Your domain’s age might impact your site’s search engine rankings, but there’s nothing for sure. In search engine optimization (SEO), domain age is often described as a lightweight but influential ranking signal. According to many webmasters, the older a domain is, the higher its ranking will be. However, the connection between domain age and SEO isn’t black and white. Knowing the domain age can be very useful for insights into a site. For instance, just enter a website URL into a domain age checker, and it will highlight how old the domain is, including when it was created and when it will expire.
Let’s have a detailed discussion on the connection between Domain Age and SEO. But, first, you need to know what domain age is.
What is Domain Age?
Usually, domain age refers to the number of years a domain has been registered. A registrar is an Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) accredited company that registers domain names regardless of their extensions. When a domain is initially registered, it starts ticking. A domain will continue to run until expiration and no longer be registered.
In addition, a domain age checker can provide information about the domain’s age. The age of a domain is not affected by a change of ownership. There is no need to restart the age clock of a domain when it changes ownership. Take the example of purchasing a domain from a webmaster. Therefore, the age of the domain on your website depends on when it was first registered.
The Link Between Domain Age and SEO
There’s no direct connection between domain age and SEO. Anyhow, the search rankings of a domain’s website are closely related to how long it has been registered. In general, websites with an old domain have more chances to rank than those with a new one.
However, this correlation does not necessarily imply a causal relationship between domain age and SEO. The older the domain, the higher your website’s ranking because older domains tend to have more content and backlinks.
The official YouTube channel of Google Search Central featured a video Matt Cutts shared while leading the company’s search quality team. In this video, he discusses whether domain age influences search engine rankings. According to Cutts, there is no significant difference in SEO between a one-year-old domain and a six-month-old domain. This clearly shows that the SEO success of a website might not directly be attributed to the domain age.
Why do Old Domains Rank Higher?
During search engine ranking, Google does not take domain age into account. Hundreds of search engine optimization signals are used in its algorithm, but domain age isn’t one of them. Nevertheless, for several reasons, an old domain is ranked higher than a new one.
Older Domains Have More Content
The content of your website is likely to increase as your domain ages. It is common for webmasters to add content to their websites gradually. There aren’t 100 pages of content published by them long-form content immediately after registering their domain.
Rather, they begin with a few pages and gradually add more over the years. Adding more content will improve your website’s search engine optimization. It is possible to rank higher, and it may rank for more search terms.
Google and other search engines need to prioritize content when ranking websites. Search engines generally prefer websites with old domains because they have more content and are generally more high-quality.
Older Domains Have More backlinks.
Besides content, domain age affects how many backlinks your website receives. It takes time to build backlinks. The domain you just registered makes it impossible to link to your site by bloggers and other web admins. Until they discover your website, you must be patient. This is the only way for bloggers and web administrators to link to it.
It is easier for bloggers and other web admins to find your website if it has an old domain. Your website’s exposure may attract more backlinks from these users, which can result in higher rankings.
What about Domain Registration Length?
While domain age won’t directly affect your website’s rankings, domain registration length could be a different story. Registration length refers to the length of time you register a domain. When registering a domain, you’ll have to select a registration length.
As per ICANN’s requirements, registration lengths can range from one year to 10 years. Your website’s SEO may improve by choosing a long registration length, such as five or ten years.
Google holds over 50,000 patents, many of which pertain to technologies and methodologies for ranking websites. One of these patents specifically mentions domain registration length. The patent states that legitimate websites are often registered for multiple years.
In contrast, illegitimate websites are typically registered for just one year at a time. In turn, Google’s algorithm may use domain registration length to identify low-quality or spam websites.
Domain registration length is likely more of a hint than an actual SEO factor.
Bottom Line
This article discussed how domain age does not directly affect SEO. In addition, we highlighted you could determine the age of your domain by using a domain age checker.
