ebuzz - 100-Year Domain Registration, Anyone?

100-Year Domain Registration, Anyone?

A recent blog article by Jennifer Laycock in the Search Engine Guide addresses readers' concerns about domain registration ages, and how they affect — or don't affect — search engine rankings.

Laycock's take is that domain registration length is not a good indicator of a quality site, equating that with a real-world attempt to find out how long a store owner has had a lease on that particular building. Does it really say how long he's been in business? Of course not. Does it say anything about his reputation? Again, no.

Her advice is that registering a domain for a longer period of time (and you can do it for up to 100 years!) is a good idea, though not necessarily from a SEO standpoint — but, rather, so that the domain isn't lost through inadvertent mistakes.

Our take? There's no question that domain age is one of many, many factors taken into consideration in the search engines' algorithms. And having and keeping the same domain for a longer period of time argues well for better name recognition, an important factor in advertising. But the mix of what "works" changes frequently. We have argued before, and will argue again, that a quality site offering quality content will trump any other factors, anytime.

And that's our take on the news today!

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