debate Why aged domain are so pricey?

[Goodend]

Hi all,

I am new to the world of domain but I know SEO quite well. Can you please tell me why aged domain are so pricey? I mean I understand great brandable, pronounceable names, but what if I registered crap?! It's just aged crap. Am I right? Can an expert share his thoughts on that?

Thanks!

Francesco

 

[dnk]

It is easier to sell advertising on aged domains, than new domains, so they are pricier

 

[NameOmnia]

This is my take.

Age does not make quality (as someone else already said) BUT years ago it was possible and easier to hand register GREAT domains (and by great I mean great...whiskey, cars, moon etc). If those domains are still in the hands of investors (aka domainers) they would have renewed them for the past 10-20 years because who with some sanity left would drop a name like that?

Then there are those names that the domainer THINKS have value and he keeps renewing them...they could simply be crap.

Then there are the old school domainers who think that age means quality (mainly referred to emds..once again old school) when there are indeed much more successful (imo) domainers & marketplaces who focus on brandables (and yes, that is a broad term). Many register names and sell them for nice amounts in a time frame that goes from a week to a few years.

P.S. Do not let anyone fool you and convince you that any random non emd is a brandable because it is not!

 

[rhakim]

Sorry Rhakim, I don't think that if you regularly renew crap then just the fact of renewing it makes any better to the domain.

Goodend, you are correct , Regularly renewing crap does not make any better to the domain. My comment was "because of the quality, the owner tend to regularly renew" (for quality domains the owner will tend to renew for years).

 

[Goodend]

Thats what I said -"quality of backlinks"

And if a person cant see if the links are good or bad they shouldnt play that game. I saw a lot of people buying ruined domains thinking they have great backlink profile.

Which tools do you use to evaluate properly the quality of the backlinks of a domain?

 

[Keral_Patel]

Because someone was paying the renewal fees all along and now he is not willing to let it go off that easily?

 

[elevator]

I stand to be corrected; Domain on its own does not have backlinks but the contents has backlinks. For example no parked domain can have any backlink.

 

[elevator]

This is my take.

Age does not make quality (as someone else already said) BUT years ago it was possible and easier to hand register GREAT domains (and by great I mean great...whiskey, cars, moon etc). If those domains are still in the hands of investors (aka domainers) they would have renewed them for the past 10-20 years because who with some sanity left would drop a name like that?

Then there are those names that the domainer THINKS have value and he keeps renewing them...they could simply be crap.

Then there are the old school domainers who think that age means quality (mainly referred to emds..once again old school) when there are indeed much more successful (imo) domainers & marketplaces who focus on brandables (and yes, that is a broad term). Many register names and sell them for nice amounts in a time frame that goes from a week to a few years.

P.S. Do not let anyone fool you and convince you that any random non emd is a brandable because it is not!

EMD means exact matched domain. car, whiskey are generic and at the same time are they not EMD?

 

[NameOmnia]

EMD means exact matched domain. car, whiskey are generic and at the same time are they not EMD?

I don't think I said that, or am I missing your point?

 

[VRdommy]

In my personal calculations, Domain Age has no effect at the top end (as in it is a quality name).
But it does have a effect on bidding on drops (the lower end). But quality has to be there.
I have never seen a end user willing to pay more simply because it has a longer continuous registration.
All the results of other factors that will add value.
You should turn your question to what makes a quality domain !
A asking price has no effect on value. But we are working with perceptions aren't we !
And value is not always today's value, but value in the near future.
Otherwise this would be a very precise biz and we would be looking for other investment instruments.
You are trying to predict the future demand/value.
Something you can buy cheap today and sell for profit tomorrow.

 

[toughdomains]

if you look at pretty much any aged name in godaddy with some decent traffic its all min 50k....so yes I see your point....the name could be total crap...but someone may purchase it for a lower amount hoping to convert the traffic to $$....however all things being equal...2 equally good domains one is 1 year old the other is 19 years i may purchase the aged name first at a slight premium

 

[Marc Riccio]

Pigeonshit is pigeonshit, no matter how aged it is.

This is not wine.

Would you rather a 12 year old Chevy on a brand new Oldsmobile?

M

 

[TCK]

You shouldn't be too fixated on just domain age. It is one of many signals G uses to rank a website. But it is a helpful one to SEO.

It is important to stress that a low grade but aged domain that has been only parked over years will not do much in terms of SEO. I have seen even good domains seriously hurt by zero-click ad parking. They have been flagged for spamware by G. Check out this article.

Age has value because scammers and spammers don't register domains for more than a year. So G puts new sites in a sandbox for some time (how long, I'm not sure) to prove that the domain was not registered for such purposes. The longer a domain is registered and in good standing, the more confidence G has that the domain is not meant for nefarious use.

To reiterate, other signals are also used to rank that are even more important than age such as quality content and incoming quality links.

Besides SEO, other factors related to domains and marketing are critical such as memorability, recognition, as well as passing the radio test.

 

[main]

I'll add a different perspective. Age gives you a bit of leverage in negotiations. A decent percent of buyers do actually look at the whois information. Having an aged domain helps you. When a buyer sees that the age of the domain is young, they feel like they should not pay as much for the domain as you are likely getting a fast return.

 

[Goodend]

You shouldn't be too fixated on just domain age. It is one of many signals G uses to rank a website. But it is a helpful one to SEO.

It is important to stress that a low grade but aged domain that has been only parked over years will not do much in terms of SEO. I have seen even good domains seriously hurt by zero-click ad parking. They have been flagged for spamware by G. Check out this article.

Age has value because scammers and spammers don't register domains for more than a year. So G puts new sites in a sandbox for some time (how long, I'm not sure) to prove that the domain was not registered for such purposes. The longer a domain is registered and in good standing, the more confidence G has that the domain is not meant for nefarious use.

To reiterate, other signals are also used to rank that are even more important than age such as quality content and incoming quality links.

Besides SEO, other factors related to domains and marketing are critical such as memorability, recognition, as well as passing the radio test.

Thanks! This has been the most complete answer so far on an SEO perspective, appreciated.

 

[Goodend]

Pigeonsh*t is pigeonsh*t, no matter how aged it is.

This is not wine.

Would you rather a 12 year old Chevy on a brand new Oldsmobile?

M

I feel you Marc, trust me, I feel you

 

[SpareDomains]

Age adds a small portion of value or a good filter to scan drop lists with as the odds of someone renewing a bad domain for many years is less.
Domain Quality= #1
Age= Small Bonus
Bad domains that get renewed for eternity= Aged Turds

 

[ben pedri]

All aged domains are not pricey if they were then the answer speaks for itself