Which domain should I use?

[dbuckles]

I own a couple domains that are specific to a product and would like to know which one folks on here recommend.

Primary Google Search Term Example: "Tax Bond"

Example Domain 1: www.taxbonds.net

Example Domain 2: www.tax-bond.net

I've done research on here before and have come to the conclusion that hyphenated domains aren't bad (no more than 2 hyphens though). So, do I go for the EXACT search term with the hyphen or do I go for the pluralized search term without the hyphen, even though most people will not add the "s" in the Google search?

Thanks, Alex

[iung]

Hyphens work without problem and are not considered spammy, as long as other spam signals are low.

I just ranked a domain with two hyphens, from nowhere in the search engine positions, to positions 5 on page 2 in 6 days with as little as a dozen backlinks and 30 pages of good content, for a search volume of 100 000.That's on google.fr but it applies to google.com as well imho.

Check a simple search such as "Investment Banking" and see for yourself : how many domains on 1st page have hyphens ? I see "careers-in-finance.com" as #5. Matt Cutts once said "hyphens are treated as separators".

I would also suggest you to watch this video : Matt Cutts about branding versus keyword laden URLs : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAWFv43qubI&feature=related

However in the example, I would go for taxbond.net because it is simpler. And of course buy tax-bond and redirect. I would not buy the pluralized search though, as Google would always prefer the simpler version, all things equal.

[AlanMosley]

Still i would go without hythens

Search engines will still be able to make out the words, and your conversion will be better.

[dbuckles]

I'd like to clarify a little bit. This is not our core site. Our core site is a branded domain (www.suretegrity.com). There are some individual products that i'm creating microsites for. I am not a fan of hyphenated domains either but these will not get put on the radio, or even get placed in much marketing material. It will be loaded with great content but the big difference here is just that the domain is now product specific. It's a search results only play.

[AlanMosley]

hythens look spammy and hard to explain, just imaging a radio add calling out your domain with hythens

[ResslerMotors]

I agree, the ranking aspect isn't as important of consideration, but the CTR can be benefited from an exact match: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2086693/Exact-Match-Domains-Can-Double-Clicks-on-PPC-Ads

[kylesuss]

I personally don't like hypens in domains but I imagine your choices here won't have very much difference in terms of your initial rankings. Just because you have the exact match domain doesn't mean you will rank well for the query of "Tax Bond" -- you will need to get links pointing to your site and optimize the content. The anchor text of these links will play a much larger role in getting the rankings you desire than the domain itself. While the domain is pretty clutch, it's a small part of the important aspects that you need to focus on to rank well.

Does that answer your question?

[ResslerMotors]

The search volumes look about the same for either one (currently 110-74), and the difficulty level is about the same for either phrase.  So, I would choose the top one since it would be easier for a customer to just type in if they recommend it to a friend.