Is Domain Age A Google Ranking Factor?

Whether you’re new to SEO or have been an SEO expert for a while now, the domain age is always something that everyone seems to be unsure of and often ponder on. There are many factors that influence the search rankings on Google. However, is domain age a ranking factor? Let’s explore more on this topic below: 

What is domain age? 

Domain age is the date Google first crawled or discovered a domain. Do take note that it’s not the date when the domain was first registered on the hosting website. Since Google doesn’t immediately discover a website once a domain is created, the domain age only counts from the moment Google indexed your website. 

Is domain age a ranking factor? 

But, is domain age a ranking factor or not? Here are some of the potential reasons why domain age could impact SEO rankings:

1. Builds authority, credibility and trust

An old domain is known to be credible and trustworthy as they have been around for many years. Thus, Google may consider them to be an authoritative website as they have a consistent stream of traffic and metrics. 

2. Accumulation of backlinks

If the domain has been around for many years, over time, the domain probably managed to gain plenty of backlinks. This includes backlinks from various sources such as bloggers, media publications, or other corporate websites. Since backlinks are known to be one of the factors of search rankings, old domains may be placed higher on Google. 

3. User engagement 

Older domains generally have gained a steady stream of loyal users, thus, they will have regular traffic each month. This means that the overall user engagement will contribute to the metrics such as high click-through-rates (CTR) and low bounce rates, which generally helps with improving the SEO rankings.

4. Published content

When a domain has been around for a few years, there is probably a bunch of content published on the website. Thus, the website probably already appears on search engines for various keywords. Therefore, once a domain has an extensive library of content, search engines recognize the website as they have valuable information for users.

Reasons why domain age might not be a ranking factor 

Though there are possible reasons as to why domain age could be a Google ranking factor, some say it may not even matter at all. Here are the reasons why domain age may not contribute to search engine rankings: 

1. Content quality

The quality of content matters the most to Google – not just quantity. So, even though an old domain generally has more content accumulated over the years, it may not be sufficient if the content is low quality and doesn’t offer value to users. Therefore, if a domain is still new, as long as the content produced is quality and helps users solve their problems, Google will place them higher on search results. 

2. Quality backlinks

Old domains will have many backlinks – but how many of them are from quality websites? Based on our own experience, you may have 100 backlinks but if they are mostly from spammy websites or low-quality ones, it wouldn’t make a difference to the search rankings. A domain with 50 high-quality backlinks has a higher chance of being on the first page of Google. 

3. Google algorithm updates

Google’s algorithm changes a few times a year, and the updates may not apply to the domain age. This is because other metrics will be a higher priority than the domain age such as helpful content. Plus, now Google has started to show websites that the user regularly visits on the first page. With this recent update, domain age won’t matter. 

4. Domain is used for spam checking purposes 

Domains may not be a ranking factor as the domain history of a website is used to find for spam. This is also called domain checking where the domain history of a website is looked through to spot any signs of spam. 

5. Google staff mentioned it’s not that important 

In a video made by Google Search Central, they mentioned how it won’t matter too much as there’s not much difference. As long as your website has been around for a few months, it will show up on search results. 

This was also mentioned by Google’s John Mueller, replying “No, domain age helps nothing.” to a string of discussions on whether ‘Domain age still matters in today’s SEO’.

Conclusion

To conclude, domain age may not be a direct Google ranking factor. Though old domains do have several advantages over new domains, it’s not guaranteed that they will outrank new domains. If you need further guidance on how to improve your SEO performance, you can read our guide on how to increase your website visibility and ranking on Google.