A few suggestions: 0-1 years: Sandbox 1-2 years: Backlinks becomes more valueable more than 2 years: Very easy to get good rankings.
Latehorn .. You forgot to mention that some websites don't enter the sandbox at all and they have a great rank since day 1.
I'm pretty sure that "age of domain" is less important than "age of site since first indexing." It's a meaningful distinction, as I could have a domain registered since 1996 and never use it. Dont mean to nitpick, but I'm actually curious too -- would setting up a domain on a prolonged unused/parked domain make any difference at all in anyone's opinion (I would say no ... ).
From what I see of my competition crusty old domains have it very easy. I find I need almost twice as many links. With time, steady link building and hard work I sure hope it gets easier.
I bought a domain in January. It showed as PR6 on the toolbar in March. Many keywords have high ranks in SERPs today. Domain age didn't seem to be an issue.
i've seen it.. but then again.. google messed up BIG time ! I seen several sites less then a year old. with High PR in the last update
Age does matter, with older domains ranking high easier. A young domain could rank high provided the keywords are not too competitive. I have never seen a year or less old domain rank high for a high competition keyword.
I think you are about right. I agree that there are some exceptional cases, (high ranking within day of launch and so on), but for the most part it takes well over a year before you get good rankings from the site. But of course you can speed-up the process with a bit of TLC and SEO FFMG
When you say "ranking," you mean PR or SERP ranking? With toolbar PR, I say forget it. Someday it'll show up. But with SERP ranking, far more important, I agree 100% with: For SERPS, TLC and SEO is what it's all about. A page I had ranked #6 for its keyword the day it was indexed, and it hasn't moved since (still crossing my fingers). Indexing took about three months, though. It all really comes down to writing it right.
Sorry, I was talking about SERP. I only use PR as an indication that I am on the right track. What ever any body says, a page that goes from PR2 to PR3 is doing something right. But PR is only one of the many tools used to ensure that I am doing things right. FFMG
Thanks for clarifying. As mentioned, SERPS can be had immediately (upon indexing) if your keywords are right. I bought my domain name second-hand (which I think slowed down indexing) in February. It was indexed mid last week and the "money" page (PR0) has been at #5-7 (depending on the DC) since. The "niche" keyword gets, I would estimate, about 20% of the searches that the more common search gets.
I havent seen any website in Bulgarian language to get sandboxed.. To tell you the truth, I'm getting into top 5 for specific keywords with over 1.5-2mil results just for only on page optimization ! Without link building.. Sweet work And the clients are very very very thankfyl The hostings are not in Bulgaria (in USA) and the domains are .com, not .bg... If domains were .bg or hosting was in Bulgaria - #1 or #2 imediately... For my English language websites there is always peak positions in the first day or two of indexing, then going in the corner and sitting for at least 6 months...
Atanas, I had a similar situation with non-english website. It had no content, just one page with optimised title & meta tags and something like: We'll be here soon text. I linked it from one of my old websites, with anchor text in Serbian. Voila, very soon I got to the top.
THAT I definitely agree with. The age of the domain is important, but an older - always active - domain coupled with old backlinks is gonna be near the top of the serps for something. You can bet on it. If it's not then the developer is to blame.