Domain Names and Search Engine Ranking

Does the length of your website's domain registration affect search engine optimization and results? Should you renew your domain name for a long period of time? And if so, how long is long enough?

Hey, slow down! :)

The fact is, with some search engines the length of time remaining on your domain name registration can give you a little bump in search engine rankings.

Look to see how long your competitors' domain names are registered for. If your competitors' domain names are only good for one or two years, you might consider registering your domain name for 5 or 10 years. That will give you a little advantage of them, at least in that one area.

If they have 5 - 10 years left, you might want to match them so they don't gain the advantage over your site.

While extending your domain name's expiration date may help, keep in mind that this is only a small victory when it comes to search engine rankings. There are over 100 criteria that figure into their ranking algorithms. Still, every win is an advantage to your site. If you win enough advantages your site outranks your competitors, it's that simple.

From a business persepective it makes sense to register a domain for 5 - 10 years so you won't have to renew them every year. If your domain name expires, there's a possibility that someone will register it within hours, often before you can buy it again if it's on a watch list.

Why would they do that? To capitalize on the online business that you've built up over time. They know that there is potential website traffic they can have simply by renewing your old domain name.

By renewing your domain name for several years, it won't be at risk of being exposed as often to expired domain name scavengers.

If you really want to stay ahead of the competition, Network Solutions (www.netsol.com) is offering a 100 year option for $999.00. We're not a fan of Network Solutions though, we find them extremely difficult to deal with, not to mention greatly overpriced, in our opinion.