Google states that it may monitor information on how a document is hosted. Some of the information that may be used is how long in advance a domain has been renewed, who registered the domain, how often it changed hands, does physical address information exist, is there a relatively high number of changes between name servers and hosting companies.

Bottom line does this domain look stable, if not then it might be an “illegitimate” domain. The reason given for this is that legitimate domains normally last for years while illegitimate or doorway sites rarely last for more than a year.

Points to pay ponder.

1. Renew your website to the maximum number of years, up to ten. This shows that you plan on having this site operate long term.
2. Host your site on a reputable server. Google defines a “bad” name server as one that “host mostly pornography or doorway domains, domains with commercial words (a common indicator of spam), or primarily bulk domains from a single registrar, or might be brand new.” A brand new server is not necessarily bad, only if it also has a combination of the other factors.
3. Be sure your registration information is complete and try not to change it too often.

If you plan on buying a domain that has been previously registered be sure that it has not already been black listed by the search engines for failing the above or other factors.

Additional articles will be added on a regular basis. Articles will include how user based information is used by Google, when a webpage is considered stale, Google view on outgoing links to advertisers and many others. Add this series of articles to your favorites and stop by often.

...editor