Domain Name Age and the Importance for SEO

By: Justin Smith at OuterBox Solutions, Inc.

Submitted on Fri, Sep 11th, 2009 10:41 am

Recently we’ve spent some time researching aged domain names after finding a combination of tools that allowed us to pick up some good ones. A few of the domain purchased were ClevelandAgency.com and Designs2020.com . One of the tools I recommend using to find domain name age would be http://www.webconfs.com/domain-age.php

Running a search on this site will show you that ClevelandAgency.com is 9 years and 9 months old, while Designs2020.com is 8 years 6 months old (As of Sept. 2009). We also picked up CoolDJgear.com which is 8 years 6 months old. Now you may be thinking, how much did these cost? The answer would be the same as any other domain, new or with age. No one owned these so we purchased them through Name Secure (similar to Go Daddy only less expensive) and now we own these gems.

So, what’s the big deal? Well, someone owned these before us and for whatever reason, they never renewed them. What happened is Google saw these existed 8+ years ago and now still considers them to have “age”. Domains with age will typically rank above brand new domain names. Think about it…. would you rather visit a website that has been around for years or was created last week? Chances are the site created last week may not have the same wealth of information and as strong of a brand as the site (or company) that has been around for years. Whether you think this way or not, as of now, Google does. These old domain names make ranking higher much easier.

A few test show how valuable aged domain names are. You’ll see by looking at the few domains we listed above that we’ve added a few paragraphs of text and set up inexpensive hosting accounts for these sites. As of Sept. 2009 they are all just 1 page websites with a paragraph or 2 of text. Even though none of these rank for major keywords, with the minimal amount of content they have, they do rank.

Why does this matter? If you’re building a new site, the last thing you want to do is sit in the Google “Sandbox” after it’s developed. The Sandbox is known to hold websites and not let them rank (in basic terms) for an amount of time until they prove themselves. A brand new domain name is not going to rank. That’s just reality. We recommend trying to find a name that someone use to own, and now they don’t. You can even use the Wayback Machine to see what the website use to be. I believe a website that use to have a good amount of content and was possibility a respectable site will rank better than one that was just a landing page. In conclusion, take time and find an aged domain. You’ll results much quicker! (if you have to pay someone to find you one, do it!)

About the Author

Justin Smith
OuterBox Solutions, Inc.

Justin Smith studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh while founding OuterBox Solutions. He is an expert eCommerce Website Designer and has mastered Search Engine Marketing. His strong passion for art and computers blended to form strong website design and development skills. Justin has been involved in website design since 1998. OuterBox Solutions was founded in 2004 as primarily a freelance website design company, working directly with clients and various local advertising agencies. Currently, OuterBox has grown to a team of 10, offering custom eCommerce solutions and search engine marketing services as well as a wide range of general advertising services. Notable achievements include being the featured eCommerce expert on CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, an OuterBox website appearance on CBS, outstanding rankings for various highly competitive national keywords (#1 out of 200,000,000 + sites) and a client list of over 200 satisfied businesses, both large and small. OuterBox Solutions’ headquarters is located in downtown Akron, Ohio in the historic Selle Building.