Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: Would an underscore improve SEO?

  1. #1
    Registered
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    110

    Question Would an underscore improve SEO?

    For SEO, would an underscore improve the Google SEO, lessen or not make a difference as non-underscore?


    sitepoint.com/betterorsame

    or

    sitepoint.com/better_or_same

  2. #2
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Wakefield, UK, EU
    Posts
    3,801
    The best would be:

    sitepoint.com/better-or-same

  3. #3
    Senior Member chromate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,348
    sitepoint.com/betterorsame would be absolutely no good at all. I *think* google are recognising underscores as deviders now. But i'm not certain, so you're better off doing as Incka says to be safe.

  4. #4
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Wakefield, UK, EU
    Posts
    3,801
    I'm going to start gradually chaning my sites to use '-' using .htaccess redirect for old links...

  5. #5
    Administrator Chris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    East Lansing, MI USA
    Posts
    7,055
    I don't think its worth it to change existing sites. Just make sure new sites use the format.
    Chris Beasley - My Guide to Building a Successful Website[size=1]
    Content Sites: ABCDFGHIJKLMNOP|Forums: ABCD EF|Ecommerce: Swords Knives

  6. #6
    Junior Registered
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    1
    So to sum it up a dash ("-"), is the best to use?

    I always thought that an underscore ("_") was best, and I noticed this is what Chris seems to use on most of his sites.

    I just want to be sure before I go ahead and code my site.

  7. #7
    Senior Member chromate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,348
    Yes, a hyphen is best ("-")

  8. #8
    Half of it is 70% smarts Nick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    104
    Hyphens look so spammy though.

    I wonder why large sites don't use them.

  9. #9
    mastermind michael_gersitz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Buffalo
    Posts
    749
    I think you answered your own question.

  10. #10
    Senior Member chromate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,348
    Large sites don't use them because most of the time they aren't that clued up on SEO techniques. They probably also have systems developed which prohibit the use of hyphens in URLs.

    I don't think hyphens look spammy at all. For example:

    sitepoint.com/better_or_same or sitepoint.com/better-or-same

    They look the same. But the latter is a safer bet with regard to SEO. It may look spammy to you, because you understand the techniques a spammer (is that a word? ) will use. To the average person though, the URL is probably mostly ignored. All they care about are the links.

    To be honest, I don't think hyphens look spammy at all. Particularly as part of the URL. Unless of course someone is using, like, 6 hyphens for 1 file name or something. I would always limit a domain name to 1 or at the most 2 hyphens. But for the rest of the URL I think it's clearer to use hyphens anyway.

  11. #11
    Registered
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    23
    personally I think google should start penalizing for using exessibe hyphens, they''re so annoying when people abuse them in urls

  12. #12
    Administrator Chris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    East Lansing, MI USA
    Posts
    7,055
    No need to penalize, just ignore.
    Chris Beasley - My Guide to Building a Successful Website[size=1]
    Content Sites: ABCDFGHIJKLMNOP|Forums: ABCD EF|Ecommerce: Swords Knives

  13. #13
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Wakefield, UK, EU
    Posts
    3,801
    I like hyphens in URLs, it makes it easier to read.

  14. #14
    Registered
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    23
    Originally posted by Chris
    No need to penalize, just ignore.
    penalizing is just so much more fun though chris, aslong as it's not my site!

    I like hyphens in URLs, it makes it easier to read.
    You should be more worried about the content and not the url. What is easier to type?

    phptoxml.html

    php_to_xml.html

    that is a small example too, it gets ridiculous when the article or page names are really long

  15. #15
    Registered Member incka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Wakefield, UK, EU
    Posts
    3,801
    Who would go directly to a page like that?

Similar Threads

  1. Google improve Adsense stats
    By Best.Flash in forum Advertising & Affiliate Programs
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-18-2004, 09:35 PM
  2. Hyphen or Underscore?
    By MattM in forum Search Engine Optimization
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 01-24-2004, 04:49 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •