Challenging age deflation I am still assuming at this point that you are setting up a new site from scratch. At this point you may feel pretty happy. After all, you have an advantage over those who have a site already: You can pick the right host and the right domain name. However, as you will see in the off-page section (“landing the links”, page 131).

Google operates an age-deflation factor in ranking websites, assuming that relatively young sites are less reliable for searches. This is a particular issue for new sites, as both the domain and all inbound links (other sites linking to yours) are affected by this deflation.

The ageing delay was designed to prevent unscrupulous spammers from setting up 1,000 spam sites for Viagra in a single week, then deleting them when detected and setting them up again somewhere else. However, while you may wait anything from 6–12 months or more to start ranking well, you can still use this time wisely to build inbound links (see page 134) and to fine-tune your copywriting skills.

At this point you may be rather depressed, but, at the risk of pointing out the obvious, 12 months really isn’t all that long in business terms. The Google ageing-delay filter has really served to make the online world much like the offline. It takes time for any business to become known and promoted. Fly-by-night Viagra sites are now just that and the serious businesspeople among us have nothing to fear other than a short delay.

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