There is a reason why you don’t see many hyphenated domain names out there today. Now why is that? Well there is everything from being hard to remember to just being ugly, you could pick and choose why they are a bad idea. The key thing to remember though is to stay away from them at all costs.

Think of ten of your favorite Web sites. Do any of them have hyphenated domain names? Nope.

The first reason is, is that hyphenated domain names are really hard for folks to remember. When picking a good domain name, you want to find something short, relevant, and with a few keywords. Now many Web 2.0 startups are breaking that rule left and right - but I think it is still a good rule to have.

For the rest of us, the previously mentioned rules are good ones to follow. You want people to be able to associate your domain name with your Web site quickly. hyphenated domain names just make things too difficult.

Where does the hyphen go?

Did it have one, or were you just thinking that it did?

If they the visitor types in the domain name without the hyphen, will they be taken to a competitor’s Web site? These are all things you should keep in mind. So next time you are out domain name hunting, do yourself a favor and stay away from getting a hyphenated domain name.