So I got some renewal notices for some domain names I have registered, and GoDaddy suggested strongly I renew for more than a year at a time, citing this:
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.
Which made me go looking for some info on this. These folks scoff. These folks don’t. These folks think it’s probably not a bad idea regardless.
Think I’ll make it for two years. Or maybe three.