domain name and new ownership

[zander]

You hear about how domain age is important and that it can affect search engine rank. How does a change in domain name ownership affect this? Do you "start over" with the age of a domain name?

[Rachael]

The domain age certainly holds a lot of importance. One of the crucial factors in Google's search engine algorithm is the domain name age. The age of the domain displays the longevity and therefore it acquires a higher relevancy score in Google. A simple example of this is that people may have a deeper trust in an old business instead of consider any new one in the same field.

In my opinion, a change in the domain name ownership wont affect the presence and value of that particular domain, no matter whatever is the age of the domain. It depends on how the domain is managed. Moreover there is no need to start over even if the domain name ownership is changing. It can be managed in the same way, if there are any corrective measures to be adopted, that can be done.

[journey]

If I acquired a previously owned domain name, I would be very cautious about making any substantial changes to the website, especially in the near term. It seems logical to me that Google would place more importance on that as representing a change in the domain's status.

[Geoffrey]

I agree that the change of ownership of a domain name wouldn't affect the domain's reputation. Its reputation and rank is determined more by how well it is optimized for search engines, especially the number of backlinks it has.