Domain Names and Hyphens

[Aurastin]

There are many different answers out there in the general public about this, however I am interested in opinions from the community here.

Does the use of a hyphen in a domain name negatively affect the image of a shards website?

Are you less likely to visit a shards website that uses a hyphen?

Does the use of a hyphen negatively affect traffic to a shard website?

 

[The Real Keith]

Generally speaking (not specifically pertaining to Ultima Online), a successful catchy name is usually 2 syllables, easy to spell, and doesn't contain spaces or awkward spelling. Think about some of the most popular websites that exist. "Ya-hoo" "Face-book" "Goo-gle"

My servers name for example is "Revealed"

All in all though, a hyphen wouldn't deter me away from a server in any way, it just may not be catchy, easy to spell or remember.

 

[Tukaram]

A hyphen would not chase me away, but I try not to use them in website names. I was making a site for a group and had some choices of good available domain names. Short, easy to remember, and spell... they registered a name and told me to use it. rotaryclubofiloilosouth (dot) org & com. (not a UO site) It is a terrible name. Way too long - they said the long name sounded more prestigious?. It was only missing was a hyphen or some special characters. The site lasted for the 1 year of their initial domain registration and they let it lapse. (shame really, it was one of my better designed sites)

Point is I agree with the real Kieth. Short, simple, catchy...

 

[Aurastin]

@The Real Keith , @Tukaram Thank you both for your input on this.