Which domain would be better for SEO?

[mikeaff2009]

Which is better SEO wise, an aged domain that has never had content or brand new domain? Are they essentially equal? The aged domain was registered in Nov 09 and is keywordcom.com. If I register a new domain I would probably choose something a little more brandable, but if the no content aged domain is better for SEO I will go with it. I should be able to pick it up for under $20

 

[identity_00]

I wouldn't consider an 09 domain "aged" so I would say either way doesn't really matter. If it was 10 years old I would go with the aged domain but that is me.

 

[m0rtal]

If you're serious about the site then find an older one and be willing to spend a couple of hundred bucks if need be. Makes things so much easier. If you don't want to spend a few bucks to acquire a good name then you probably don't give enough of a shit about the project or don't see much potential to begin with. It's really not that hard to find something a few years old in most niches.

But if you're tight on cash or set on those 2 I'd go with the "aged" one though it probably won't have much advantage if it was never in use.

 

[*Selma*]

It shouldn't really matter when it's only a year old, especially if it hasn't had any content. Though as mortal said you may want to try to find an aged one in your niche instead of a brand new one.

 

[TBoneAZ]

I would take a few hundred backlinks over a couple years

 

[Mahzkrieg]

Seems most people overvalue domain age.

I've bought brand new domains, thrown up content, and had been fully indexed in less than a week.

I've also done huge overhauls (content change, site redesign, etc) to well-ranked websites and they've fallen off the radar for months despite my efforts. I've bought older domains that feel like I just bought a new domain that'd never been indexed suddenly. Or sometimes everything just works out without skipping a beat.

And sometimes a brand new domain takes three months to get indexed.

In the end, you wait. Or you're lucky and don't have to. But where you sit at the six month mark has mostly due with you, not the age of your domain or whether you used hyphens or underscores in your URL. The most valuable decision is to just buy something and start developing it. Either way, you're paying the Google time toll, so start now rather than later. You don't need the validation of forum warriors to buy a domain.

 

[Andybloke]

I'e found that for SEO purposes the relevancy of the domain name to your keyword(s) is more important than that age of the domain. Register a new domain that's highly relevant or even an exact match and get to work on that.

 

[mreed]

Keyword in domain is very important.
Age of domain has some weight as well.

I would buy keyworddomain.com from 2009

 

[michmera]

if the old domain has ur keywords then go for it

 

[PHPGator]

I've never bought an aged domain for any of my sites. I try to find good brandable domains that are short but still keyword rich. I would personally rather have an exact match than an aged one any day of the week. I would certainly rather have a keyword targeted domain over an aged generic one as well. That is just something to think about, but I think you can overcome the age thing quickly.

 

[cybersleek]

If you can bang the KW TLDs (.com, .org, .net) that would do better than an aged domain with prefix or suffix.

If you create some quality backlinks to that it would reach page 1 with in a month or two.

All the best.

 

[d3t0x]

Seems most people overvalue domain age.

I've bought brand new domains, thrown up content, and had been fully indexed in less than a week.

I've also done huge overhauls (content change, site redesign, etc) to well-ranked websites and they've fallen off the radar for months despite my efforts. I've bought older domains that feel like I just bought a new domain that'd never been indexed suddenly. Or sometimes everything just works out without skipping a beat.

And sometimes a brand new domain takes three months to get indexed.

In the end, you wait. Or you're lucky and don't have to. But where you sit at the six month mark has mostly due with you, not the age of your domain or whether you used hyphens or underscores in your URL. The most valuable decision is to just buy something and start developing it. Either way, you're paying the Google time toll, so start now rather than later. You don't need the validation of forum warriors to buy a domain.

You don't buy an aged domain for faster indexing. The purpose is faster ranking/ less chance of sandboxing. Your site has already established trust since it has been around for longer than a brand new site.

 

[shankshera]

Keyword in domain is very important.
Age of domain has some weight as well.

I would buy keyworddomain.com from 2009

I'm a fan of "keyword in domain". Agree with mreed's opinion.

 

[twmaffun]

Which is better SEO wise, an aged domain that has never had content or brand new domain? Are they essentially equal? The aged domain was registered in Nov 09 and is keywordcom.com. If I register a new domain I would probably choose something a little more brandable, but if the no content aged domain is better for SEO I will go with it. I should be able to pick it up for under $20

There are three choices including .com, .net and .org. However, in my opinion, Google will not think twice if domain name is .com or .net. .com and .net are good choices.

 

[waltertech14]

I say It's up to you bro,

Get the facts posted above and choose.
Here's some more facts.
If you choose an old domain you will get a higher PR than the New one. Also if you are not indexed then you will get indexed quickly. Blasting of backlinks is also available in an old domain as it will not get sandboxed by google.

If you choose to have a new domain. Then you wil lhave a chance of targeting your keyword. Like www mykeyword com. Easier in terms of ranking for a keyword. You'll have the incentives of saving the old sitefor use in the future if you make mistakes that you will regret.

Hope that helps!

 

[bsmaat]

Another domain related question:

Say I've found a pretty good long tail keyword, 5 words, and its getting ~15k searches a month and according to google, its half bar competition (what ever that means). Another keyword, shorter at 3 words, is ~10k searches a year. The .com domains are gone for both, but .co.uk and .net or .org are left. Should I go for the longer keyword phrase or shorter.

It is a health related niche. I think it might take a while to rank well. Would you consider that a reasonably search number for a newbie to try and break into? The keyword I'm currently aiming for has 28k searches.. (site in sig.) :\ and I've not made it in, yet (still pretty new and put only time into it thus far)