Google has never revealed its search algorithm in full. At best, the company drops hints and provides general guidelines for optimization. The lack of specific information in many topics has created an environment wherein SEO theories abound. A webmaster from Colorado wants to know if there is any truth behind one of them that deals with domain names. As the theory goes, pre-2004 domains are more desirable because they are subjected to more lenient criteria compared to what we have now.

Matt Cutts simply laughs this off. He makes it clear that this theory is completely false and has no basis. There is absolutely no difference between domains registered in 2004, 2005, 2006, or any other year. The ranking algorithm makes no distinctions based on domain age. Buying pre-2004 domains will not provide any added benefits by way of easier criteria. There is no value in this practice.

Google treats all websites equally. The search engine does not give preferential treatment to any of them using an arbitrary demarcation line. Every website acquires reputation in the same manner no matter how old or new the domain might be.

Dave Shuts from England bought a domain 7 months prior and yet it still isn’t showing up on search engine result pages. He wonders if its history might have something to do with the situation. Digging deeper, he found that it was first registered in 2000 and it has since gone through a number of owners. One of them was a company in Australia that used it to serve ads. Is it possible that trust issues are preventing its appearance on Google SERPs?

Matt Cutts agrees with this assessment. Seven months is far too long as domains typically appear after a few days. Try typing the exact URL on the search engine textbox. If it still does not appear in Google results, then there are probably trust issues going on. The problem may also be rooted in an esoteric country code. Another possible reason is a lack of links pointing to the website. This would prevent spiders from finding it. This should be easy enough to check and rule out.

Matt invites us to look at the situation as a black hat SEO. Such a person would buy domains and use them for spamming until these sites become useless because of their bad reputation. The domains might then be sold to an unsuspecting buyer. Avoid being victimized by doing a thorough background check before purchasing.

There is a prevailing impression that blogs need numerous updates for SEO purposes. With this in mind, a webmaster from Colorado wants to know the extent to which frequency affects the PageRank of dynamic sites. He also wants to learn more about the relative importance of content compared to frequency.

Frequent updates are certainly welcome according to Matt Cutts. Readers, in particular, will appreciate seeing new content become available on a regular basis. It might encourage them to visit several times a day. If a blog does not post updates for a long time, then people may visit less until they forget about the site altogether. Those who are aiming for a large number of page views should certainly strive for consistency.

Yet one must be careful not to sacrifice quality for quantity. In terms of PageRank, it would be more beneficial for a site to post a few meaningful articles as opposed to many uninspired posts. Posting for the sake of meeting a quota is not advisable. Google does its best to reward sites that offer fresh and original insights. Each update should be carefully considered.

Link building is one of the most important aspects of search engine optimization. Webmasters try to do everything they can to get as many inbound links in an effort to boost Page Rank. Amid the frenzy, one wonders whether there is such a thing as building too many links. Assuming that you follow all the rules, will it ever get to a point where you might be banned due to excess?

According to Matt Cutts, webmasters should not worry about ever running into a limit. You can build as many links as you can without getting into trouble if you stick to Google’s published guidelines. The inbound links should ideally be organic in nature. Google frowns upon artificial links built through arranged exchanges or acquired by paying money.

The main driver for link building should be excellent site content. If you create compelling articles, videos, or artwork, then people will like them and feel compelled to share it with their friends. The links will come naturally through word of mouth because of merit — all for free and without much additional effort. These are all valid and will not be penalized no matter how many you receive.

If a person makes changes to his website, how long would it take before Google notices them? It turns out that webmasters do not have to wait very long, but the duration would depend on a number of things. The scale of the Web makes it necessary for Google to prioritize certain pages over others.

The search giant used to crawl the Web every month but now it has the capacity to do this every few days. Spiders go out to look for new pages and revisit those, which are already on the index. If they find no changes in a site after a number of visits, then they may not go back to it as often. On the other hand, if the site has regular updates, then it may experience an increased their crawl rate.

The site’s ranking is also considered. Those that enjoy a high PageRank will be monitored quite closely. After all, a lot of people visit them and their content is deemed to have great importance. All of this happens automatically without the need to issue a request via Webmaster Tools.