google can parse keywords in domains, but that does not necessarly mean, that they count those keys. I remember matt cutts saying, keywords in domain were irrelevant.
I agree with Michael.
Of all the information I have read the hyphens do make the difference, however the amount of "power" the search engines give to this is so minimal it really doesnt matter in the big picture.
From my experience, the keywords in a domain don't have to be hyphened. I believe that keywords in a domain do help in a round about way. When you submit to directories that only allow the true title of the website then your keywords are still submitted. Also when someone links to your site on their own free will no exchanges etc they normally will only link to you with your real website name as the anchor text.
A website that I have is #2 on first page of google for a keyphrase that I wasn't trying to rank for. It's because every time I do a directory submission or someone links to me with my name that keyphrase is in my domain.
I agree with Michael.
Of all the information I have read the hyphens do make the difference, however the amount of "power" the search engines give to this is so minimal it really doesnt matter in the big picture.
Where did you read that? I've read that SEs can parse keywords in URLs with no problem. The issue is if your URL could be read more than one way. Ex: expertsexchange.com = experts exchange.com or expert sex change.com ...
It is best to use a brandable name (Google), not keyword stuffed (cool-search-engine-no-evil.com). It will be easier to pass it around and you'll be able to shift your focus without changing the domain later.
Keyword in domains is just one of the hundreds of factors and you can beat it with backlinks easily. Just do a search in Google and see how many hyphenated domains you notice on the #1 page.
I've read that SEs can parse keywords in URLs with no problem.
MSN is the only search engine that does this for conjoined urls but very rarely and probably only for research/testing purposes. Google indexes on keywords in hyphenated urls but not on keywords in underscored or conjoined urls. Yahoo indexes on keywords in hyphenated and underscored urls but not keywords in conjoined urls. MSN indexes on some keywords in hyphenated, underscored and conjoined urls but the exact circumstances in which it does so are at the moment unclear.
