Knowledgebase Domain Names Optimizing

Will Domain Name Length Affect My Search Engine Rankings?

Most experts agree that long versus short domain names have little or no effect on your search engine rankings. Specifically, a shorter domain name will not be favored (based on length) over a longer one, or vice versa. However, I recommend avoiding excessively long domain names that approach the 63 character limit that popular registrars like GoDaddy.com enforce. This is also the maximum number of allowed characters in a domain name as determined by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). I will assume here that most of you reading this article will be considering domain names less than 30 characters in length.

What's Bad About Really Long Domain Names?

Let's pretend you feel that your web site must have a domain name 40+ characters in length. For example, you might have a web site that offers pictures and reviews of rollercoasters from around the world. You've come up with the 48 character site name reviewsandpicturesofrollercoastersfromaroundtheworld.com. It may be true that this name explains exactly what your web site is about, but is it easy to read and will people remember it? Probably not. It may even be hard for you to recall it in your head right now, after just having read it. Some experts might tell you to break up the name with hyphens, giving you reviews-and-pictures-of-rollercoasters-from-around-the-world.com. Sure, this makes it easier to read, and some search engines may be able to identify keywords in the domain name more rapidly, but is this the best solution?

A better alternative would be to choose a shorter name like coasterreviews.com (14 characters) or rollercoasterreviews.com (20 characters). Both domain names still adequately describe the website, and they are much easier to read and remember than the longer examples from the previous paragraph.

Should I Break Up My Domain Name with Hyphens?

The two most common reasons for breaking up a domain name with hyphens is either to make a long domain name easier to read, or because the domain name without hyphens is already taken. Concerning domain name length, hyphens may help the search engines to more easily parse very long domain names for keywords, but you should almost always try to shorten your potential domain name before opting for hyphens. The difference that hyphens make in the search engines is minimal at best. Most engines will still parse the keywords from your site name regardless of the presence of hyphens.

If you're considering using hyphens because your domain name choice without hyphens is unavailable, you should consider the one major side effect of doing so. Most people who try to return to your website are going to type in your website's name without hyphens, which could potentially send them to a competitor's site. Just look at all of your favorite sites online. How many of them use hyphens in their domain names? Probably none. There's your answer.

Domain Name Length - Are Shorter Names the Wise Choice?

In most cases, shorter domain names are easier for visitors to remember. However, sometimes this is not always true. Abbreviated names are often easier to remember in their longer non-abbreviated forms. The movie news site AintItCoolNews.com is easier to remember than AICN.com, because usually we first remember the name in its non-abbreviated form (unless we're frequent visitors). The easy solution to this is to register both the long domain name and the shorter abbreviated domain name (if available), and have the abbreviated name parked at your main domain. This would allow users to access your web site from either url address. For more on domain name parking, read the SEK article.

What Is the Average Domain Name Length?

The average number of characters in most domain names is 11. This is evident by the peak in the Domain Name Lengths Graph shown below. The vertical axis represents registered domains while the horizontal axis represents the number of characters in each domain name.


Keep in mind that over time this average will eventually increase, as more users register longer domain names due to the diminishing availability of shorter ones. The average length represented above should in no way influence the length of your own domain name choice.