Is it Easier to rank High Authority Websites?
-
I have been doing SEO for several years and I know LOTS of things play into factor when it comes to rankings, but what's your thoughts on ranking pages on a high authority websites vs a fairly new website?
I'm thinking about buying an old domain and building links to it, rather than continuing with my fairly new domain. Do you think I have a better chance taking this route??
-
Some valid comments here, but I'd generally have to agree with Ron - IF the domain really has authority (solid, trusted links, isn't spammy, decent traffic, social signals, etc.) and IF that domain is relevant to your topic, then it could give you a solid boost. As @KempRugeLawGroup said, though, there are cases where Google may not pass the authority of the site after an ownership change, especially if you completely overhaul the site and it's an entirely new topic.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. A lot of this is at Google's discretion. If you bought a high-authority site about bass fishing and then turned it into an affiliate site for WordPress templates, and the domain was "bobsbassfishing.com" and 80% of the inbound anchor text was "bass fishing", then Google's going to catch on pretty fast. If you actual sell fishing products and keep the brand, but slowly redesign and add new, relevant content, then it's entirely possible that old domain will work in your favor.
If you just buy an old domain and then 301-redirect to a current or new and barely relevant domain, then it's at best a crap-shoot. That game has been played far too much.
-
I agree that old domains can help if they have a good history. No matter what people say about older domains or sites not having weight I have seen it not be true over and over again. Thin, graphic heavy, poorly laid out, sales message in your face sites that have been around since the dinosaurs have weight. Google can see from the registration date that Joe Business has owned Joe's Company and domain since 1990, and they will take that into consideration. Before everyone cries foul, I'm not saying it is a huge factor, but it's there.
I think the easiest place to see this is in local search results than national or ecom. I am not saying this applies to all, but I think to deny the fact that domain and site age plays a part in ranking would be foolish. Try saying that next time you are trying to outrank Jims Waterproofing, who has been around since the "when AOL was popular" days, with Joes Waterproofing who just started. If both are clean, well written sites, with good backlinks, I'm betting Jim's will still have a slight advantage. (no idea if Jims or Joes waterproofing already exist)
A few questions:
Does the domain contain a brand that consumers can remember easily? Be careful of buying branded domains just because of age. If another company had a bad reputation, you dont want to be associated with them.Does the domain contain keywords for what you what to rank for, or your main service/product?
If the domain already has backlinks pointed to it, just park the older domain onto your new one, so Google can see where the destination domain is. No need to replace yours, or build a whole other site.
-
Like everything it depends...If the domain has good quality links, has generally performed well and is relevant to your category it might make sense. If you are considering this you should evaluate the links closely to make sure that there is not a predominance of spammy ones.
If this is a locally relevant domain Local directory links are OK as long as they are relevant. Links from blogging or other attractive content are more valuable. I would value the domain based on how much time it would take to get your domain to the same place versus what you think your time is worth. A directory takes about 22 minutes and a higher value link(attractive content) takes at least one hour on average. I would add up the time and multiply this by your least expensive hourly rate and see if it makes sense.
I know this is a somewhat general response but the situation is somewhat fluid and requires some judgement calls.
All the best!
Ron
-
I may not be remembering this correctly, so you'll need to double-check it, but it's my understanding that old domains don't really help anymore...especially if you transfer ownership.
-
It depends entirely upon the domain you buy. If you buy a domain with a poor history which has been spamming the world for viagra then this strategy will never work for you (or anyone). If on the other hand, you buy something that is relevant to your niche, not spammy and for some reason affordable, then I see no reason not to employ this method.
It took me nearly 2 years to build our site up into a fairly highly ranked site within our niche. Then we moved it to another new domain (set up a new business). It is possible to rank on a new domain, but it does take longer.
However, your end result is likely to be 'purer'. You won't have to worry about dodgy links (unless you build them).
I'd work out the pros and cons on a bit of paper before you go ahead. Buying existing domains can be costly, if it doesn't work then it could be an expensive mistake.
Best of luck,
Amelia
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Can Very High Impressions and 0% Organic CTR Impact our SEO Rankings?
