Advice on Picking Domain with Age or Not

[ChiefLee]

Hey guys. I need a little advice. We will be launching a new site. And it's going to be important to try to establish SERPs / organic traffic as quickly as possible. We have a number of domains we purchased back in 2004 that we can pick a name from (bought several names littered with important keywords at the time). And I'm unsure how important domain age is. And whether or not a domain has age, but has been unused, does the age still add value (or as much). So my options are:

1 - Use a domain that has been up and running since 2004, but not used much. Gets indexed regularly (has been used recently as a blog that we can replace). The URL is fine, but unfortunately it's a .us which doesn't excite me. I personally prefer .com's as I assume they're easier to remember for the customer. It has a couple of inbound links, but not enough for that to be a determining factor.

2 - We also own the .com version of the same domain name (since '04). So it has some age. I don't know why we used the .us version instead of the .com version when it was first setup. It's possible that both were setup at one point pointing towards the same site, and only one (the .us) got migrated to the new server (which would have happened about a year ago). I noticed the .com is pointed towards our old server. Which means that it MIGHT have been live at one point.

3 - Go ahead and just get a new name and don't worry about the age of the domain.

***

And one more thing. We're probably 60 days away from launching the site. I could go ahead and move the blog at the .us to the .com so there's live content there for the next two months. If that's a benefit.

[SteveGerencser]

Its not the "age" of the domain that matters, its what was done with it during that time.. That is why some people think domain age plays a role, the forget to account for all the years of effort put in to a site..

If I had to choose between a .com and a .us, .com baby.. Unless its some horrible nasty name..

[angilina]

Hey guys. I need a little advice. We will be launching a new site. And it's going to be important to try to establish SERPs / organic traffic as quickly as possible. We have a number of domains we purchased back in 2004 that we can pick a name from (bought several names littered with important keywords at the time). And I'm unsure how important domain age is. And whether or not a domain has age, but has been unused, does the age still add value (or as much). So my options are:

1 - Use a domain that has been up and running since 2004, but not used much. Gets indexed regularly (has been used recently as a blog that we can replace). The URL is fine, but unfortunately it's a .us which doesn't excite me. I personally prefer .com's as I assume they're easier to remember for the customer. It has a couple of inbound links, but not enough for that to be a determining factor.

2 - We also own the .com version of the same domain name (since '04). So it has some age. I don't know why we used the .us version instead of the .com version when it was first setup. It's possible that both were setup at one point pointing towards the same site, and only one (the .us) got migrated to the new server (which would have happened about a year ago). I noticed the .com is pointed towards our old server. Which means that it MIGHT have been live at one point.

3 - Go ahead and just get a new name and don't worry about the age of the domain.

***

And one more thing. We're probably 60 days away from launching the site. I could go ahead and move the blog at the .us to the .com so there's live content there for the next two months. If that's a benefit.

I will suggest to see this video in which Matt Cutts from Google answered the very question that you asked

youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_1NQWQJ2Q&feature=PlayList&p=841CB8F9F31 BF5D5&index=45

[SteveGerencser]

That is a totally different thing Angi.. That is length of domain registration in the future, not age of domain in the past..

[Moxie Soho]

I will suggest to see this video in which Matt Cutts from Google answered the very question that you asked

youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_1NQWQJ2Q&feature=PlayList&p=841CB8F9F31 BF5D5&index=45

Yes awesome video.

[claybutler]

Go with the best domain regardless of age. It's all about the long term. Why avoid your most strategic choice just to gain a quick, temporary (and possibly imaginary) gain?

Age of a domain is waaaay overrated.

[ChiefLee]

Hey claybutler, you may be right. But are you saying that from gut reaction of from anything empirical?

[ChiefLee]

Its not the "age" of the domain that matters, its what was done with it during that time.. That is why some people think domain age plays a role, the forget to account for all the years of effort put in to a site..

If I had to choose between a .com and a .us, .com baby.. Unless its some horrible nasty name..

Well today I've got our IT guys swapping it over (the current blog) from the .us to the .com anyway. So now I'm down to two choices. Either drop the new e-commerce site onto the .com or buy a new domain name.

I guess most of us feel that there's not much "added" value in a domain name that google would know is 5 years old?

[angilina]

That is a totally different thing Angi.. That is length of domain registration in the future, not age of domain in the past..

Very true. I mixed up things a little

I have seen Matt Cutts talk about this matter somewhere, may be it was his blog.

When I saw this video title, I thought he talked about this matter in it. Which he has not.

"I guess most of us feel that there's not much "added" value in a domain name that google would know is 5 years old? "

If this 5 years old domain contains relevant content, that is: the new site's Niche is relevant to the old niche, and that there are some quality/relevant backlinks pointing to this old domain, then I guess you should go with developing this old domain.

If this old domain have no useful content in it and no good backlinks, then you can either go with a new one or with this old domain: choosing any of these will have somewhat the same results.

[The Leader]

If the older domains have any pr I would probably use them to give me a head start!