Buying Expired Domain Names

[bhartzer]

If you have a brand new domain (i.e., you just registered it and it's "create date" is very new), then you'll want to buy an expired domain that has some history behind it...and a create date that's at least one year old. Redirecting an old expired domain will give your brand new domain a lot of benefits, especially when it comes to search engine rankings.

How do I find a quality expired domain?

There are several ways to do it, and I actually like the free service called Fresh Drop. You can search through the various auction listings like Godaddy's auctions and others. Sorting is pretty easy, I personally like to pick up domains that have .GOV backlinks (you can sort the domains and see which ones have .GOV links) and I also like to pick up domains that are currently in the Yahoo Directory (can help you save the $299 submission/review fee if you redirect the domain to your current domain).

If you find a domain that's not necessarily the "best sounding domain" or if it's not a keyword rich domain then using a 301 redirect from the expired domain you buy to your new or current domain will help with traffic and rankings.

Or what about looking for former "real estate" related sites that expired..but they have history, traffic, and backlinks (and PR, etc.). Searching for former real estate-related domains is an option, as well, can work to help increase traffic, backlinks, and rankings. Keyword searches through the drop catching services and other sites that list expired domain names can certainly reveal some great domain names that you can either use to set up a new site or simply redirect to your current site.

Have you tried buying expired domain names and redirecting them (with a 301 Permanent Redirect, of course!) to your current site?

[Nashvegas]

I use Pool.com and have had great success with them actually grabbing the domain in a competitive situation.

[Branson Realty]

@bhartzer Are you saying that even though the site has been interrupted, the content removed, it still pases authority and trust if you re-register it?

[AnnAnderson1015]

Thanks for the info on Fresh Drop.

How do you sort the domains inside of godaddy? I am tried of looking thru list after list. How can you tell if a domain has .gov backlinks without using like yahoo site and looking at the list?

[bhartzer]

Are you saying that even though the site has been interrupted, the content removed, it still pases authority and trust if you re-register it?

Yes, yes, and yes. As long as you use a 301 Permanent Redirect and redirect the content (or everything on the other domain) to your domain name or to your content, then yes: it still passes authority, PageRank (if that's important to you).

There are, though, situations where it won't necessarily pass those factors to the new domain (when a domain gets to "pending delete" status). But, in the case of domain names that have not been renewed by their previous owner at Godaddy, they don't let a domain go "pending delete", they sell the domain to the highest bidder, which means a great opportunity.

As for finding those domains, FreshDrop is a great help in that they sort through the domains and let you actually find something of value.

[bhartzer]

I use Pool.com and have had great success with them

Pool is a great drop catcher, if in fact you need to grab a domain that drops. There are a lot of registrars, and Pool only can grab domains from certain registrars.

[Philman]

While I do agree this is a smart route to take when it comes to getting new domains, you really need to be careful and do thorough research. Believe it or not, people can artificially inflate their Google PR to a false number and make it look believable to unsuspecting users. Stuff like this has been known to happen quite a bit on sites like eBay.

Just make sure to do the proper research and used unbiased, third-party tools to help determine whether or not buying a used domain name is worth it.

Oh yeah, and as a side note, I would never ever ever ever ever buy a used .info domain name. Their dirt cheap (even if they are new) and are known to be used most often by spammers. Buy one of these domains used and your chances are much higher of buying a banned domain name versus conventional ones like the .coms or the .nets.

[Nashvegas]

I look at buying domains just like buying real estate, there are 20 or so factors that make a great domain and all must be considered and weighed just like buying a house. The URL itself, age, previous usage, natural search terms, any leftover incoming links, etc, etc... I do want you to consider this, don't just look at domains that are dropping, also look at live sites and consider making an offer to the current owner. I have picked up 6 domains in this manner and actually flipped 2 of them for a nice profit (both with partners).

[bhartzer]

inflate their Google PR to a false number

While that's true, PR can be easily faked (all you have to do is wait for a Google PR update, redirect your site to a site with a higher PR, and site and wait...then un-redirect the site when Google updates the public PR value again), I would not consider PR whatsoever when buying a domain name.

[AugustaREGroup]

As far as expired domains go... the only real benefit is links, correct? previous content, page rank, etc. is all lost when the domain expires... or no?