Page Age
So a mature web page is like a fine wine. A little older, a little wiser. The longer a web page has been around, the more ammunition it has in the rankings.
As we know, search engines are always amending and updating their algorithms in order to stay ahead of their game. The equation that ultimately decides where a web page will sit is constantly evolving, and with ranking factors fluctuating left right and centre, it is the web developers role to stay alert and manipulate an SEO campaign as trends in the algorithms change.
However, one factor that can never be manipulated is age, and like wine, the more time a web page has to mature, the finer the rankings in the search engines, so long as the content is consistant and rich.
Search engines view established web sites as more genuine and more legitimate in comparison with younger sites with less history. These perspectives are employed to filter out the spam from among the real sites. The protocol, known as the "sandbox effect", principly flags young web pages in an 'uncategorised' category, until they earn maturity and a place among ranking competitors.
The weight bearing on age is quite high. In fact it is one of the most heavy factors in the ranking equation. The sandbox effect in general refers to the direct result of page or site age being part of that equation. It's role is to measure a sites importance based on an array of age related calculations. These calculations may be taken from the age of the domain name, site age, page age or link age.
To establish a certain level of maturity, there is little web developers can do but sit around and wait for major players such as Google or MSN to update their ranks. Ensure you hit the ground running by launching rich and original content, incorporating natural site expansion at steady and consistant intervals.
Domain Age
Buying old domain names can potentially give your SEO campagin and flying start. Think about it. A previously owned, previously used but expired domain name may still have any amount of inbound links driving traffic towards it. The referring sites may have an established history and a high page rank, potentially in the long term increasing the importance of your site.
Previous attempts to optimise the old site would still be relative to that domain name, and as such your site may effortlessly benefit from another SEO developers hard work. It's a shameless option, but who cares.
Link Age
Maintain an organic link building campaign. One of the most defining aspects of an aged site is its links, the older the better. Older sites are likely to have a higher PR (Google Page Rank) and therefore benefit your website. For more info on this see the discussion on
Inbound Links.
Site Age
Measured from the date the site was first indexed by a search engine.
It is assumed that each search engine calculates this based on their own index records, so ensure your sites are submitted to each major search engine simultaneously.