By George Pickering, LocalExperts.com

One of the keys to Google search results, is filtering legitimate web sites from sites that offer nothing to Google users. Most spammers register thousands of domain names and put up boilerplate content with little value added to the user’s knowledge. In their attempt to discern useful sites from copycat sites, Google relies on several factors including time a user spends on the site, bounce (does the user bail immediately after landing on the home page), and back links from other legitimate site owners.

In addition to usability metrics, Google also looks at the domain expiration date. Legitimate businesses tend to register their domains for 10 or more years, to prevent accidental deletion of the domain from their account. People who are trying to spam Google, typically register their domains for a single year. This allows those site operators to determine which domains get traffic and drop the domains that don’t make money.

If you are a small business owner, I would recommend you that your domain name is registered til at least 2013 (or beyond). This is an easy way to send a signal to Google that your company is real, provides value, and is not going away anytime in the near future.