website domain name with a "-" in the middle?

R

rabbit

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My brother is thinking of setting up a website for his business soon. The name is taken. What would people think of [broken link removed] ( joe bloggs is not the real name ). If people see it written down its ok, but would it be confusing to some people to spell it out over the phone / verbally ? And what do you call the thing in the middle - a a hyphen ? Anyone got any experience of this eg anyone set up a www.john-smith.com and then after telling people about it on the phone people look up john"dash"smith or john"hyphen"smith? If its named www.johnsmithelectrician.com for example then the name would be quite long / perhaps indistinct to read ? ( names and trade are changed .)
 
I've dealt with quinn helathcare who's site is quinn-healthcare.com
Their IT manager has told me he tells people the domain name is "quinn minus healthcare" !!
 
amgd28 said:
I've dealt with quinn helathcare who's site is quinn-healthcare.com
Their IT manager has told me he tells people the domain name is "quinn minus healthcare" !!
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The radio ads for quiinn-direct insurance say "quinn hyphen direct"

Personally - I would avoid hyphens dashes - whatever they are - if at all possible.
 
IMHO I would be careful too, just be sure that the site with the hyphen/dash isn't something isn't innapropriate, you can be sure that people will go there by mistake and you wouldn't want it having a bad reputation!
 
blacknight said:
I'd avoid it if at all possible.

Is the .eu available instead?
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I'd really think .com/.co.uk/.net would be the best. - Many people avoid spurious domain endings like .eu/.biz because they can be assosiated with illegal/dangerous (viral) sites.
 
amgd28 said:
I've dealt with quinn helathcare who's site is quinn-healthcare.com
Their IT manager has told me he tells people the domain name is "quinn minus healthcare" !!
Click to expand...
....so perhaps some people may literally type that in to the search engine or whatever ? lol

Thanks for all you replies anyway. I am not too sure about the "hypen" thing either ...I think it confuses a lot of Irish people ....well even if it confuses a few potential customers thats too many.
 
There is a huge difference between a hyphen and a dash, which unfortunately goes over most people's heads.

A hyphen (which is what the OP is referring to and is used in website addresses) is used to combine words, i.e. well-being. It is located beside the zero on a keyboard.

A dash is longer that a hyphen and is used to create a break in the structure of a sentence. It is produced usually through SHIFT+OPTION and the hyphen key.

So why am I telling you this? I'm trying to explain that most people don't know the difference between the two (and the 'minus' sign is different again!). Try telling someone over the phone your address is joe hyphen bloggs dot com. My employer's old domain name had a hyphen in it for the past few years, but it was recently changed.

I'd say almost half the people I'd have given an email address to over the phone didn't know what a hyphen was, so you just say dash. But if they use the dash, the link won't work.

So in short, go for the easier domain!!!
 
Sn@kebite said:
I'd really think .com/.co.uk/.net would be the best. - Many people avoid spurious domain endings like .eu/.biz because they can be assosiated with illegal/dangerous (viral) sites.
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I agree. I don't like .eu domains at all.

OP personally I would try to get a domain without a hyphen in it. It just looks spammy and cheap to me.

How many websites do you go to which have a hypen in their name?
 
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