Underscores vs. dashes in URLs

Matt Cutts explains the difference between how Google interprets underscores and dashes in a URL.

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• google
• seo
• underscores
• dashes
• separators

[sKIPper76M]

PLEASE UPVOTE

There is also a usability problem with having underscores in URLs. Since URLs are generally displayed with an underline, an underscore in the URL could potentially get "lost" in the user's eyes. Thus, that underscore may be perceived as a space.

This may be not be a problem if the user just needs to click on the URL (wherein the perception whether its an underscore or space doesn't matter), but it may be a problem in cases such as dictating the URL to a friend over a phone, etc.

[MrAshleySheridan]

Yeah I agree. It's terrible when a company has a service and then tells us how to make best use of it. It's as bad as those help pages for all the software on my computer. How dare they tell me how to use it, now other people are going to be more productive than me because they are reading the same docs.

[thundergr]

This is not the case on the web. See wikipedia for example. A search engine should be as accurate as possible. it should be fixed.

[mickoz]

I don't think people should adapt to Google, but Google should find way to get the most out of content about real usage (and it probably does on most point). People should however do the "right" thing, and that is where I would support Google, but then I have to be convinced it is the "right" thing. ;-)

[mickoz]

Idea to index the parts AND the sum (i.e. tmp, max, tmp_max for "tmp_max") is interesting.

Idea to let the webmaster define how their website URL are defined are interesting for a "search engine" point of view (would prefer a global standard to define this, rather than Google only).

I am sure, at least I hope, some people at Google have thought of these ideas already.

[mickoz]

If we talk about URL (and even in code), we do use underscore mostly as a word separator, don't we? The fact that both words are tight together is just another data about these value, and this rule should also apply to hyphens which is also used to "join words".

Actually from what I read "dashes" and "hyphens" are different thing and people really type hyphens from what I understand. I repeat, hyphens are used to "join words".

[mickoz]

The reason seems a bit biased. I don't know if I am convinced it is the "right" thing. And as a developer, I am very interested in doing "right" thing.

[shailesh2983]

thanks matt

[alexkarate]

Very clear and useful, thanks!!!

[DevHQLessons]

No - it shouldn't be "fixed". Underscores are used for joining words together, whereas dashes are meant for separating them -- these are the real word applications.

[azsum73]

what about capital letters?

How Google deals with "RedWidget" and "redwidget" or "REDwidget"?

cheers