The internet is becoming quite saturated, with nearly all of the generic words already registered, even finding a good descriptive domain name can be a difficult process.  This leads many people to start considering an alternative option and using hyphens or dashes (-) when choosing a domain name.

What are domains with dashes or hyphens?

An example of a domain name that contains a dash would be:  www.This-Is-Your-Domain-Name.com while the non-hyphenated version would be www.ThisIsYourDomainName.com.

While there are certainly websites who have successfully pulled off using a dash or hyphenated domain name, I believe that choosing one without any special characters will provide you with a much easier way to build and brand your site or blog.

The Benefits of Domains With Dashes

To be honest, the only reason why I think a domain name with a dash or hyphen might be better than a domain name without dashes would be search engine friendliness, however, I also think that this is open to debate.

Difficulties of Dashed Domain Names

There are several obstacles and roadblocks that domains that contain dashes will face:

• Lost Traffic – You WILL lose some traffic to the non-hyphenated version
• Pronounceable - Dashed domains will have a tough time being spread verbally (i.e. word of mouth, radio, etc.) because of the disconnect some people will have when hearing your website address.
• Less-Intuitive – Just as “.com” reigns supreme for domain extensions – people have become accustomed to typing domain names as one continuous word.

The Conclusion

While there may be times that you might really want or need a domain name that contains dashes, I highly recommend that you try and find a variation of the domain name that you want using different words or descriptors that does not contain dashes or hyphens.