This factor reports whether the domain name of a search result contains a hyphen, returning 1 when a hyphen is present and 0 when it is not. It is a descriptive observation about the domain string — not a target to optimize toward, and not something that makes a page rank.
| Factor ID | RG-SRP-010 |
|---|---|
| Family | Search Result URL and Snippet |
| Measurement | Binary presence (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | URL-derived domain |
What it measures
RankGear reports whether the result’s stored domain name contains a hyphen. It is a single yes-or-no observation about the domain string that RankGear derived from the result URL — nothing more.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear performs a literal substring check for the - character in the stored domain name. It returns 1 when a hyphen is present and 0 when it is absent. The check is limited to the domain string itself, so hyphens that appear elsewhere in the URL do not count.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The stored domain name contains at least one hyphen (for example, my-brand.com). |
| 0 | The stored domain name contains no hyphen (for example, mybrand.com). |
How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation, not a target. Choose a domain for brand clarity, trust, memorability, and long-term fit. Do not add or remove a hyphen solely to copy a correlated pattern you notice in the result set — the value describes a naming choice, and matching it does not confer the positions of the domains that happen to share it.
Important considerations
- This checks the stored domain string only — not hyphens in the path or query portion of the URL.
- It does not assess how many hyphens exist, nor whether the resulting name is readable.
- Domain migration carries substantial risk and should never be driven by this factor alone.
- Use the result as descriptive competitive data, not a universal rule. A correlation between hyphens and position within a result set does not mean a hyphen causes — or prevents — a ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.