Well many SEO experts seem to think so.. In the art of Search Engine Optimization the age of a domain is frequently heralded as one of the key factors the Google algorithms target when ranking a domain. It has been long been thought that Google sees older domains as solid and reliable and the mere fact that they have been around longer demonstrates stability and continuity which in turn should transpose into rich content…

Of course not forgetting that the older the domain is the more likely it is to have a high number of backlinks – simply because it has been around longer and has had more time to acquire them using white hat techniques that Google loves. This is versus a newly registered domain name that may or may not have any links but if they do Google will be more suspicious of these links as it is felt acquiring too many links too quickly can be as bad for your site’s search optimization as none at all.

With all that said are these experts correct can domain age really impact your sites search ranking with Google? And if this is true do the thousands of people who have purchased one or more of the newly registered GTLD’s not care about search optimization now? One possible answer to my second question is that no they don’t care as they plan to hold onto to these domains and resell them if and when this particular market stabilizes and matures….

I for one like older expired domains specifically those registered prior to the year 2000 with my primary reason having nothing to do with number of backlinks, it really is quite simple as this is when the best and most original domains were registered. You are much more likely to find an exact match domain or a one word four letter .com when filtering and searching through the expired domain lists from domains registered pre 2000.

So that’s my reason but what’s Google’s? Well Google Engineer, spokesperson and renowned blogger Matt Cutt’s explains that Google’s love of older domains is somewhat of a myth. He reiterates once again that content and relevancy is king in gaining website authority and age should not be a prevailing factor if a younger website has spent at least a couple of months developing content.. Check out his exact comments here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pnpg00FWJY

This absoloutly makes sense in the post era of Panda and Penguin where Google has tried its hardest to rank higher websites with quality content over those that link bomb and use other black hat techniques to drive traffic.To then add a preferential weigting to their algoritums simply becuase a domain is “older” would fly against everything these updates stand for.  With thousands of new GTLDs being launched this year clearly the domain Registrars and the buying public think so too.

So we have talked a lot about Google in relation to buying older expired domains but how do they rank with the other Search Engine…. Bing cites its 4 top priorities that a domain should have have to gain website authority as being.

1) Content

2) Social Interaction

3) User Experience

4) Link Building

There is no explicit mention of age though possibly it could be interpreted that only quality link building can be achieved through time which in turn translates to domain age…

With all this said there is still a hardcore belief within the SEO community that age does indeed matter and buying an older expired domain is a better investment than a newer one. For me I buy domains that are relevant to me, the name is more important than the age, I can develop content and links over time but you can never change the name of a domain that you bought simply because of its age. Relevancy is always my first priority.

To find the full list of Expired/Expiring and dropped domains go to our free Search Engine http://www.expired-domains.co

Clare Coggins

clare@expired-domains.co