The question at a WebmasterWorld forum is does registering your domain name for 10 years, instead of one year, help you rank better in Google?
Reading the thread, it appears that most senior members in the thread, feel that it does help.
Here are the arguments to register your domain name for an extended period of time:
(1) Shows the search engine that you are here to stay (2) Google has a patent application that looks at this data (doesn't mean they use it) (3) Secures your domain for an extended period of time (4) Lower price per year if you register over an extended period
Seriously, anyone who is serious about their domain would not flinch at making the small investment of registering for an extended period of time. There is honestly, not that much to lose. There is a lot of back and forth in the forums about why people should not, but I personally disagree with all the arguments. So it costs an extra $30 to transfer the name to a new registrar, it is not the end of the world.
I am off to see when my domains expire, of course I have them set to auto renew, but at what yearly renewal schedule? :)
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Update: It seems Google has gone on the record saying domain registration length does not impact rankings.
