If you haven't figured it out by now, Google is VERY smart. Google knows just about almost everything. (Well, maybe they DO know everything, in my opinion anyway...) There are over 200 different factors for ranking your website, but what about domain history? How does your overall domain history affect your SEO ranking? Let's look at the details.
Are you "good" or "bad"?
Search engines are constantly visiting websites, reviewing their content, checking for inbound links and more. Your domain history will give search engines an overall impression on how your website has performed overtime. This performance not only includes a record of your website's rankings but also content history, link building practices, and even traffic. If your website has been penalized in any shape or fashion, your domain history will reflect that. A website that has a history of violating guidelines or having different penalties will have a very hard time getting back into a search engines good graces. Its best to be a "good" site from the get-go.
Who are you?
Your domain history reflects who you are and what you do. If you have a website dedicated to your legal practice, yet you switch it over to talk about your love for the top boy band of the 2000's (we all know that its *Nsync and not BSB, by the way), search engines will have a hard time figuring out your true identity. Are you trying to trick the search engines? Are you presenting the right image? A good product needs to be created by building good relationships and properly describing its service or identity. This is very true about your website too! Identity is increasingly important to your overall SEO ranking. There are many forms of identity from Google Authorship to social profile verification on Twitter or Facebook.
Overall, Search Engines are always looking at different ways to rank your website. Your domain history is very important. Its best to start from the beginning with a great site, excellent content, and establish your true identity. Search engines like websites that display the proper content and stand behind the content they produce.
Learn more about other SEO ranking factors.
