Does Google Recognize "+" symbol?

[davidsculbertson]

Hi Folks,

This is my first post. Just stumbled across this website using (of course) Google.

I am Internet consultant jack-of-all-trades: marketing, SEM, SEO, Analytics.

I had recently advised one of my clients to use the hyphen as part of all sub-directory names on their web site (client.com/customer-support).

Now that their new site has launched, I see that their IT department used the plus (+) symbol instead of a hyphen (client.com/customer+support).

Does anyone know if Google associates the + symbol with a blank space as they do the hyphen? Or does Google treat like an underscore and ignore, throwing the words together?

Thanks!

[intelliot]

Although hyphens are recommended by Google, the plus sign is also used in many URLs on sites that have "GET" forms. This includes Google themselves -

When you search for "first second third word", the address is:

google.com/search?hl=en&q=first+second+third+word

Notice the plus signs. If someone were to then copy this address and link to it on their site, it could be indexed by search engines.

I do not know if it is handled like a hyphen or like an underscore. Perhaps a test is needed.

By the way, welcome to the community! Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.

[cvrk3]

welcome to the community!