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Age of a Domain Name
One of the many factors in Google's search engine algorithm
is the age of a domain name. In a small way, the age of a
domain gives the appearance of longevity and therefore a
higher relevancy score in Google.
Driven by spam sites which pop up and die off quickly, the
age of the domain is usually a sign whether or not a site is
yesterday's news or tomorrow's popular site. We see this in
the world of business, for example. While the novelty that
may go with a new store in town brings a short burst of
initial business, people tend to trust a business that has
been around for a long time over one that is brand new. The
same is true for websites. Or, as Rob from
BlackwoodProductions.com says, "Rent the store (i.e.
register the domain) before you open for business".
Two things that are considered in the age of a domain name
are:
* The age of the website
* The length of time a domain has been registered
The age of the website is built up of how long the content
has been actually on the web, how long the site has been in
promotion, and even the last time content was updated. The
length of time a domain has been registered is measured by
not only the actual date the domain was registered, but also
how long it is registered for. Some domains only register
for a year at a time, while others are registered for two,
five, or even ten years.
In the latest Google update that SEOs call the Jagger
Update, some of the big changes seen were the importance
given to age; age of incoming links, age of web content, and
the date the domain was registered. There were many things,
in reality, that were changed in this last update, but since
we're talking about the age of a domain, we'll only deal
with those issues specifically. We'll talk more in other
articles about other factors you will want to be aware of
that Google changed in their evaluation criteria of websites
on the Internet.
One of the ways Google uses to minimize search engine spam
is by giving new websites a waiting period of three to four
months before giving it any kind of PageRank. This is
referred to as the "sandbox effect". It's called the
"sandbox effect" because it has been said that Google wants
to see if those sites are serious about staying around on
the web. The sandbox analogy comes from the concept that
Google does this by throwing all of the new sites into a
sandbox and let them play together, away from all the
adults. Then, when those new sites "grow up", so to speak,
then they are allowed to be categorized with the "adults",
or the websites that aren't considered new.
What does this mean to you? For those of you with new
websites, you may be disappointed in this news, but don't
worry. There are some things you can do while waiting for
the sandbox period to expire, such as concentrating on your
backlink strategies, promoting your site through
Pay-per-click, articles, RSS feeds, or in other ways. Many
times, if you spend this sandbox period wisely, you'll be
ready for Google when it does finally assign you a PageRank,
and you could find yourself starting out with a great
PageRank!
Even though the domain's age is a factor, critics believe it
only gets a little weight in the algorithm. Since the age of
your domain is something you have no control over, it
doesn't necessarily mean that your site isn't going to rank
well in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). It does
mean, however, that you will have to work harder in order to
build up your site popularity and concentrate on factors
that you can control, link inbound links and the type of
content you present on your website.
So what happens if you change your domain name? Does this
mean you're going to get a low grade with a search engine if
you have a new site? No, not necessarily. There are a few
things you can do to help ensure that your site won't get
lost in the SERPs because of the age of the domain.
1. Make sure you register your domain name for the longest
amount of time possible. Many registrars allow you to
register a domain name for as long as five years, and some
even longer. Registering your domain for a longer period of
time gives an indication that your site intends to be around
for a long time, and isn't going to just disappear after a
few months. This will help boost your score with regards to
your domain's age.
2. Consider registering a domain name even before you are
sure you're going to need it. We see many domains out there
that even while they are registered; they don't have a
website to go with it. This could mean that the site is in
development, or simply someone saw the use of that
particular domain name, and wanted to snatch it up before
someone else did. There doesn't seem to be any problems with
this method so far, so it certainly can't hurt you to buy a
domain name you think could be catchy, even if you end up
just selling it later on.
3. Think about purchasing a domain name that was already
pre-owned. Not only will this allow you to avoid the
"sandbox effect" of a new website in Google, but it also
allows you to keep whatever PageRank may have already been
attributed to the domain. Be aware that most pre-owned
domains with PageRank aren't as cheaply had as a new domain,
but it might be well worth it to you to invest a bit more
money right at the start.
4. Keep track of your domain's age. One of the ways you can
determine the age of a domain is with this handy Domain Age
Tool. What it does is allows you to view the approximate age
of a website on the Internet, which can be very helpful in
determining what kind of edge your competitors might have
over you, and even what a site might have looked like when
it first started.
To use it, simply type in the URL of your domain and the
URLs of your competitors, and click submit. This will give
you the age of the domains and other interesting
information, like anything that had been cached from the
site initially. This could be especially helpful if you are
purchasing a pre-owned domain.
Because trustworthy sites are going to have to be the wave
of the future, factoring in the age of a domain is a good
idea. Even though a site that may have been around for years
may suddenly go belly-up, or the next big eBay or Yahoo!
just might be getting it start, it may not be a full measure
of how trustworthy a site is or will be. This is why there
are many other factors that weigh into a search engine's
algorithm and not just a single factor alone. What we do
know is that we've seen age becoming of more importance that
it had been previously, there are only good things to be
said about having a site that's been around for a while.
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