Need assistance...I am building a website

I have noticed a few readers of this forum have technical knowledge of creating websites and marketing on the web.

I am building a website for a business start-up project I am involved in and had a few questions.

Is there a resource available where I can find the criteria for what search engines look for in metatags?

Also, in naming your site with a good domain name... is it better to have your domain name look like this:

my-domain-name.com

OR

mydomainname.com

Does it matter to the search engines whether hyphenated or not? My domain names contain the name of the product we are selling.

Last question, should I submit my site to search engines manually and with what frequency or is it best to pay a reputable (any suggestions?) company to submit it for me.

I am using Verisign to host my site.

Thanks for your assistance!