Register for longer than a year?

[Shorty]

On GoDaddy.com, I was wading through the sea of bright colours and adverts whilst registering a new domain, and came across a link saying "Why register for more than a year?" This is the text that popped up:

Google recently filed United States Patent Application 20050071741. As part of that patent application, Google made apparent its efforts to wipe out search engine spam, stating:
'Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year. Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith."

Domains registered for longer periods give the indication, true or not, that their owner is legitimate. Google uses a domain's length of registration when indexing and ranking a Web site for inclusion in their organic search results.

So to prove to everyone that your site is the real deal, register for more than one year and increase your chances of boosting your search ranking on Google.

Is this true? Does registering for a longer term aid your domain/website's credibility? Would this same rule apply to resellers who want to show they're for real?

Your opinions on this would be greatly appreciated, I am considering getting into this as a small hobby/business in the future.

 

[snoopi]

Yes, unfortunately this is true!

After you have to submit your site to all possible places -in order to ensure Google inclusion- now you also have to register you domain(S) name for 10 years!

Another one BS by your favorite search engine... Google!

 

[xcf202]

Yes, unfortunately this is true!

After you have to submit your site to all possible places -in order to ensure Google inclusion- now you also have to register you domain(S) name for 10 years!

Another one BS by your favorite search engine... Google!

What snoopi said, it is true...

 

[Shorty]

Oh man, that sucks!

I guess it's true, you can't even get high rankings in search engines without paying a lot of money anymore.

 

[FedPrimeRate.com]

I think that it's a perfectly legitimate way of separating the spammers from the rest of us. After all, if you are serious about your websites/domain names, then you shouldn't have any real objections to extending your registration terms, especially because this is another way of combating the spammers. Well all know how much of a problem spam is these days.

I extended the reg' periods for a number of my most important domain names. It cost me over $400, but that's OK, because the money isn't being wasted. It's an investment in improved SE rankings, a better Internet, and it also protects your names from domain hijackers.

http://www.domainblog.net/2005/07/extending-registration-period-for-your.html

AmCy

 

[cache]

Then it makes sense to add additional years for those domain you want to keep.

I know you can register multiple years when you bought the domain. But can you add additional years before your domains expire?

 

[dewd]

Then it makes sense to add additional years for those domain you want to keep.

I know you can register multiple years when you bought the domain. But can you add additional years before your domains expire?

of course!


only name i regged for multipal years is my fullname.com which i plan to keep

 

[FedPrimeRate.com]

Then it makes sense to add additional years for those domain you want to keep...

Even if your plan is to sell your domains, extending registration time still works. Simply factor-in the cost of the extended registration in your price. The new owner shouldn't have a problem paying the extra, unless of course he/she intends to use the domain name for spamming.

AmCy

 

[slantednet]

Wow... learn something new everyday...

 

[Shorty]

It's times like these you wish there was a whois item to show you have your domain set to auto renew. I'd much rather register for a year and have autorenew on than be forced to pay for 10 years upfront. Google should rethink this in my opinion...

 

[FedPrimeRate.com]

It's times like these you wish there was a whois item to show you have your domain set to auto renew...

Wouldn't mean much, IMO, because you can toggle auto-renew to "off" one day before a domain name is set to expire.

AmCy

 

[cache]

I hate 1and1's auto renew. A few of domains I did not intend to renew are now renewed automatically. You have to fax them a form in order to renew, what pain!

It's times like these you wish there was a whois item to show you have your domain set to auto renew. I'd much rather register for a year and have autorenew on than be forced to pay for 10 years upfront. Google should rethink this in my opinion...

 

[capiche]

It really depends on if you're a developer or a reseller. I'd say that the majority of domainers only reg. their domains 1 year at a time. I agree with what others said about seperating the spammers from legitimate website owners with longer registrations,...if you develop them, 10 years is a bit much though.. IMO. But as far as resell goes, it really doesn't matter.
I registered a certain domain in May of this year for $7.20 and sold it last month for $500.00. It someone really wants one of your names, they'll buy it regardless.

 

[UrbelT]

Business Failture rate.

This is not a wise idea IMO, it has a a larger negative effect then postive. First off, I dont remember exactly where I heard this, but I'm pretty sure it’s accurate that 90% of businesses fail their first year. 99% fail within the first 10 years.

Taking this into account means that the already high failure rate is going to be increased due to increased spending on domain name purchases, the risk for starting the business is increased aswell. Next, if a business fails, and someone else wants to try it, this "unused" domain name will be unavailable for registration.

So as this may stop spammers, if this policy remains as it is thought to be now, with a long waiting list to be indexed unless 10 years are regged at once, in turn this may be the beginning of a google downfall. Useful sites WILL be lost.

Is there an alternative? I don't know of one, but then again, I dont have $ billions to figure it out

-MyLinking

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I read about this in the UK .NET magazine a few weeks back.

One thing I'm not sure about is whether it only applies for domains that are set to be registered for 2 years in advance, or whether it also applies to domain names that HAVE been actually registered for two years

MSN.com has been registered for years and years now... What happens if their domain name goes into the red (EG. Only has 1 year left of registration)... will their listings be deleted from the search engines because it's not registered 2 years in advance? Or does it take into account how long the domain name has already been registered and up and running for?

 

[Shorty]

UrbelT, that is exactly the reason i'm against it. If my business doesn't have adequate starting capital, wasting money on 10 year domain registrations isnt exactly my top priority.

Good question Jiblob. Anybody know this?

 

[FedPrimeRate.com]

...will their listings be deleted from the search engines because it's not registered 2 years in advance?

An ultra-high profile domain name like msn.com is immune from these kinda' things.

AmCy

...but I'm pretty sure it’s accurate that 90% of businesses fail their first year. 99% fail within the first 10 years...

Yup, but those numbers are mostly referring to your standard brick and mortar startup that requires all kinds of capital to get going (real estate/rent, equipment, staff, etc.) IMO, an Internet project has a much better chance of surviving thanks mostly to the very low overhead involved in starting and running your average website. If you are producing the content on your own (as I do for my sites) then you are paying for dom reg' fee and hosting/bandwidth and that's about it!

AmCy

 

[Element]

Oh I didnt know about it. This really bites you have to do it for 10 years.

 

[ThreeD]

something to think about - if you register your domain for 10 years, what about 9 years from now..will your website drop in the SE rankings because it's only a year until renewal? I think the whole thing stinks..google should reconsider some of their techniques in use..

 

[cache]

the OP only quoted a google's patent application, but is it really true of the advantage of multi-year reg? Has anyone verified this for the current indexing? I just want to make sure this is now, not some future consideration.