Some people are wasting a lot of time chasing after so-called "Aged domains". Aside from being only a few months old and possibly being sand boxed, it makes no sense for a domains age to have influence over its ability to rank.
A 5-year-old site might have 10 pages with moderate Seo. A 2-year-old site might have 10,000 pages with perfect SEO and a major staff working on it producing large amounts of great content. The 5-year-old site may have been parked for the previous 4 years.
I believe this rumor took hold when people would look down a search list and see that the higher ranking domains were older. But that is an incidental factor as older domains are typically more well-established and have had more time to get inbound links. However, I have personally seen websites that are only two years old absolutely rocket past 5 and 6 year-old domains. Tube sites especially. People spend hours on them watching videos, tube sites were basically an instant success and quickly dominated some sectors of search.
This "Aged Domain" Crap, is just one of the rumors that has been passed around over the years. People hear it - seems to make sense - so they start repeating. Any time you are trying to figure out if something is just a rumor for SEO consultants to sell/feed people: just take a look at what makes sense for the end-user.
Yourself is always an easy example. Do a search on anything you are personally interested in (outside of being an SEO or whatever). Let us say you are into "model airplanes". When you find a site you like it probably has a good amount of pictures, descriptions, the site is easy to navigate etc(the good old content factor). At what point do you go to the whois information and check to see how old the domain is? (remember you doing a personal search not looking for Seo criteria).
when you are searching for things personally why would you care how old the domain is?if the site appeals to you for whatever reason, would you not come back to the domain because of its age?when you land on a domain do you check its age before continuing to browse it or not?would you avoid telling friends about a domain because of it is age?would you click on a domain more because it is older?would you visit a domain more because it is older?would you spend more time on the domain because it is older?would you say - I'm not coming back to this site until it's older?
By now, You should see the absurdity of the "Aged domain" theory. Chances are you will be more attracted to a domain that looks new with a modern design. older domains ranking higher is purely an - incidental factor. Do not waste time trying to acquire them. Added thoughts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pnpg00FWJY After watching the videos , i would say that this does not affect the ranking. I would say that it is a factor, but a minor one once you are out of sand box territory. Part of the problem with this is that aged domains will also tend to have many backlinks accumulated over the years, and this is probably the main factor that is helping them rank better than others.
That being said you can't dismiss it as a ranking factor because you have not tested it yourself in isolation all you have done is a thought experiment.
When I am browsing I will have a tendency to favour older sites, as I tend to have come across them before. i belive age domain count a little , but it's not so good like a few years ago. my opinion... Blimey, am in agreement with most of this, with slight caveats
yes it is entirely possible to outrank older domains, with newer domains, using superior seo and strategy, no question at all.
but, (IMO) if for example I have a 4 year old domain that's been up, has a few links but not really ever done much, should I relaunch with a rebuilt site on that domain, or a new domain?
I would say you can definitely expect far quicker progress, and better results from the same work and same new inbound links pointed at the older domain, as opposed to a new domain that has no "trust" or history built in.
would you disagree with that?
I actually think this question is much more about the age of the links that point at the domain, than the domain itself. Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO Blimey, am in agreement with most of this, with slight caveats
yes it is entirely possible to outrank older domains, with newer domains, using superior seo and strategy, no question at all.
but, (IMO) if for example I have a 4 year old domain that's been up, has a few links but not really ever done much, should I relaunch with a rebuilt site on that domain, or a new domain?
I would say you can definitely expect far quicker progress, and better results from the same work and same new inbound links pointed at the older domain, as opposed to a new domain that has no "trust" or history built in.
would you disagree with that?
I actually think this question is much more about the age of the links that point at the domain, than the domain itself. I think your thought of link age to be interesting. Perhaps you might start a thread about that topic. I dont know if its worth its own thread really, is a fairly common train of thought i think?
http://wiep.net/link-value-factors/#2 Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO I dont know if its worth its own thread really, is a fairly common train of thought i think?
http://wiep.net/link-value-factors/#2 I'm just a bail bondsman, so link age is not a topic I am real familiar with. I am sure I am not the only one that could benefit from a discussion on this topic. Quote: Originally Posted by indybail I'm just a bail bondsman, so link age is not a topic I am real familiar with. I am sure I am not the only one that could benefit from a discussion on this topic. good point, well made, ok will try and get something up tonight rather than another thread hijacking, or nastyblast might start taking it personally.. Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO good point, well made, ok will try and get something up tonight rather than another thread hijacking, or nastyblast might start taking it personally.. My thanks. I'm looking forward to it! Quote: Originally Posted by Cricket Added thoughts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pnpg00FWJY Hohhhhh You beat me to it... That was going to be my response to anyone who attempted to dispute this ( seriously the exact same video) http://www.netmarketingcourse.net/matt-cutts-video-domain-age-important-for-ranking.php
Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO but, (IMO) if for example I have a 4 year old domain that's been up, has a few links but not really ever done much, should I relaunch with a rebuilt site on that domain, or a new domain?
