Domain age
Paste a domain name. We give its creation date according to the registry, and its first appearance online according to the Internet Archive: when the two differ, the domain had a life before its current registration.
The two ages of a domain
A domain has two ages, and they do not tell the same story.
| The age | Where it comes from | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative | the registry creation date (WHOIS) | since when the CURRENT owner has registered the name |
| Online | the first Internet Archive capture | since when a site has existed under this name, whoever owned it |
When a domain expires and is bought again, the creation date starts from zero: a name online since 2004 can show "created in 2023". That is what someone buying a second-hand domain wants to know: its link history may have been built by someone else, for another topic.
Does age matter for SEO?
Not directly: Google has said several times that domain age is not a ranking factor. What matters is what builds up over time: links received, content, trust. An old domain without links is worth less than a recent, well-cited one.
What this tool does not do
- It gives no creation date for extensions whose registry does not publish it (this is the case for .de, for example).
- The Internet Archive has not archived everything: a small site can exist for years before its first capture.
- It does not say who owned the domain before: only the change of hands, when we saw it ourselves.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the creation date more recent than the site?
Because the domain expired and was then bought again: the registry erases the old creation date and writes a new one. The Internet Archive keeps the memory of the previous site.
Does an old domain rank better?
No, not because of its age. Google does not use it as a factor. An old domain has often built up links and content, and that is what counts, not the date.
How can I find out who owned a domain before?
Historical WHOIS records are not public, and the GDPR now hides the identity of individuals. The Internet Archive shows what the site published, which is often enough to understand its history.
The other tools
Is this site down?
Does the site answer, from our server and from another connection? With the cause when it does not.
What CMS is this site using?
The CMS, the shop, the WordPress theme and the tools a page gives away, with the proof for each.
Who is hosting this website?
Who hosts the pages, who runs the DNS and who handles the email, without mixing them up.
Do not let your own domain expire
A domain that expires takes the site and the email down on the same day. Expansel watches your domains' expiry and warns you in advance.