City of Hickory, NC Official Website Reviews

Review

This website has been active for several years, usually a reassuring sign. The longevity of a website often implies legitimacy. However, the age of a website is no absolute safeguard. Scammers sometimes buy existing domain names to initiate their fraudulent operations, making it essential to thoroughly investigate the website's credibility by other signs.

The domain name has been secured for more than a year in advance, which is a positive indicator. Typically, most website owners register their domain annually and renew it each year. However, businesses that commit to a longer-term registration (up to 10 years) demonstrate intentions to sustain their operations over time. On the contrary, many scammers often sell their website names within a few months once their fraudulent activities become widely recognized.

In our analysis, we consistently evaluate the traffic ranking. In this instance, the ranking is low, indicating that the website attracts relatively few visitors. This is expected for new or highly specialized websites. However, if hickorync.gov purports to be a large corporate entity or a popular site and still has a low traffic, this discrepancy should raise red flags.