alternate spaces in urls

I'm working with a client and we're coming up with alternate ways of showing urls, directory and file names. Normally, a dash (-) in an url is understood to be a space. A plus (+) and a %20 are also valid url representations of a space. Any thoughts on their value in an url? I'm experimenting but if someone has seen something, I'd love to know. Also, I'd like to see what effect a double dash (--) has on an url. Does it mean something other than 2 spaces? -- Michael Dinowitz President: House of Fusion    (http://www.houseoffusion.com) Publisher: Fusion Authority    (http://www.fusionauthority.com) Adobe Community Expert / Advanced Certified ColdFusion Professional

From previous (untested) research, I would recomend using a (-) over and underscore (_). I've never thought of using + but I reckon it could have qwerky results maybe to do with the fact that plus signs are used when searching quite frequently. Also, I think there may be problems with some old browsers reading urls with %20 so I wouldn't use them. Haven't a clue about double spaces but personally I'd stear clear as I think it would make it harder to read and just lengthen it for no particular reason.

The underscore should never be used as it is not a 'joiner'. Fusion_Authority is a single word meaning nothing while Fusion-Authority is two words that may or may not go together. The thought on the + is due to search engines using it in place of a space when putting a search term onto an url. As for older browsers, I'm willing to lose the .0001% of visitors who are stuck on IE 1. :) > From previous (untested) research, I would recomend using a (-) over and underscore (_). I've never thought of using + but I reckon it could have qwerky results maybe to do with the fact that plus signs are used when searching quite frequently. > > Also, I think there may be problems with some old browsers reading urls with %20 so I wouldn't use them. > > Haven't a clue about double spaces but personally I'd stear clear as I think it would make it harder to read and just lengthen it for no particular reason.

From my research, search engines view "-" as spaces.  I would not use "+" since it is a reserved character.  I would only use dashes, underscores, letters, and numbers. The general consensus from most SEO/SEM ers is to use dashes "-". http://www.domain.com/folder/keywords1-keyword2.htm But url structure, like in the example above, has very little bearing in search engine ranking.  URLs become a problem when you passing a bunch of parameters or the URL is too long. I'm working with a client and we're coming up with alternate ways of showing urls, directory and file names. Normally, a dash (-) in an url is understood to be a space. A plus (+) and a %20 are also valid url representations of a space. Any thoughts on their value in an url? I'm experimenting but if someone has seen something, I'd love to know. Also, I'd like to see what effect a double dash (--) has on an url. Does it mean something other than 2 spaces? -- Michael Dinowitz President: House of Fusion    (http://www.houseoffusion.com) Publisher: Fusion Authority    (http://www.fusionauthority.com) Adobe Community Expert / Advanced Certified ColdFusion Professional

But if the + is reserved, what is it reserved for? I always see it reserved for a space but is that only for search engines. As for url length, any idea as to how long is too long? I have some long Fusion Authority urls and Google has no problems with them. In addition, I just wrote a system for a client where his content are at least 2-3 directories down from the root, but at least one of those directory levels are just for 'extra url content'. ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

http://www.ezau.com/latest/articles/0155.shtml http://www.searchenginechannel.com/2005/12/how-url-length-affects-search-eng ine-placement http://forums.seochat.com/search-engine-optimization-28/urls-long-vs-short-8 2440.html?p=337854#post337854 As for "+",  I had a problem with using the "+" in the url when I was running CF 7.0.1. Threw and CF error. Not sure if this was fixed in CF 7.0.2.  I wrote an ISAPI rewrite to replace them. But if the + is reserved, what is it reserved for? I always see it reserved for a space but is that only for search engines. As for url length, any idea as to how long is too long? I have some long Fusion Authority urls and Google has no problems with them. In addition, I just wrote a system for a client where his content are at least 2-3 directories down from the root, but at least one of those directory levels are just for 'extra url content'. ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----