How the new domain, old domain, expired domain effect SERP ?

[annua]

I always heard the benefits of old domain on SERP in this forum and other forums like DP etc. Someone even claims not only domain age but also length of registration effect SERP. I'm totally confused about that, are they really stronger than other factors, say backlinks?

If so, I have some questions:
1) How does google determine domain's age, by whois or index date?
2) If a domain change ownership(whois), does google regard it a new domain?
3) If a domain expired several days(whois cleaned), then someone pick it up, does google regard it a new domain?
4) new domain with 10 years registration vs. 5 years old domain renewed every year, which one be favored by google?

[jimbeetle]

I haven't read through all of this as yet, but Google's Information retrieval based on historical data patent application might shed some light. It's a lengthy document, but I believe it might address some of the points you asked about.

[annua]

OMG, isn't it a horrible homework, thank you anyway

[bpfrank]

Originally Posted by annua

I always heard the benefits of old domain on SERP in this forum and other forums like DP etc. Someone even claims not only domain age but also length of registration effect SERP. I'm totally confused about that, are they really stronger than other factors, say backlinks?

If so, I have some questions:
1) How does google determine domain's age, by whois or index date?
2) If a domain change ownership(whois), does google regard it a new domain?
3) If a domain expired several days(whois cleaned), then someone pick it up, does google regard it a new domain?
4) new domain with 10 years registration vs. 5 years old domain renewed every year, which one be favored by google?

1) Google can found the age of the website thru whois.
2) Yes and no, if the content remain the same, the website should not be affected
3) Depends again if the content is the same or not.
4) This is a myth.


Anyway, Matt Cutts ( the Spam engineer of Google ) explained that depending on the subject, it may be best to have something fresh while in some other subject, it's best to have something that has proven to be beneficial overtime. ( I can't remember exactly where it is on his blog but this is something you should definitely checkout. Just Google his name and you'll get there )

To give you a rough example:

News article for instance are best fresh and Google will give em a good rank but for a limited time only.

Website like wikipedia containing info that has been and will remain useful in the future will usually get a high rank for as long as it remains accurate and usefull.

[attak]

Google is a registrar, which I believe gives them the ability to access to that information: http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html

4) This is a myth.

That is incorrect. The registration length could be used as a sign that you (website owner) are going to develop a real website/real business...which was an issue back in the heyday of doorway pages/throw-away domains - approximately 1999-2001. It may not be taken into account any longer (like most meta-data), but good luck confirming one way or another.

In fact, if you are going start an online business and put a ton of resources and time into making it successful, is there any reason you wouldn't register the domain for 10 years?

Cheers!

Attak

[bpfrank]

Originally Posted by attak

Google is a registrar, which I believe gives them the ability to access to that information: http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html



That is incorrect. The registration length could be used as a sign that you (website owner) are going to develop a real website/real business...which was an issue back in the heyday of doorway pages/throw-away domains - approximately 1999-2001. It may not be taken into account any longer (like most meta-data), but good luck confirming one way or another.

In fact, if you are going start an online business and put a ton of resources and time into making it successful, is there any reason you wouldn't register the domain for 10 years?

Cheers!

Attak

Thanks for this comment, true there is no way to prove if this is taken into consideration or not. The length of time the website has been live is in my opinion much more of a factor used rather than if you have it registered for 10 years, 5 years or 1 year.
I strongly believe this is purely irrelevant to what's the website is.

You may have registered your website for 10 years, but if it's crap content wise, it's crap and someone that actually has a similar website about the similar subject, registered for only 1 year can be regarded much better just because the second website provides better, more unique info...

This is why I consider it a myth..

Truly, I have never seen any changes on websites based on their registration length. (on this subject, I only talk about the Google SE)