I am convert from the idea that ranking high on Google is a firm base to build a business on, that many people probably enter the "SEO" field with, to the idea that one should never base a overall business strategy on a hope of one day ranking high on Google.

That said, there are many aspects of building a website that can boost the ranking and therefore bring some additional conversions to a site (of course).

For new sites there is however one additional hurdle to consider;

How much does google weigh the overall time a site has existed into its formula?


For one site, that I have previously discussed here on this forum with Chrishirst, I have put a lot of (in my own mind obscene amount of) effort into, both on page optimization, quality link building and exchange, and so forth - and I have had very positive results, in way. The peers (ranking 1-15) for the keywords (10 primary and a long tail) I have targeted are all very entrenched in the sense that they have been around for 4 to 9 years longer than me.

But is it possible to beat them without going to hyperobsence lenghts? I am not sure it is in the short/medium term, or if it should be? I think Google does a good thing judging the age of a source as an indicator of worth. What is your impressions of the weight google places on the age of a site?

How much does google weigh the overall time a site has existed into its formula?

Absolutely none at all.
Google doesn't "know" how long a website has actually been in existence, they can only know the first time they found the pages.
What does count for an "old" site is what the pages have done while getting old.
It's a bit like human beings, you could reach a hundred years of age and be known for being old!
Or you could have reached the grand age of twenty five and gained respect and authority for the work you have done for yourself and the community.

It's not the "age" per se that counts, but what has been done while getting to that age.

If your pages have had little or no promotion, have never linked to other resources, never gained links for the information they contain, how long they have been there means nothing at all.


Matt Cutts on the subject of "domain age"

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Absolutely none at all.
It's not the "age" per se that counts, but what has been done while getting to that age.


Matt Cutts on the subject of "domain age"

Cheers Chris, thanks a lot.

I feel rejuvenated. If you ever stop by Beijing, I will buy you a beer!

I'll keep that in mind

does this also mean, website age doesn't have factors at all??? maybe old website got better position because they already gained good reputation.

Originally Posted by full house

does this also mean, website age doesn't have factors at all??? maybe old website got better position because they already gained good reputation.

Yep but that is NOT simply because it is "old", pages have to earn their reputation, just existing is NOT enough.