Which is better?

Please help me understand this. Do I want an older domain or would a new one suit me fine as well? Does it really matter? And if it does matter, why?

An older domain that has had real content on it (even if just a page) may gain a few points for its age, in the search engines. Sometimes people buy existing domains that have a decent PageRank, for the same advantages in the search engine rankings. At other times, people are adamant that a domain that someone else has registered is the best one for their purpose, so they try to buy it from it owner.

Generally, if you buy an existing domain name but completely change the website that uses the domain then search engines will reset the age and start counting again from zero.

Generally, if you buy an existing domain name but completely change the website that uses the domain then search engines will reset the age and start counting again from zero.

I suppose it depends on the definition of “completely change”. If you go from flowers to electronics, it’s pretty easy to determine that the subject has changed, that the links to the site no longer make sense etc. If you go from being a web design service to a web design blog, not quite as easy.

I think the older one will be better for you because you have already settled your image and name with that domain so the new domain means a new journey.

you mean to say if I redesign my website and change it’s contents search engines will reset the age and start counting again from zero?

Unless the old domain do have lot of backlink , high PR , related content, keywords domain that will help you lot in save time to build the same link back and take advantages in SEO.
If the domain do not help you on it please forget it and get yourself a new domain name .

Right, an old domain having some content around it is always better provided you don’t change the theme of it else go with the brand new one and start the journey :slight_smile:

Buying an aged domain with relevant content to your plans would be an asset, Take page rank ,backlinks of quality and be sure to check both for bad seo . fake pagerank is a real problem. You can check easily but use more than 1 pr checker … They are usually free . Another way to check fake rank is google " info:yoursitename.com or other extension and check that link is the same.

This was hard to accept for me so I made some research. The search engines are doing this to penalize potential spammers which may use old domains and their traffic for their spammy objectives, which just make sense.

Anyway, buying an old domain will be better if your content is related. You can have the advantage of getting its Page Rank and back links. Just do not pay too much for it.

Yes it matters, your domain should show your keywords. It helps for SEO purpose.

If you’re buying an older domain that is closely related to your site/info/product etc, then it can be quite useful. A domain with proven age that has had a page or 2 or even an site and has been sitting there can build PR and can be helpful to starting you off with your journey. I recently asked someone a question like this and that was the answer I received anyways. :slight_smile:

Agreed. It takes time to build reputation from a scratch domain name. Make sure to check what kind of websites point to the older domain, sometime there’s nice surprises there too. Like nudity or illegal stuffs. Enquire well using Whois and Alexa.

It’s usually better to go with an older domain, as domain age is very important to Google.

I guess it’s not necessarily to go from flowers to electronics, but from let’s say PC keyboards to musical keyboards. I haven’t tested this out, but I tend to agree with Stevie D. Google got smarter and smarter.

Hi angie828,

The older domain with high PR has much more authority than the fresh domains.When you buy new domains they doesn’t have any authority at all.You would have to work harder to bring it in SERPs.But make sure that you buy domain which is related to your niche.I am telling this coz previously I bought domains which were not related to my niche at all.When it was live and cached by google in SERPs it showed the msg along with my website snippet telling "Your site may be compromised.I researched a little abt it and found that if we put content totally different from what it previously had then it kind of sounds fishy to google.I am sharing this so that you shouldn’t repeat the same mistake.Thanks

An established domain will give you traffic right away if you deliver the same content right away which will help in terms of SEO and etc. Otherwise, I would start fresh with a new domain.

You can opt for an older domain. Choose an older domain which is similar to your current website. Because the older domain would bring you more traffic, better business, and better page rank when compare to a new domain.

  • Select an appropriate older domain
  • Select most probably a popular older domain
  • Select an older domain which had good reviews
    Befor going to purchase the older domain have an appraisal from here www.Zippozap.com . This would give you an idea on how much price to bid and how much price to bargain. This site is a free one to get appraisal. So you can get appraisal for any number of domains.

The OP seems to have lost interest in the question, as they never returned to the discussion. Thread closed.