Does "Using a dash in keyword name" affect SEO?
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I sell machinery branded Co-matic. Most people search Comatic so I was wondering if I should change my keywords from Co-matic to Comatic. Would the change have a significant impact on SEO?
Thanks!
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Matt Cutts has stated before that a dash - in a URL is interpreted similar to a space while an underscore _ is interpreted as a connector. http://youtu.be/AQcSFsQyct8
In your case, if Co-matic and Comatic are synonymous then I would choose whatever the actual Brand name is. Odds are Google will understand 1) that the brand is Co-matic and 2) that "Comatic" is "Co-matic" when looking for machinery.
Also, "Comatic" has the dictionary definition "of, pertaining to, or blurred as a result of a coma" which I don't think would be advantageous to have associated with your site.
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No having a dash is not going to have a significant impact on your site as far as rankings... However typing the URL into a browser manually will be easier, and a shorter URL in general is better.
If you can avoid the hyphen then do it. If you must use the hyphen, it should not impact your SEO results.
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