URLs: Dash vs. Underscore [closed]
Should it be /about_us or /about-us?
From usability point of view, I personally think /about-us is much better for end-user yet Google and most other websites (and javascript frameworks) use underscore naming pattern. Is it just matter of style? Are there any compatibility issues with dashes?
From Google Webmaster Central
Consider using punctuation in your URLs. The URL http://www.example.com/green-dress.html is much more useful to us than http://www.example.com/greendress.html. We recommend that you use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) in your URLs.
Here are a few points in favor of the dashes:
- Dashes are recommended by Google over underscores (source).
- Dashes are more familiar to the end user.
- Dashes are easier to write on a standard keyboard (no need to Shift).
- Dashes don't hide behind underlines.
- Dashes feel more native in the context of URLs as they are allowed in domain names.
It's not just dash vs. underscore:
- text with spaces
- textwithoutspaces
- encoded%20spaces%20in%20URL
- underscore_means_space
- dash-means-space
- plus+means+space
- camelCase
- PascalCase
- " quoted text with spaces" (and single quote vs. double quote)
- slash/means/space
- dot.means.space
Google did not treat underscore as a word separator in the past, which I thought was pretty crazy, but apparently it does now. Because of this history, dashes are preferred. Even though underscores are now permissible from an SEO point of view, I still think that dashes are best.
One benefit is that your average semi-computer-illiterate web surfer is much more likely to be able to type a dash on the keyboard, they may not even know what the underscore is.