Are key words in domain name picked up by google?

[lapunluyang]

Hello all.

I saw this type of question here somewhere but I can't find it again.

I have some domains with 3 keywords separated by hyphens. Does google pick these up? Are they good names for search engines? One example is Russian-dating-site.net

Also, I have another domain called Russiandatingsite.info which would be better placed? Does google see the ""russiandatingsite" as 1 word or can it spot the clue??

Thanks

[MattBarthorp]

IMO. 'russiandatingsite' should be better. Its more important to have the keywords in the domain name. Moreover, it doesn't simply depend on the domain name, but how you have promoted your keywords over the web and how you've used them across your webpages. If you have given emphasis on russiandatingsite instead of russian dating site, then the prior would rank better in the SERP's. And I believe that the search engines of this decade are much more smarter than how it was in the past.

[WebCrazy]

So is it better to not have the hyphen separating the domaine name in the url? I've always wondered about this as lot of people (myself included) when searching for a site won't use hyphens, or does this matter whe just doing a search? Also being sure you are spreading out your keywords throughout your site as well as title.