Change of owner for a domain = Drop in Google ? [Archive]

View Full Version : Change of owner for a domain = Drop in Google ?

krooga

07-17-2006, 09:47 AM

Hello guys,

I am about to acquire a large site which is ranked #1 for a very competitive keyword. My question is, if I buy this domain and change the owner in the whois, will this reflect the position of the site in the search engine results ?

Do let me know your experiences,

Thanks,

Sam

greeneagle

07-17-2006, 11:47 AM

krooga

07-17-2006, 03:03 PM

krooga,

I wouldn't expect an ownership change to effect traffic on it's on at all.

There are other issues:
How well established?
How old is the domain?
Have you done "Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/index.php)" searches making sure site traffic has been genuine for a comfortable duration of time?
Do you know how it has been being marketed, so that you can carry on?

Ken

Hey Ken,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
Thank you for reassuring me in regards that the domain ownership change will not affect the SR.

In answer to your question the site has been established for a few years now and is run by an amateur and has been up since 2000. The site contains no ads whatsover but articles etc.. that have remained unchanged for a few years now (Has the old days look ;-)). The keyword for which it is ranked averages 50 000 queries on Overture...

Your insight would be much appreciated,

Sam

greeneagle

07-17-2006, 04:19 PM

krooga,
I am going to pull in more help here so we can all discuss this here.

Ken

incrediblehelp

07-17-2006, 04:23 PM

Has this domain gone through a domain whois change or ownership change before? If so where there traffic/ranking fluxuations?

Through my experience I have seen some website greatly effected when the whois/ownership is changed and sometimes nothing happens.

I think on smaller level you could expect to see some fluxuations. Of course if nothing changes on the website itself (content, design, etc.) it may be more stable. Domain buys are very common now-a-days and you cant expect the search engines to "demote" or hurt rankings because of a whois change.

Maybe it is only when the content or design itself is changed?

incrediblehelp

07-17-2006, 05:00 PM

OK, maybe we should really start being serious about the age domain factor, but lets be clear from the start. IT IS NOT THE AGE OF THE DOMAIN. Other factors are really considered. Sure the age of domain is great, but it is actually the age of the website within the domain and if one company/person has owned it the whole time. The age factor is reset when a domain is sold. I don't have proof of this other than from my own selling and buying of domains.

Domains that I bought or sold have never really captured the same success of the old stature of I redeveloped the website, changed content, change whois, etc.

crankydave

07-17-2006, 05:09 PM

Maybe it is only when the content or design itself is changed?

This would be my thinking as well, at least in part.

It's not the domain itself that has the value, but the content, structure, and external influences (ie links) that have the value.

Dave

scanmonkey

07-17-2006, 07:20 PM

Incredibel. You are right on. Webnauts posted this link to http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?p=312561#312561

Two things that are considered in the age of a domain name are:

The age of the website
The length of time a domain has been registered

greeneagle

07-17-2006, 07:31 PM

Let's don't wander too far off on the "age" thing only.

Let's face it, there are a number of ways to artificially pump up traffic before a sale.

Ken

scanmonkey

07-17-2006, 07:47 PM

I sold a site about six months ago and their was no loss of rankings in either yahoo or google. The content of the site stayed the same.

Webnauts

07-17-2006, 08:16 PM

Domains that I bought or sold have never really captured the same success of the old stature of I redeveloped the website, changed content, change whois, etc.

That is a fact!

Webnauts

07-17-2006, 08:18 PM

scanmonkey

07-17-2006, 08:29 PM

I sold a site about six months ago and their was no loss of rankings in either yahoo or google. The content of the site stayed the same.

Isn't that obvious? It could happen to be a problem if the ISP would been changed. And for sure could be a problem if the content have been changed too.

Webnauts, Good point. The IP stayed the same.

Site was only getting good rankings on long tail keywords. A site with more competitive keywords would be a different story, I guess.

DrTandem1

07-17-2006, 09:34 PM

I have changed contact information including the registrant, and it has not affected the placement in the SERPs.

Now, if you change servers/hosts, there may be a possibility of a negative effect. If an IP range has been marked as a spammer or some other such negative practice, it is possible that it may be off the map for the 'bots. However, I think the risk is minute.

Just a thought.

edhan

07-17-2006, 10:41 PM

I am about to acquire a large site which is ranked #1 for a very competitive keyword. My question is, if I buy this domain and change the owner in the whois, will this reflect the position of the site in the search engine results ?

So far we have been handling change of ownership for domain names, it does not affect the search engine results. Nevertheless, it will depend whether you continue to make changes or amendment on the site that will affect the result.

crankydave

07-18-2006, 09:41 AM

Simply changing domain ownership is exceptionally unlikely to change the rankings.

Any content/structure/linking/genre change, especially all at once, can. Changing servers/hosts, as has already been pointed out, can.

Automatically attributing a change in SERP's to the change in ownerships is quite a leap in faith.

Dave

krooga

07-23-2006, 01:54 PM

Thanks alot for your insight, much appreciated ! I will keep you posted on how it turns out.

Take care,

Sam