Significance of pre-registered and aged domains

stellar73 · Sep 9, 2011

Hi,

Can anyone explain to me the significance of the age of a domain as I keep seeing people advertising domains for sale and mentioning their pre-registered date so I'm assuming it has to have some significance?

I can understand the obvious significance of any domain that has page rank or back links in terms of google but what I can't get my head around is whether a domain which may not have these (but which nevertheless has been registered before) has any advantage in terms of future ranking simply by the fact that it has been registered before?

For example I registered a photo domain the last week which (according to the wayback machine) had a site on it in 2001 but then appears to have had nothing on it since then. I don't know if this makes it any more valuable as a result of this than the same domain would be had it never been registered or developed before? Basically the whole issue is confusing me so any clarification appreciated....

Edwin · Sep 9, 2011

If you build a business on a domain and somebody checks Whois, it can
be reassuring if the business doesn't look "brand new".

stellar73 · Sep 10, 2011

Thanks Edwin but surely the Who Is just shows the latest registrant details?

I've just checked my one that I mentioned and it gives the registration details as starting in Sep 2011 till Sep 2013

I presume what you mean is if I'd bought it direct from the previous owner and they hadn't allowed it to drop it would show an earlier start date?

mart1n19 · Sep 10, 2011

Yes, older domains give an advantge in terms of company background but most importantly in terms of seo.

Usually speaking an older domain would have an advantage in ranking terms

The whois details will show the original date unless it has dropped

E.g if you check my domain: Roulette.co.uk it will show back in 1996, whilst i purchased this in may

Hope this helps

Martin

Nick11380 · Sep 10, 2011

As Martin says, the most common reason for wanting an aged domain is for the SEO.

Newer domains can be tough to rank quickly without being 'sandboxed' (Google chucks them out of the rankings as a precaution while it tries to figure out where the domain should be listed).

Older domains do tend to rank better but from what I've experienced time and again is that the benefit of age wears out after a few years. i.e. there's little difference between a 2005 regged domain and a '97 regged one.