Webmaster World forums recently hosted a discussion on whether or not a site’s search engine ranking is affected by the length of time a domain name is registered for.
The theory is that registering a domain name for ten years indicates to Google that the domain’s owners’ have made a long term commitment and therefore the site is less likely to be spam.
In the patent applied for by Google last year it says:
“Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year.
Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith.”
Other advantages of long-term registration include securing your domain name – it prevents expired domain buyers from registering your domain name and taking advantage of the traffic you have built up.
You may also get a reduced registration fee for such a long term commitment – registrars such as GoDaddy offer a discount for this.
Whether this is a major factor in your site’s ranking or not, surely if can’t hurt to commit to ten years if you are serious about your domain name.
Then again, .co.uk domain names can only be registered for two years. Nothing more, nothing less.
Please Big G, don't penalise us Brits...!
Further Reading:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Best Practice Guide
Graham Charlton is Editor at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter or connect via Linkedin or Google+.
Recommended reports
SEO Best Practice: Index Inclusion
The SEO Best Practice: Index Inclusion Guide is part of Econsultancy's renowned SEO Best Practice Guide and is has been created with the help and frontline insight of globally-esteemed SEO practitioners, in order to give you the edge in your natural search marketing activity.
SEMPO State of Search Marketing Report 2011
The State of Search Marketing Report 2011, published by Econsultancy in association with SEMPO, looks in-depth at how companies are using paid search, search engine optimization (natural search) and social media marketing. The report, which also contains a marketplace valuation, has been compiled from a survey of more than 900 global respondents, from both companies (client-side advertisers) and agencies. The report looks closely at current practices and emerging trends across paid search and SEO, alongside their relationship with social media.
4:27PM on 26th November 2008
Yes,it definitely is a factor in SEO...having a good domain name is half the SEO work already done.
Godaddy UK domain name promo codes for a discount, these codes do not expire.
BRIL1: 10% off any order
BRIL3: 30% off .com domain names
Codes work on renewals, UK codes and US codes here:
brillantdeals.co.uk/godaddy-promo-coupon-codes