You’ve had your Web site address for some years now. That’s the address (i.e. www.XYZ.com) you give homeowners in your ads so they can go online and find out more about your company. You don’t think yours is a particularly ‘good’ one, and doesn’t really describe what you do any more. So you think it’s time for a change.
Well, think again.
Because when you swap your old Web site address for a slick new one, you’ll sacrifice one of your principal online marketing assets. That factor is a key criteria that Google uses to determine your search rankings: longevity.
“But if my new Web site better describes what I do, won’t that help my Google search rankings?” Sure but Google considers many factors in ranking Web sites for homeowner searches.
And Google places a premium on Web site addresses (also called ‘domains’) that have been up and running for a long time. The older a Web site and its domain are, the more trust Google places in that domain. And the more likely they are to feature your Web site in their search rankings.
So what would happen were you to ignore my advice completely and re-launch your Web site on a brand new domain?
The first thing that Google does is to place your Web site into a sort of “sandbox”, a.k.a. the Google Penalty Box. Regardless of the great content on your new Web site, and the scores of links from other Web sites to yours, Google will take a long time before it ranks your new pride and joy to the top of its rankings. In Google’s eyes, your new domain needs to stand the test of time. Google keeps brand new Web sites in its sandbox anywhere from four months to two years before starting to list them in the search rankings the way they deserve.
Here’s an example. A popular dealer of one day bath products has had his Web site up since 1996. He put up his Web site so many years ago, that the Web was barely a blip on the home improvement radar. Over the years, he improved the Web site with a couple of re-designs, new content and a series of rotating offers to match his offline advertising.
As a result, 14 years later, his Web site is getting a tremendous amount of free organic traffic from Google. Google has seen how well the Web site does in its search rankings and has rewarded the Web site for its longevity with rankings near the top for many terms.
Now let’s consider a different at dealer and his new Web site. It’s under a new domain name, but it has the same attributes as the Web site in the example above. Lots of content.This dealer secured inbound links from key local Web sites and received a fresh Google Places listing. You’d think this Web site would rank high on Google’s pages.
Unfortunately, while its Google ranking might climb over time, it’s going to take a good long while. And I can guarantee that it won’t do as well as the 14 year old Web site that already had a good Google rank. Instead, this Web site with the new domain name will sit in the Google Penalty Box for an average of nine months until Google is convinced it deserves a decent search ranking.
Is it fair? That’s not for me to say. But in the world of Internet search, Google makes the rules, and we have to play by them.
So before you ditch your tired old domain name, consider how much traffic you’re already getting from the search engines. Then gauge that against any value that you might derive from moving your Web site under a cool new domain name. Cool is great, but don’t forget it’s still all about the leads.