I've read that search engines like sites that are registered for more than one year at a time. The theory is that if a site owner pays to register a site for 5-10 years into the future, the likelihood that the site will be used for spam is decreased. Have any DP'ers ever tested this? Has anyone with a site previously registered year to year ever paid for more than a year and seen a bump in rankings?
Yes the theory is true. Most of the time every domain that is registered for one year is placed on "watch". This is because most sites could be potential spam. I have domains I have registered the maximum of 10 years and in all fairness it's worth it for a few reasons.... 1) One payment then don't need to worry for the next 10 years. 2) In my experience and experiments I have avoided the "sandbox" effect. As for rankings, I guess avoiding the "sandbox" helps indirectly. KP
I haven't seen first hand proof that it helps. However, it makes logical sense and is a reasonable extra cost - so, why not register for the 10 years?