Why Domain Age Is Matter!

One Search Engine Optimization Related question which is often asked is how much domain age is important for SEO or Why Domain Age Is Matter?



Some marketing professionals might suggest that domain age is “not to worry about.” The truth is that domain age evidently matters – but there are other reasons beyond Search Engine Optimization concerns as to why this is true. We will count a number of different reasons.

However, before we continue, it is important to realize that domain age is not about how long that specific domain name has been in your possession. Instead, it means the amount of time that has passed since Google first indexed that particular domain (or saw a link to it). Remember, the site has to be indexed by Google for it to mean that Google considers it 10 years old. Just because you have registered the domain a decade ago does not mean the same thing.

Established Reputation

Many companies are spending a great deal of their advertising budget to build up trust and reputation among their consumer and target audiences.

There are Many websites where you could buy aged domains with established trust and good reputation. While it is hideous task to build and manage online reputation; You might be getting a shortcut towards reputation management when you buy a domain that has an established reputation over time.

Where to buy old domains?: Here's few websites offer Domain Auction.

Traffic

If you are buying an aged expired domain, you are more likely to getting at least some traffic along with it. This is why many internet marketer are looking for a expired domain that has been around for some time. This can save you both time and money, but remember that you are likely paying more for a domain that enjoys a great deal of traffic.

Old domains may carry more weight due to their past records (i.e. old backlinks pointing to them) – this can be a good point to consider but then again if you are serious about your brand, keep in mind that an established domain already has associations and history before you own it and they might be hard to conquer.

The Trust Factor

It is important to remember that Google gives “trusted and user-friendly” websites higher preference on their organic ranking. This means that in order to safeguard against fraudulent websites that are here-today-gone-tomorrow. How many times have we seen a website flourish; only to be gone in a few months after potential advertisers have given them their money?

Simply put, established sites are more credible than those that are just starting up. Especially if you are starting an online business where you are going to sell products, it is important that your prospective buyers are able to look at your domain age and feel comfortable – assured that you are going to actually provide them with their purchased product.

SEO & Ranking in Google

As we already know about, There is a certain amount of debate about exactly how important domain age is to your ability to rank well, but testing and experience by SEO professionals paints a pretty clear picture that an older domain age competes for rankings a bit better. In fact, Google has even stepped forward to tell us a little bit about the importance of domain age, though as usual they’re still holding their cards close to their chest.

Here’s the basics of what we know:

  • Domain age is a factor in determining Google rankings, and a part of our SEO.
  • Sites are significantly devalued for the first few months after Google first discovers them. It is extremely challenging to rank well for competitive terms in those first few months. In fact, some SEO professionals simply won’t work with brand new domains.
  • According to Google’s Matt Cutts, the difference between a domain that’s 6 months old and 12 months old is very small

What Google’s matt Cutts has to say on domain age, Here is a video from Google’s Matt Cutts on the subject:



One of the very important things to note here is that Matt does not say that domain age doesn’t matter. There are a handful of people out there who insist this is the case, and cite Matt Cutts as the source. In point of fact, he clearly indicates that very young domains will struggle to rank, and goes on to mentions the difference between domain ages, saying that they are small… clearly indicating that there is, in fact, a difference.

“The difference between a domain that’s six months old vs one year old is really not that big at all. As long as you’ve been around for at least a couple of months, you should be able make sure that you can show up in search results.”

But as with all things in the SEO world, domain age is just one of many, many factors and it is certainly not one of the biggest factors (those would be on-page optimization and backlinks). Older domains will certainly have a little bit of an edge, but the importance of their age is often confused with the fact that older domains also tend to have a lot more backlinks (and natural backlinks) just due to the fact that they’ve had so many years to acquire them.


What do you think about domain age? Share your tips and tricks in the comments.


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