5 replies to this topic

[patrickd21]

Hi everyone,

I'm revising the cluttered URL's on my company's site and I wanted to know what is better practice for google to see the worlds as seperate...if it matters at all.


OPTION #1

unitronic-chipped . com/ecutuning/vw/gti28lmk4.html

OPTION #2

unitronic-chipped . com/ecu-tuning/vw/gti-28l-mk4.html

OPTION #3

unitronic-chipped . com/ecu_tuning/vw/gti_28l_mk4.html


I want the Search engine to see the two words as seperate keywords. Basically I'm asking if I need to use a "-", an "_", or all together, or if it doesn't matter.

Personally, I think that neither makes any difference from what I've read, however I have people telling me one way, another way, and other agreeing with me...so now I'm confused and just want to be sure lol

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Michael Martinez]

It generally doesn't matter but for your peace of mind the best choice is probably to use the hyphen (option 2).

[torka]

Not to mention that from a usability standpoint, the underscore tends to get "lost" in the underlining should the URL be displayed on a page where links are underlined. Even if you don't underline links by default, even if you don't display the actual URLs on your site, you never know what others who want to link to you from their sites will do.

This isn't necessarily a problem when people are just clicking on these "outside" links, but if they come across a link to your site somewhere else and either print out the page or write down the link for later reference, it could be a problem if they can't easily see those underscores.

Using the hyphen means the separator should be always visible, which may help avoid this sort of error. (And, speaking personally, I find them marginally easier to type, as they don't require the use of the shift key, and easier to parse when reading the URL. That's my personal preference, though, and may or may not carry over to others.)

--Torka

[kuber]

Hi,

Underscores should be avoided. A hyphen is still okay if you want to convey that these are 2 separate words to the "visitors". But without hyphen also "Google" will see these 2 words separately.

[chrishirst]

[deanaov]

Never focus your attention on the url. Search engines only give a little value on that. Search engines give more value to the type of content you're going to create and what techniques you're going to use to circulate the url. Just remember: When creating url extensions, choose to be simple. The shorter it is, the better.