Does the Age of your Domain & it’s Expiration Really Matter for SEO?

There are many factors that make up Google’s algorithm. Two factors that many people overlook is the age of your domain name and when your domain name expires. Although they may sound minor, Google does take into account these factors. The reason for this is because they are looking for sites that have been around for a while and plan on staying around for the long run. If your domain is going to expire in a short period of time, Google might think that you aren’t going to renew your domain once it is up. With so many spam sites nowadays, Google is looking for a site that isn’t going be created today and taken down one month later.

Here is an analogy an old colleague once gave me in regards to when your domain expires. If you know that a business’ lease on their office is going to expire in one month, aren’t you going to be skeptical working with them, not knowing if they are going to be closing at the end of that one month. Well, this is similar to your domain name and when it is scheduled to expire. So be sure to push out your domain name for up to 5 years. If you are going to create a new site, search for domain names with some history. They might cost a bit more money, but will definitely be beneficial in the long run for your SEO rankings.

When is the best time to start Search Engine Optimization?

Sooner than later! I hear this question quite often, and really the optimal time to start SEO is during the web design/redesign process. The reason why this is the best time is because the Search Engine Optimization Company can then work with the web designer to ensure the website is built SEO Friendly. The SEO Company will ensure that the designer is building a site with SEO Friendly URLS, crawlable site navigation, clean code, etc. If they work with the designer at this stage, then the website and SEO can go live at the same time. This will save time for both parties, and can get your website ranking faster.

But, if you have a current website and have been thinking about optimizing to increase your rankings for a specific holiday or time of year, the best time to start is as soon as possible. Since no SEO company has direct control over the search engines, it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to start seeing results, depending on the competitiveness of the keywords selected.

So start optimizing today. There is no time better than the present!

What are Sitelinks?

Have you ever wondered why when you type a search query into Google you sometimes see additional links under the first search result? These are called sitelinks and they are automatically generated by Google to help users navigate on your site and find what they are looking for fast! These links are pulled based on the content and relevancy of your pages. Google finds these pages to be beneficial for its users.

For example, when you type in “Getupdated” into Google’s search box, you see the following sitelinks:

If your site is generating sitelinks and you do not wish to showcase some of those pages, you can block certain pages of your site in your Google Webmaster account. Simply login and go to “Links”, then click “Sitelinks” and follow the necessary steps to block a page.

If your site does not appear to have any sitelinks, make sure that your site is SEO friendly and that Google’s algorithm will not have any trouble finding relevant pages to use as sitelinks.