I would say you can definitely expect far quicker progress, and better results from the same work and same new inbound links pointed at the older domain, as opposed to a new domain yeah I would do, and have done, the same thing. I am talking about people that have been led to believe that domain age is so important that they should seek and purchase older domains I think domain age can sustain more promotion and has less chances of being sandboxed. Plus Google will give a little more priority to an aged domain. Quote: Originally Posted by WebsiteDeck Plus Google will give a little more priority to an aged domain. Did you watch the video Cricket provided?
And, here's another one:
How much does a domain's age affect its ranking?
+ YouTube Video ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you dont have Flash installed. i can't agree with you guys. of course age of the domain is a factor. it may not affect the PR but the popularity of a age old domain having moderated SEO done is great. that site is known to all and the domain name can be very unique. which may not be useful when it was created but after 3/4 years it can be very useful. Right? Matt always chooses its words very well.
Yes, Your better off with good content and thus, better links back.
HOWEVER
He does mention in places that age is / can be used but mostly you dont need to worry.
This leads me to believe that maybe age does come into play when other metrics are very close together..
IE:
Two websites that have identical ranking metrics, Then maybe they use age and a tipping point?
Either way, Its not worth worrying about . Certainly not worth spending extra $$$ just to get an "aged" domain.
Same as people who try to get different class-c IP's for servers / sites..
Complete waste of space. ( i wont go into why CIDR already breaks the whole IP thing + many other reasons right now.. )
Edit- Fyi.. I did watch the video..Today and when it was originally uploaded., Quote: Originally Posted by HTMLBasicTutor Did you watch the video Cricket provided? Apparently not (not uncommon around here though). I mean... LOOK at the amount of post disputing Matt Cutts
A 5-year-old site might have 10 pages with moderate Seo. A 2-year-old site might have 10,000 pages with perfect SEO and a major staff working on it producing large amounts of great content. The 5-year-old site may have been parked for the previous 4 years.
I believe this rumor took hold when people would look down a search list and see that the higher ranking domains were older. But that is an incidental factor as older domains are typically more well-established and have had more time to get inbound links. However, I have personally seen websites that are only two years old absolutely rocket past 5 and 6 year-old domains. Tube sites especially. People spend hours on them watching videos, tube sites were basically an instant success and quickly dominated some sectors of search.
This "Aged Domain" Crap, is just one of the rumors that has been passed around over the years. People hear it - seems to make sense - so they start repeating. Any time you are trying to figure out if something is just a rumor for SEO consultants to sell/feed people: just take a look at what makes sense for the end-user.
Yourself is always an easy example. Do a search on anything you are personally interested in (outside of being an SEO or whatever). Let us say you are into "model airplanes". When you find a site you like it probably has a good amount of pictures, descriptions, the site is easy to navigate etc(the good old content factor). At what point do you go to the whois information and check to see how old the domain is? (remember you doing a personal search not looking for Seo criteria).
when you are searching for things personally why would you care how old the domain is?if the site appeals to you for whatever reason, would you not come back to the domain because of its age?when you land on a domain do you check its age before continuing to browse it or not?would you avoid telling friends about a domain because of it is age?would you click on a domain more because it is older?would you visit a domain more because it is older?would you spend more time on the domain because it is older?would you say - I'm not coming back to this site until it's older?
By now, You should see the absurdity of the "Aged domain" theory. Chances are you will be more attracted to a domain that looks new with a modern design. older domains ranking higher is purely an - incidental factor. Do not waste time trying to acquire them. Added thoughts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pnpg00FWJY After watching the videos , i would say that this does not affect the ranking. I would say that it is a factor, but a minor one once you are out of sand box territory. Part of the problem with this is that aged domains will also tend to have many backlinks accumulated over the years, and this is probably the main factor that is helping them rank better than others.
