (_). They are not interchangeable in URLs, and Google treats them differently.

Using an underscore is counterproductive for SEO because it merges your keywords into a single, often unrecognizable, word. Always use the standard hyphen/dash if you need separation.

5.3. The EMD trap (exact match domain)

Hyphenated domains were historically extremely powerful because they allowed users to register an Exact Match Domain (EMD) containing all their target keywords. For instance, a domain like buy-cheap-widgets.com used to rank highly almost instantly because the URL perfectly matched high-volume search queries.

Google noticed that many low-quality, spammy sites were leveraging this EMD advantage by stuffing keywords into hyphenated domains. As a result, Google implemented major algorithm updates (starting with the EMD update in 2012) that drastically reduced the inherent value of having an exact match URL.

Today, the slight keyword separation advantage offered by the hyphen is heavily outweighed by negative user experience signals, such as high bounce rates caused by typing errors.

The takeaway: A hyphenated domain will not automatically rank just because it contains the keywords. Quality content, strong links, and site usability are now far more critical ranking factors.

5.4. Spam signal persistence

As mentioned in the best practices (Section 3), multiple hyphens are still a historical spam association. Even though Google’s core ranking systems are advanced and look beyond simple URL structure, low-quality signals linked to old spam tactics can still be factored into overall site quality assessment.

If your domain uses excessive hyphens, it signals to both NameCab and Google that the primary focus was tactical keyword separation rather than building a strong, memorable brand. Your domain should always feel professional and trustworthy.

6.1. Preventing ambiguity and enhancing legibility

This is the primary justification for a hyphen. When two words merge into a phrase that is genuinely confusing, embarrassing, or impossible to read quickly, the hyphen is essential.

Scenario: You operate a business specializing in medical records management.

• medicalrecordsystem.com
• Potential problem: Words blur together, making it hard to read quickly.
• Solution: medical-record-system.com (While two hyphens are generally discouraged, three keywords might be necessary here if they are crucial to the brand name, but only if shorter alternatives failed). A better compromise would be medrecordsystem.com.

The rule of thumb remains: if the hyphen clarifies the meaning and prevents a significant brand misinterpretation, use it.

6.2. Avoiding trademark clashes and brand confusion

If a major competitor already owns the non-hyphenated version of your intended name, using a hyphen can be a legal and branding necessity to clearly differentiate your operation.

Scenario: You want to name your new coffee shop “Bluebird Coffee,” but a major national chain already owns bluebirdcoffee.com.

• To avoid potential confusion or legal issues (trademark infringement), you must alter the name.
• You could use: bluebird-cafe.com or the-bluebird-coffee.com.

In this instance, the hyphen acts as a separator to establish unique branding and prevent consumers from confusing your small operation with the established national brand. This is a powerful use of the hyphen, as the clarity of differentiation outweighs the typing penalty.

6.3. Localized exact match differentiation

In some niche local SEO markets, the domain name itself can still provide a slight competitive edge, especially against larger, non-localized competitors. If a business requires the exact-match keyword (e.g., for niche local SEO) and must differentiate it from a national or regional competitor, a hyphen can be used.

This should be presented as the last resort, especially if alternatives like using a country code TLD or an alternative descriptive TLD are unavailable.

Example:

A local plumber in Austin, Texas, is competing against national directory sites. They might find that their ideal, short name is taken.

• If austinplumbers.com is taken, they may choose plumbing-austin.com.

This hyphenated structure clearly targets the two core local keywords and helps differentiate the brand from others that might simply use plumbers.com. While not the ideal solution, it provides a functional structure for hyper-local search intent.