Hyphens in a Domain Name: Good or Bad?

It is allowed to use hyphens/dashes in a domain name (not at the beginning or end), but I’d argue it’s probably not a good idea.

Domains with hyphens often look sketchy and unprofessional, which may lead to a lower click-through rate in search results.

It won’t directly hurt your site’s SEO because google doesn’t care what your domain name looks like, but it’s mainly about user perception and trust.

Years ago when the internet was young, domains with hyphens used to be very common and not many people minded that back then. It was mostly keyword-rich domains that used to rank well in search engines. But search engine algorithms have dramatically evolved and it no longer matters much if the domain has keywords in it or not, so there is less incentive to use hyphenated keyword-rich domain names these days.

I’d just pass on any domain name that has a hyphen or more and search for another one without any hyphens. That’s a choice you’re less likely to regret.

Recommended read: Best Domain Registrars with Email & Privacy