That being said you can't dismiss it as a ranking factor because you have not tested it yourself in isolation all you have done is a thought experiment.
When I am browsing I will have a tendency to favour older sites, as I tend to have come across them before. i belive age domain count a little , but it's not so good like a few years ago. my opinion... Blimey, am in agreement with most of this, with slight caveats
yes it is entirely possible to outrank older domains, with newer domains, using superior seo and strategy, no question at all.
but, (IMO) if for example I have a 4 year old domain that's been up, has a few links but not really ever done much, should I relaunch with a rebuilt site on that domain, or a new domain?
I would say you can definitely expect far quicker progress, and better results from the same work and same new inbound links pointed at the older domain, as opposed to a new domain that has no "trust" or history built in.
would you disagree with that?
I actually think this question is much more about the age of the links that point at the domain, than the domain itself. Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO Blimey, am in agreement with most of this, with slight caveats
yes it is entirely possible to outrank older domains, with newer domains, using superior seo and strategy, no question at all.
but, (IMO) if for example I have a 4 year old domain that's been up, has a few links but not really ever done much, should I relaunch with a rebuilt site on that domain, or a new domain?
I would say you can definitely expect far quicker progress, and better results from the same work and same new inbound links pointed at the older domain, as opposed to a new domain that has no "trust" or history built in.
would you disagree with that?
I actually think this question is much more about the age of the links that point at the domain, than the domain itself. I think your thought of link age to be interesting. Perhaps you might start a thread about that topic. I dont know if its worth its own thread really, is a fairly common train of thought i think?
http://wiep.net/link-value-factors/#2 Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO I dont know if its worth its own thread really, is a fairly common train of thought i think?
http://wiep.net/link-value-factors/#2 I'm just a bail bondsman, so link age is not a topic I am real familiar with. I am sure I am not the only one that could benefit from a discussion on this topic. Quote: Originally Posted by indybail I'm just a bail bondsman, so link age is not a topic I am real familiar with. I am sure I am not the only one that could benefit from a discussion on this topic. good point, well made, ok will try and get something up tonight rather than another thread hijacking, or nastyblast might start taking it personally.. Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO good point, well made, ok will try and get something up tonight rather than another thread hijacking, or nastyblast might start taking it personally.. My thanks. I'm looking forward to it! Quote: Originally Posted by Cricket Added thoughts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pnpg00FWJY Hohhhhh You beat me to it... That was going to be my response to anyone who attempted to dispute this ( seriously the exact same video) http://www.netmarketingcourse.net/matt-cutts-video-domain-age-important-for-ranking.php
Quote: Originally Posted by SmallBusinessSEO but, (IMO) if for example I have a 4 year old domain that's been up, has a few links but not really ever done much, should I relaunch with a rebuilt site on that domain, or a new domain?
I would say you can definitely expect far quicker progress, and better results from the same work and same new inbound links pointed at the older domain, as opposed to a new domain yeah I would do, and have done, the same thing. I am talking about people that have been led to believe that domain age is so important that they should seek and purchase older domains I think domain age can sustain more promotion and has less chances of being sandboxed. Plus Google will give a little more priority to an aged domain. Quote: Originally Posted by WebsiteDeck Plus Google will give a little more priority to an aged domain. Did you watch the video Cricket provided?
And, here's another one:
How much does a domain's age affect its ranking?
+ YouTube Video ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you dont have Flash installed. i can't agree with you guys. of course age of the domain is a factor. it may not affect the PR but the popularity of a age old domain having moderated SEO done is great. that site is known to all and the domain name can be very unique. which may not be useful when it was created but after 3/4 years it can be very useful. Right? Matt always chooses its words very well.
Yes, Your better off with good content and thus, better links back.
HOWEVER
He does mention in places that age is / can be used but mostly you dont need to worry.
This leads me to believe that maybe age does come into play when other metrics are very close together..
IE:
Two websites that have identical ranking metrics, Then maybe they use age and a tipping point?
Either way, Its not worth worrying about . Certainly not worth spending extra $$$ just to get an "aged" domain.
Same as people who try to get different class-c IP's for servers / sites..
Complete waste of space. ( i wont go into why CIDR already breaks the whole IP thing + many other reasons right now.. )
Edit- Fyi.. I did watch the video..Today and when it was originally uploaded., Quote: Originally Posted by HTMLBasicTutor Did you watch the video Cricket provided? Apparently not (not uncommon around here though). I mean... LOOK at the amount of post disputing Matt Cutts