Hi Guys!

I hope someone can answer this please...

When I register a new domain, one of the first things I do is put up a generic wordpress site with a small 100-250 word article and adjust the site heading accordingly. (And add the google analytics script.)

Once that's done, I might not touch the site for 6-18months depending on how busy I am.

Am I better off doing this OR is it better to put a site on it ONLY when I am ready to develop it properly? For example would search engines treat this as an "innert" site and neglect to frequently index it when I actually do have legitimate content?

Thanks for the help!

Not sure, to be honest. I've seen many recommendations saying just get something up with a bit of keyword relevant content so it gets indexed and starts accruing "age". On the other hand, search engines don't exactly love thin one page sites and that might end up getting you filtered, particularly if you've got a bunch of sites with a footprint.

I think getting a half-decent site up, updating and link building regularly for a little while before putting it back on the shelf would be a better way to go.

Easy to say, of course, and not like I always follow my own advice

Doesn't really matter how soon you put content on the site, you'll be able to get it indexed whenever you are ready whether it has been dormant for a while or not.

The thing to remember is that you'll only get out of the site (in terms of traffic and rev) what you put into it. So if you reg a domain and stick a 4 page WP blog on it and leave it for 12 months, you're obviously not expecting traffic and $ from it during that period.

My advice is to update sites at least 1 month a month becuase their is a ranking element called QDF, which stands for Quality Deserves Freshness, search engines can take this ranking element into consideration if their is a lot of news happening for a specific query.

If you deal in high competition niches you know a static page of content will not be the best you need to keep pinging Google with Fresh unique content, this is why people utilize blogs to assist QDF.

Depends on the keyword but too if it is a random long tail with no traffic/competition they you probably don't need to worry or even a high level brand term.

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Yup, updating at least once a month will help keep your site fresh and maintain rankings but I think it's more an overall trust/quality signal and slightly different from Query Deserves Freshness, which relates as you say to queries that suddenly spike in volume.

Putting on content earlier rather then later is good. Its all about ageing the domain and getting it indexed early as possible. Of course, like James say a regular update one in a while is most ideal even for dormant domains.

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Hi Ben
I usually set up a site as quickly as possible after the domain is registered and start linking to it from other sites. One of my sites gained a PR 3 within 2 weeks of launching. Google definitely give preference to aged domains so I guess the quicker they find a new site the quicker it will gain authority.

Best wishes with it all Ben

Regards Dean

Yet if the site has been indexed for 10 years in niche and they have 10 years worth of authority 10 years worth link building it is hard to compete.

New sites in low comp niches yes it can be done. Also PR is not a metric I would follow to a huge degree any more, sure it holds some merit yet look at other quality scores such as SEOmoz domain authority for example.

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