I have a very strange feeling that someone bad is trying to hurt our company, but maybe I am wrong. Let me explain. In the last two month, we have seen a very significant drop in sales on our website, but we couldn't figure out why. We have looked at different metrics (Google Search Console, Moz, Google Analytics), but everything looked alright. We had 10% loss in traffic, but we didnt believe at the time that it could be the main issue. Just yesterday we've discovered the following (please see attached screenshot😞 On August 18, 2018 Google launched Search Update On the same date, we had a jump in Organic Search Impressions for one particular keyword, which we never tracked before: "free facebook login". Majority of all impressions (233,000 out of 258,000) were from Philippines. Very low total number of clicks (50 clicks) led to 0% Average CTR for this keyword. Which in return, also lowered our global CTR by 1%. One month later we had 1000's of spam emails sent to our Helpdesk from two IP addresses, also from Philippines. We blocked them of course. It could be all coincidence. I dont know. But do you think that someone can use this fraudulent tactic to lower our CTR and drop our ranking and traffic? Can this influence our SEO in any way? It's also possible that someone is attacking Facebook and we just happen to be there, on the first page, for the same keyword. Should we try to eliminate our page for this keyword and see what happens? I've checked this article from Rand Fishkin - https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/impact-of-queries-and-clicks-on-googles-rankings-whiteboard-friday and it seems that CTR is an important factor. However the article is from 2015 and maybe it's no longer relevant. What should we do? Thanks! G86Nge4
Conversion Rate Optimization | | plumrocket11 -
Does anybody know of a reliable website phone call lead tracking service that integrates with Google Analytics?
We are trying to get more detailed data about where direct website phone calls are coming from (not just Adwords call extensions). We know there are a few services available that do this. However are there any recommendations for a reliable one? We would like to show our clients Google Analytics conversion metrics that shows incoming phone calls from different campaigns.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | RosemaryB1 -
Are website optimization and conversion rate optimization roughly the same thing?
This is mostly a semantics question, but I also want to check that I have a basic understanding of the two concepts. Are the two terms more or less interchangeable or are there any crucial differences? I always thought of website optimization as the complementary partner to SEO. While the ultimate goal of SEO is getting people TO your website, website optimization is focused on refining your website so that those people STAY on your website. When I think of conversion rate optimization, I'd imagine that's pretty much the same goal. Refining a website so that more people stay and ultimately convert (buy something, subscribe to a newsletter, etc). Is my understanding of one (or both) of them flawed, or is it six of one, half a dozen of the other? Thanks!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | BrianAlpert780 -
Where I can place a banner/message in my site telling I have a new website?
Where I should place a banner or a message in my old site to tell user that I have a new website? Thanks in advance!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | esiow20130 -
Complete website redesign - what to look for
We are having our website redesigned by an SEO company to increase CTR and for a better user experience and I was wondering what to look for and what key questions to ask. At the moment we rank very well for a few strong keywords and I m afraid that by rewriting the content and changing the website layout we might put at risk some of the rankings even for a brief period of time. This company seems to be very good so I need to know what to ask them to make sure everything goes according to plan. Your thoughts are appreciated.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | echo10 -
Ranking at 8, 9, & 15... Is this self-cannibalisation?
@ 8 is a blog about a youtube video review a customer made of the product. Blog title includes keyword @ 9 is the product page itself and includes a rich snippet video @ 15 is a blog about the product by an independent professional in the field - again the blog title contains the keyword. The page I want to rank highest is the product page which is currently at position 9. If it were you would you delete the keyword from the blog titles? Or is that just going to lose me those blog results and do little/nothing for the product page. Thanks EDIT: I should have said... both blog pages link to the product page and the keyword is the anchor.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Brocberry0 -
How do I get Google to rank the right page?
My site ranks #1 for Arabic Interpreting on Google UK. This great, but it's ranking my home page rather than the my specific Arabic Interpreting page. The home page shouldn't really rank for this term as it has very little connection with this exact term. This means that while the site ranks great, the conversion is pretty much zero. How can I get Google to rank the page I've optimised for this term? I know the ranking will no doubt slip but may the conversions will be better. Can you help please?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | GlobalLingo0 -
Re-designed website... how to increase organic traffic?
We re-developed our website (adboards(dot)com) around 6 months ago. This has in turn led to a downturn in sales/visits. We have managed to get visits/sales increasing steadily but not to the level of the previous site. Even though we believe the new site is (seems) much more friendly both for SEO and potential customers. We currently run a PPC campaign which seems to bring in steady sales, the problem seems to be our organic traffic and getting our keywords ranked higher. We have tried various methods for increasing our organic traffic including:- Keyword Analysis for our landing pages Backlinking: From various directories and industry related sites Googlebase submission Blog relating to industry news & products Any advise on which area we should be focusing on or any obvious errors you can see on the site would be greatly appreciated.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | bwfc770