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It doesn't matter. The bonus you get on google for a keyword matching the domain is only on an exact match. So cv.com will get a bonus, but mycv.com won't. Als

by ig1 16y ago

It doesn't matter. The bonus you get on google for a keyword matching the domain is only on an exact match. So cv.com will get a bonus, but mycv.com won't. Also because "mycv" is treated as a single word it won't even get a normal match for the term "cv", my-cv.com would get the match as Google treat the hypen as a a space, but in general you should avoid hyphenated domain names.

jhancock 16y ago
Can you provide some rational or data points on why hyphens are not a good thing, particularly given your example of google parsing the words accurately? I hear this often but always without explanation.
- robeastham 16y ago
  I was wondering about this too after reading: http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/17702/17-Mutable-Suggestions-For-Naming-A-Startup.aspx http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/17702/17-Mutable-Sugges... Great advice in this article on the whole I think, but I did wonder about the rational for removing hyphens. Could it just be they are out of fashion? I remember when they used to be much more popular way back when. Also thanks for all the comments so far guys!
  - ig1 16y ago
    It's because users are used to multi-words companies being a single word in a domain (i.e no hyphen). So when people type your domain a non-insignificant percentage of users are going to type it without the hyphen. If you buy both domains (with and without the hyphen) and 301 redirect the hyphenless domain to the hyphen'd one you'd get over the worst of the issues, but there's still the potential for confusion and different people spelling it in different ways.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
WillyF 16y ago
I agree on the hyphens, but I disagree strongly with your suggestion that mycv.com won't get a bonus for relevance to the term cv. I've seen plenty of sites with inferior link profiles (to the sites below them in the search results) rank because of domains with a couple of relevant keywords along with a generic one. It's nowhere near an exact match, but it's still worth something. Let's use the term "entry level jobs" for an example. http://www.entryleveljobsite.com http://www.entryleveljobsite.com ranks #9 right now, yet it's link profile is far inferior to my site http://www.onedayonejob.com http://www.onedayonejob.com which ranks at #16. Yes, there are probably some other factors included, but my feeling is that the domain name has a lot to do with it. If you look at the SERPs, you'll see that the entryleveljobs in entrylevejobsite.com is bolded. That right there tells me that Google sees the keywords in the URL. Btw, I'm using SEOmoz's Open Site Explorer to compare link profiles. Additionally, many of the links that you build will have CV in the anchor text because of your domain name. That's huge. A domain like mycv.com would be great if you're trying to rank for CV. CV.com would be better, but that's unrealistic. However, I'd push you to use Google's AdWords Keyword Tool to do some more research on what keywords you want to use in the domain name.

by ig1 16y ago

jhancock 16y ago

Can you provide some rational or data points on why hyphens are not a good thing, particularly given your example of google parsing the words accurately? I hear this often but always without explanation.

robeastham 16y ago
I was wondering about this too after reading: http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/17702/17-Mutable-Suggestions-For-Naming-A-Startup.aspx http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/17702/17-Mutable-Sugges... Great advice in this article on the whole I think, but I did wonder about the rational for removing hyphens. Could it just be they are out of fashion? I remember when they used to be much more popular way back when. Also thanks for all the comments so far guys!
- ig1 16y ago
  It's because users are used to multi-words companies being a single word in a domain (i.e no hyphen). So when people type your domain a non-insignificant percentage of users are going to type it without the hyphen. If you buy both domains (with and without the hyphen) and 301 redirect the hyphenless domain to the hyphen'd one you'd get over the worst of the issues, but there's still the potential for confusion and different people spelling it in different ways.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

WillyF 16y ago

I agree on the hyphens, but I disagree strongly with your suggestion that mycv.com won't get a bonus for relevance to the term cv. I've seen plenty of sites with inferior link profiles (to the sites below them in the search results) rank because of domains with a couple of relevant keywords along with a generic one. It's nowhere near an exact match, but it's still worth something. Let's use the term "entry level jobs" for an example. http://www.entryleveljobsite.com http://www.entryleveljobsite.com ranks #9 right now, yet it's link profile is far inferior to my site http://www.onedayonejob.com http://www.onedayonejob.com which ranks at #16. Yes, there are probably some other factors included, but my feeling is that the domain name has a lot to do with it. If you look at the SERPs, you'll see that the entryleveljobs in entrylevejobsite.com is bolded. That right there tells me that Google sees the keywords in the URL. Btw, I'm using SEOmoz's Open Site Explorer to compare link profiles. Additionally, many of the links that you build will have CV in the anchor text because of your domain name. That's huge. A domain like mycv.com would be great if you're trying to rank for CV. CV.com would be better, but that's unrealistic. However, I'd push you to use Google's AdWords Keyword Tool to do some more research on what keywords you want to use in the domain name.