How Important is Domain Age

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by twalters84, Oct 7, 2007.

  1. #1
    Hey there,

    I was just wondering how important domain age is as a SEO factor?

    I bought my freelance programming website used. It is 2 years 7 months old.

    However, my biggest competitor has a domain age of 8 years 10 months.

    Do you think it would be possible to catch this other company in the SERPs?

    Thanks for any information.

    Sincerely,
    Travis Walters
     
    twalters84, Oct 7, 2007 IP
  2. addaminsane

    addaminsane Well-Known Member

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    #2
    yes, you have a pretty good domain age. basically, a domain over 2 years old is just about as good as 8. Domain age importance in the se is primarily to show that your site is legitimate and here to stay. In the future, if google were to give priority to a lower quality site with a domain age of 15 years over a higher one with a domain age of 3 years, then search engine results would suck. Google basically determines domain age as important to a certain point. Remember that googles ultimate goal is to give the best search results and limit "Old Money". from taking over the world at the same time. 2 years is a pretty good point. :)
     
    addaminsane, Oct 7, 2007 IP
    twalters84 likes this.
  3. sweetfunny

    sweetfunny Banned

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    #3
    Definately possible. I dont place a great deal of importance on domain age alone, i constantly sell 1999 domains for around $30.

    It can help but there is way more important factors. Go for it, just out optimize him in every other way and you will come out on top.
     
    sweetfunny, Oct 7, 2007 IP
    twalters84 likes this.
  4. twalters84

    twalters84 Peon

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    #4
    Hey there,

    Thanks for the great responses.

    My domain will probably be 3.5 years old by the time I release it heh..

    Sincerely,
    Travis Walters
     
    twalters84, Oct 7, 2007 IP
  5. mark_kris

    mark_kris Banned

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    #5
    Domain age is considered a good factor for SE's unless that domain has been reported bad or banned before...
     
    mark_kris, Oct 7, 2007 IP
  6. mixke

    mixke Prominent Member

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    #6
    Domain age can be considered as a factor but it is not the only factor and so, it is possible to beat your competitor [ ~9years old domain ] though it might take up some good amount of time.
     
    mixke, Oct 7, 2007 IP
  7. Philopoemen

    Philopoemen Peon

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    #7
    I have a domain registered in March 2007. In june I was already outranking a lot of other much older websites.
    So I think domain age is good as long as it's older than let's say 3-6 months. Probably the best is achieved over 12 months, cause that proves that the domain has been renewed at least once, so that's a good proof of reliability.
     
    Philopoemen, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  8. twalters84

    twalters84 Peon

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    #8
    Hey there,

    I heard that google even looks at a domain's expiration date.

    So it may be best to purchase for several years at a time.

    Is there any truth to that?

    Sincerely,
    Travis Walters
     
    twalters84, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  9. gr8liverpoolfan

    gr8liverpoolfan Notable Member

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    #9
    The logic for that goes as follows :

    If your domain was registered for a longer period, it would mean that your intention is to stay around and cement your place in the industry, not to make a quick buck and disappear.

    Whether it really matters or not is something that only Google can answer.
     
    gr8liverpoolfan, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  10. Philopoemen

    Philopoemen Peon

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    #10
    I think this is simple speculation from the domain registrars part.
    I doubt google will gather all that data and give any value to it. Maybe registering for more years will get you from #950 to #949 in SERPS, it shouldn't get you more value than that.
     
    Philopoemen, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  11. vaza

    vaza Member

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    #11
    Domain age is every important. Register a domain for few years, means that you will stay for long time in the industry as "gr8liverpoolfan" said. So yes it's good to register a domain for a few years then only one year. But it's a lot other factors too.
     
    vaza, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  12. colly2006

    colly2006 Peon

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    #12
    Your domain age is as good as your competitor, if your site is doing much than your competitor.
     
    colly2006, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  13. coter1979

    coter1979 Peon

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    #13
    Domain age is very important to Google from what I've read. Your competitor has a domain with an amazing age, but what is their on page and off page SEO like?

    Find out what they do and one up them.
     
    coter1979, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  14. seo4china

    seo4china Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Definitely one of the top 5~6 factors when it comes to SEO, but for two sites aged over 2~3 years basically there is not much difference no matter the difference between both.
     
    seo4china, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  15. Brian Melony

    Brian Melony Guest

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    #15
    Definitely it is possible to leave that website behind with quality work. Do Article Submissions, Directory Submissions, Link Building, Social Bookmarking, Blogging and other Internet Marketing Techniques properly and your website definitely be at good position in sometime.

    All the best ...
     
    Brian Melony, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  16. alecrust

    alecrust Member

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    #16
    Domain age is deffinately not the only factor, but it is deffinately a key one.

    I guess what I'm saying is if you had exactly the same site on a newly registered domain or on an old domain, the older domain would do better SEO-wise.
     
    alecrust, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  17. corlock

    corlock Banned

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    #17
    having that kind of domain age will obviously make a good result in SEs. Domain age is one of the good factors that a site must have.
     
    corlock, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  18. Devesh100

    Devesh100 Active Member

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    #18
    You can for the sure.
    In fact Google does consider the age of the domain but that does not mean that you can not catch the older site. It is just a consideration to decide that the site is old enough and so should be legitimate one.
     
    Devesh100, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  19. Pixelrage

    Pixelrage Peon

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    #19
    I'm pretty sure that it's almost useless unless the site has been up as long as the domain has been around...

    in other words, 7 year old domain that had a page up for 2 months is *much* less effective than a 7 year old domain that had a live page for 7 years
     
    Pixelrage, Oct 8, 2007 IP
  20. sweetfunny

    sweetfunny Banned

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    #20
    Exactly, couldn't agree more. I own a few 100 domains regged in the 90's, and i have found if i unpark one and throw a site up it doesn't receive any noticable boost in rankings compared to a new domain.

    Also Matt Cutts has stated Google doesn't access the Whois for future registration date as a scoring factor.
     
    sweetfunny, Oct 8, 2007 IP