Any SEO advantage for registering a domain for longer period of time ?

[jayman]

I am not sure if this has been discussed elsewhere but is there any significant SEO advantage if we register a domain for a year compare to more, let's say 5 years ? Any experience or test done on this ?

[RatRaceWinner]

Hi

Yes there is an advantage..

The length of time a domain has been registered since, and registered until is a small but important factor within their algorithms.

Google in particular likes websites that are here to stay, as this improves the search results quality thus the searchers experience - which is really what Google is all about.

Hope this helps.

[Frank Donovan]

Hi Jayman,

Firstly, this thread belongs in the SEO Discussion Forum - so don't be surprised if it gets moved soon

To address your question; I think the Domain Registrars would like you to believe that it makes a difference. In practice, it's almost impossible for the average IMer to test with any degree of accuracy, given all the possible variables.

FWIW, you might be interested to hear Google's Matt Cutts giving his "official" take on the subject. He suggests you shouldn't worry that much about domain age, without actually saying it's irrelevant:

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Frank

[Super Affiliate]

Aged domains definitely help but well optimized site CAN outrank them. As a person who has been doing SEO for a decade, the most crucial factor is having a keyword domain, optimized page with enough exact anchor text backlinks. That's what really matters than having an aged domain in my opinion.

Joe

[thebitbotdotcom]

IMO, if you register a site for 5 years, then you are more likely to stick with it. If you register it for a year, then chances are you may let it go after a year if you feel like it is not profitable enough. That has just been my experience.

[pavionjsl]

Matt says it all. He is the one person who has the advice to listen to.

[RatRaceWinner]

Originally Posted by pavionjsl

Matt says it all. He is the one person who has the advice to listen to.

I agree..

This is quoted from the live chat:
Rick Rayn, Indiana: What weight does the age of a site and the amount of time a domain is registered for have on it's search placement?
Matt Cutts: In the majority of cases, it actually doesn't matter--we want to return the best information, not just the oldest information. Especially if you're a mom/pop site, we try to find ways to rank your site even if your site is newer or doesn't have many links. I think it is fair for Google to use that as a signal in some circumstances, and I try never to rule a signal out completely, but I wouldn't obsess about it.

I've underlined the relevant part..

I believe that for a site to have the BEST chances of ranking, it must try and tick most of the boxes, including the age and length of time registered.

Although it doesn't have a major impact - Google does not ignore it, nor should we. The same goes for metatags!!

[thomgibbons]

I'll echo others by saying listen to Matt!

That being said - if you have a good niche and a good domain, why not save yourself the hassle and register for longer. You won't have to renew in the future that way.

[NickEllisTV]

Certainly. While google does consider older domains/sites more, unless there is good content, they will rank a good content-wielding site that's a month old easily.

[Aussie_Al]

I think the OP was asking not so much about older domains but the plus points in registering a domain for 5years versus 1 year

I have been told by a few people now it does make a difference

[DogScout]

Originally Posted by pavionjsl

Matt says it all. He is the one person who has the advice to listen to.

Do you listen to him in the video where he says it is in his job description to mis-lead the public? Hard to know if he was 'mis-leading' then or now.

[Kurt]

Anyone doing SEO...Yeah, listen to Matt Cutts, but do it like a poker player, because he's a big bluffer.

His job, the one Google pays him big money for, is to reduce SE spam. His job is NOT to help webmasters in any way and he will "spin" whenever and wherever it will benefit Google.

Nothing wrong with that, just be aware what his real function is.

As far as registering a new domain name for more than one year...It probably doesn't help, but if this domain is a long-term project, you really have nothing to lose by registering it for 2+ years...

[theseoguys]

Besides, if you are serious about your domain, take the long term registration, and forget about it for a few years. A multi year registration definitely won't hurt you.

[DogScout]

My understanding is it is a VERY small 'signal' and does not even kick-in until 5 yr registration and again at 10.

As to Cutts, I have been watching his videos since he was hired. In the end of '06 (or beginning of '07) he said ON TAPE part of his job was to mislead the public. As soon as someone (his boss?) saw it, it disappeared. I am sure the conversation went something like this, "What do you think you are doing? We figured an ex-NSA Echelon geek could at least be discreet!!!!!"

Lol.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by theseoguys

A multi year registration definitely won't hurt you.

Actually, I find that long-term registrations are more likely to be forgotten when it comes time to renew.

If you buy a domain for five years and set up auto-pay at your registrar, chances are your card will expire before your domain does and auto-pay will fail. Having set up auto-pay, you never even think about this, the "payment failed" email gets dismissed as spam, and you lose your domain.

This is a lot less likely with annual renewals.

[Chris Worner]

What matters at the end of the day is your page rank and the number of back-links pointing at your website.

Chris

[seoweb2000]

Yes, there is. 2 yrs is good enough, but go for 5yrs if you can. The other advantage is not having to spend the time to renew the domain every yr. If you just a register like namecheap.com you can load money in the acct, just in case you miss the renewal acct in 5 yrs.

[MichaelRay]

Originally Posted by Chris Worner

What matters at the end of the day is your page rank and the number of back-links pointing at your website.

Chris

I think Pagerank is overrated. It's nice to have one but not really something to get someone worried.

[Barry Unruh]

Originally Posted by MichaelRay

I think Pagerank is overrated. It's nice to have one but not really something to get someone worried.

lol, It might be overrated for your own site, but never underrate the value of having incoming links from high PR sites.

[Alexa Smith]

What a strange thread!

Why have so many people completely ignored the original question (which related to potential SEO advantages of registering a domain for a long period of time) and instead discussed (if you can call such guesswork that) aged domains, page-rank and backlinks?!

[The Copy Nazi]

What a lot of twaddle is pontificated in this thread by people...how do I say this diplomatically? - haven't really much of a clue.

Take what Matt Cutts says with a grain of salt. We're talking robots that visit your site. Robots that are programmed with algorithms. There is no human bean there going "Oh look ...the site is registered for five years..nice theme...he must be serious" etc.

Google constantly tweaks/changes its algorithms. You think they're about to share that with you? What Cutts said in the vid is about the closest you're gonna get to it.

But in answer to the O.P.'s question - "significant advantage"? No.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Actually, I find that long-term registrations are more likely to be forgotten when it comes time to renew.

Shhh....

You're revealing one of my secrets to obtaining aged, link rich, expiring domains.

As for the question, domain registration information, such as who's registering the domain and length of registration, do not seem to enter into Google's primary ranking algorithms at all. They may use this information in reconsideration requests and algorithm research though.

As for age, the raw age of a domain doesn't seem to matter much. In other words, a domain that was purchased in 1999 but never developed and indexed has no inherent advantage over a new domain purchased today. However, a domain that was purchased and indexed in 1999 and has continued to gain links over the years will be quite powerful in most cases.

(This is based on what I've see across several hundred domains.)

[manishrawat]

Originally Posted by jayman

I am not sure if this has been discussed elsewhere but is there any significant SEO advantage if we register a domain for a year compare to more, let's say 5 years ? Any experience or test done on this ?

Registering for more than year will surely benefit you,but in monetary terms. As you may get some discount on your purchase. Talking from SEO perspective there is not much evidence available on net on this regard. Domain age is one factor but that will grow on yearly subscription as well, provided you are continuing and not do not abandon it after some time.