HOME > TIPS > WEB DESIGN > UNDERSCORES VERSUS HYPENS IN YOUR URLS


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Underscores versus hypens in your URLs

There are various arguments on whether to use underscores "_" or hypens "-" as dividers in your URLs - most of them aesthetic. However, to my way of thinking, one fact decides the whole argument. Google sees hyphens as dividers, it ignores underscores. This means it's more likely to extract keywords out of your domain, directories and filenames if you use hyphens to separate your keywords, and hence your webpage will rank higher when searching for those keywords.
Comments

Comment by j on 2005-08-07
that's bull I have many, many pages with underscores that have #1 rankings

Comment by Dustin on 2005-08-27
Did you even read the paragraph or just post? It states there are 2 sides and cited google as a reference for how they figure their ratings. Shhez. I find this page helpful.

Comment by Gilbert Hadley on 2005-11-28
I teach web design and I always tell my students to use hyphens rather than underscores. This is because you have to use hyphens in domain names and it helps to avoid confusion if you have a consistent format for all parts of the URL.

Comment by Gracye on 2011-11-02
Didn't know the forum rules allowed such brillanit posts.

Comment by Kayden on 2011-05-21
Thank God! Someone with brains sepaks!

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