To register a domain for 2+ years or not?

When you guys register domains, do you normally register for 2+ years or simply take it year per year?

The reason I ask is that I'm about to register quite a few domains, but registration for 2+ years is a lot upfront compared to the yearly option.

I've read somewhere that the search engines prefer 2+ years because there's less chance of using the domain for a spam site etc.. but has anyone really noticed a difference or has had a nasty penalty for buying per year?

 

the notice is slim, if it's there at all.

for really important sites that you plan on dedicating a lot of time or money into I'd certainly opt for two years just in case there's some small benefit.

 

Last month I registered my number 1 domain for a further 5 years (the site was about 6 months old), I have seen the numbers increase dramatically.

Maybe the domain has come out of the sandbox? who knows but IMHO it has not made things worse!

I did 2 major things last month:

Extend Registration period
Work on page titles

These with the 'sandbox' effect have made a big difference to my visitor numbers and my SERP. I have seen my site hit number 41 from well outside the top 1000 for a very competative keyword (35 million plus). Maybe its coincidence but I doubt it.

 

Interesting replies, thanks.

 

Depends on your plans. My company owns over 60 domains and at a cost as low as 10 bucks a domain for a year, why not opt in for 2 years? Also google likes aged domains over new ones so even if your focus changes in a year or 2, try to use the same domain name for you next project. At least you have age to help you. My 2 cents

Alex

 

Well, domain names are pretty cheap these days so it is not surprising to have a number of them with more than 2 years registration. The domain name cost is the components of a web site with the lowest cost but it probably would cause the biggest issue if you 'forgotten' to renew it or something.

Incidentally, the test would be really do you intend to keep the domain name and thus the site long term or do you plan to just sell them off in the forseeable future ? If the answer is you plan to keep and develop the site then go ahead and register for 2 years or more. If however you do not plan to keep it then do the 1 year registration.

 

Yes, definitely do it. The $70 difference shouldn't be too much to swing.

 

Guess I am not following you, what $70 difference are you talking about ?

 

It is difference between, cost of domain depends from time period..

 

It's about $10 to register it for one year and about $80 to register it for 10.