Your Domain Age is an Important SEO Factor

It is generally understood that your domain age can have a bearing on the overall performance of your website in the Search Engines, and in particular with Google. Two key factors that are considered when determining your domain age are:

1. The date your domain was first registered.
2. How length of time into the future your domain is registered for.

It is widely believed that the greater length of time a domain is registered for, the better your site performs with regards to Search Engine rankings. The major Search Engines such as Google see domains that have been registered for extended periods of time as a commitment to their domain name. Additionally, it is a strong indicator that the website is not a temporary spam site. SEO professionals agree that you should register your domain for a long time, because search engines factor domain steadiness when looking at your website.

A Google Patent Registered in 2005 had this recorded: [0099] Certain signals may be used to distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate domains. For example, domains can be renewed up to a period of 10 years. Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year. Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith.

If you have recently purchased a brand new domain and website and intend on being around for years to come, all of the above may seem irrelevant. But, it is important to note that Google has an algorithm which it applies to brand new websites - the 'Sandbox Effect'. Brand new websites often don't appear in its Search Results for an interval of time - either because the domain and website are brand new and/or the website lacks link popularity, which is inward links pointing to your site. It is a waiting period that allows Google to sort out which sites are committed to staying online and those which aren't. This process ultimately assists Google in providing only the most relevant quality sites to their searchers.

If you are looking to purchase a new domain name, we recommend you follow these steps:

1. Register your domain for as long into the future as is feasible. This will signal to the Search Engines that you intend for your site to be around for a long time.

2. Think about purchasing domain names which have been pre-owned, this can help you avoid the Sandbox Effect. Make sure though that these pre-owned domain names have been associated with trustworthy and related websites prior to purchase.

3. Not sure which domain name is best for your website or not yet ready to launch your website? We suggest you register a couple which can then be pointed or redirected to your main domain at a later date.

In the mean time your domain name gains in age whilst you make a decision, giving you a slight head start. It should be noted that it is believed Google also considers the length of time a domain name has been associated with a website so this last method should not be counted upon as a foolproof way of gaining rankings.

It is crucial to understand that the age of your domain is only one of over 200 algorithms that Google applies to a website and as such, it should only be taken into consideration in the overall Search Marketing picture.