Domain age

This test checks when a domain name was first registered to determine its age.

Why do we test for this?

Older websites are likely to appear higher in search engine rankings. It's only one of many factors taken into account, but Google is known to favor older websites. Just like a real-world business, a company website can be seen as more trust worthy if it has been established a long time. Many unscrupulous websites will change domains regularly in order to avoid being blocked by internet filters, so younger websites are deliberately penalized to make them appear lower.

How do we test for this?

We ask a WHOIS service for information about the domain name of the website being tested. A WHOIS service stores public information about domain names. WHOIS services vary between types of domain (e.g., .com, .co.uk) so we can't always obtain the same information for all domain names. We cannot obtain any information about some types of domain.

What can I do about it?

If you have a young domain name then unfortunately the only thing you can do is wait for the domain to age and for the website to become more established.