If you run a small business or blog, you already know about expired domain names. You might even have several domains registered under different extensions like.com,.net,.org, etc. But did you ever think about buying premium expired domains? If you haven’t heard about it, there is no better time than now to start looking into this option. Why do people buy expired domains? Because they work just as well as brandable domains. They’re often easier to remember and use. And besides, you don’t have to pay anything upfront. All you need to do is find a good deal and make sure you register the domain name within 30 days.
Here are Some Things to Consider When Choosing a Domain Name for Your Site:
- Branding – Is it easy to spell out your business name? Do you have a catchy slogan or tagline? Does it sound professional? Can you quickly add keywords to it?
- Availability – Will the domain name be available soon enough? Are there any restrictions on registering it? What happens if someone else registers it first?
- Cost – How much does it cost to register a domain name? Is it worth paying extra for premium extensions?
- Location – Where will you put the domain name? Is it close to your target audience?
- Search Engine Optimization – What words come up most frequently when searching for your expired domain name? These are essential factors when choosing a perfect domain name for your site. So take your time and look around. There are plenty of options out there.
What Metrics to Consider While Buying Expired Domains
The most common question I receive about buying an expired premium domain is what metrics I use to determine the value of a domain.
- Domain Expiration
One metric that often gets overlooked is the domain name’s expiration date.
So why does a domain’s expiration date matter? Let’s say you want to purchase a .com domain name. You check out some of the best names available and decide that you like the idea behind the expired domains. So you start looking around for a seller. After researching, you find a few sites selling.com domains for $$$ each. One of those sites sells a domain called .edu for $$.
Now you start thinking about buying the.edu domain because you know it will bring in more money. But wait…the.edu domain expired months ago. What happens next? Someone else buys the domain and starts charging $$ per month for access to their email accounts.
This is just one example of how expiration dates play a role in finding expired domains for sale. There is a possibility that you end up paying way four more than you expected simply because
1. you didn’t
2. take
3. the time
4. to consider the expiration date of the desired domain name.
- Existing Backlinks
Existing backlinks carry the same weight as brand-new ones. If you want to increase the value of your site, it makes sense to focus on building up your current link profile. If you’re looking to buy an expired premium domain, there’s no better way to do it than buying one that already has some backlinks. You’ll see a big boost in traffic and sales just because buyers think the domain name is “already popular.” There’s a vast difference between owning 10,000 backlinks versus 20,000 backlinks, but both numbers add something significant.
- Existing Traffic
Existing traffic is a good sign, mainly since most new websites don’t rank well initially, and many never do. But there are exceptions. Some sites start with a lot of traffic but then lose over time. This happens because people stop coming to the site or move on to another one. So, while you might think that having lots of traffic is great, it isn’t always.
This is why it’s essential to keep track of how many visitors you’re getting every day, week, month, etc., and what percentage of those visits come from repeat sources. You’ll want to know whether you’re growing or shrinking and where your most significant growth areas lie. If you see that your traffic is declining, you’ll want to figure out why.
Is it something you did, or is it just part of the natural ebb and flow? Either way, you’ll want to ensure that you don’t miss out on potential opportunities because you weren’t paying attention.
- Domain Age
Many people think domain age matters, but it doesn’t matter much anymore. There are some things you might want to consider buying older domains for, like trustworthiness and reliability. Buying a premium expired domain is that search engines prefer older domains over newer ones. This is because expired domains tend to be more “trustworthy, ” meaning they’re more likely to be legitimate sites. If you buy a domain that’s been around for a while, it’ll be more credible than one that just came online yesterday.
Another reason search engines prefer older expired domains is that they believe expired domains are more reliable. They’ve seen many changes over the years, and they know what works and doesn’t. As a result, they’re less likely to make mistakes when crawling and indexing those domains.
- Previous Content
An internet archive is an excellent tool for finding out what happened before your existing site. If you struggle to figure out why your traffic is down, it might be because someone else took over your domain name. You can use the internet archive to see what happened before your current website. To find out how many people linked directly to the old site, try searching for the URL of the old site. This will show you where the link points. Then make sure that all of those links go to something new.
Domain move on to something else. If you’re interested in purchasing premium-aged domains, it’s essential to know what happened before they went offline. An excellent place to start is the WHOIS database. You’ll see a lot of helpful information there, including the expiration date, the registrar, and contact info. WHOIS records also include ownership history. For example, if someone bought a domain name from another person, they might list that information here. In addition, many domain names expire without ever being registered. These “orphaned” domains don’t appear in the WHOIS database, but they still exist. They’re owned by whoever initially registered them.
What are the Benefits of Buying Expired Domains
There are many kinds of buyers of expired domains. Some buy them because they want to make money off of them. Others buy them because they want the domain name itself. And others buy them simply because it makes sense. Domain flipping is one way people buy expired domains. In this case, someone buys the domain name itself. They might use it for a different purpose, such as creating a portfolio site or starting a blog. Or, they might flip it for profit.
- You Get More Value
When you buy an expired domain, you usually get more value than if you bought the same domain name today. Why? Because most New/ Fresh domains don’t rank well anymore. But if you buy an expired domain now, you can still improve upon it and get it ranked better. This gives you more value overall. As Expired Domains already consist of some ranking.
- Build an Authority Site
You might consider buying an expired domain instead of a new one if you’re considering starting a new blog or site. Building up authority for a newly expired domain will take more time and effort. A newly registered domain will require you to create new content and backlinks, and its domain age authority will take time to build. An expired domain can be leveraged immediately for SEO, so you’ll be able to rank faster immediately.
- Sell It For Profit
Expired domains are also purchased to sell them. Buying a premium expired domain through an auction is the first step in this process, which some people make a living doing. It’s also known as domain flipping. By building backlinks to it, you will maintain its SEO value. In addition, it increases in value as time passes (the age of a domain matters too). Later, you can resell it to make more money.
Here are three tips to help you find good ones.
- Quality Backlinks
Links from authoritative sites carry more weight than links from lower authority sites. High-quality backlinks are defined as those that come from high domain authority sites. This includes sites like Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, Quora, etc. Low-quality backlinks include spammy links from low-domain authority sites. These links are often purchased cheaply and do little to help you rank well in search engines.
There are many tools out there that allow you to check the quality of your backlink profile. You can use MozBar to see how many backlinks each URL has received. If it has been around long enough, it may show you the exact date it was acquired. You can also use Ahrefs to find out what anchor text is used in your backlinks.
You can also use Majestic to discover which keywords people are linking to your site. This allows you to identify the most popular topics and phrases that lead people to your site. You can then research the best ways to optimize your content for those terms.
- Look At Whois Data
If you aren’t sure how to go about searching for expired domains, one thing you can try is looking at the WHOIS data associated with each domain name. When someone buys a domain, they often register it under their email address. So, if you check the WHOIS information for a specific domain name, you might notice that the owner registered it with his email address. In most cases, the registrant is the person who owns the domain.
- Traffic
The Internet is full of expired domains. Some of them are just random names that no one wants to use anymore, while others are brandable domain names that could generate some serious revenue. But how do you know whether a domain name is worth buying? And if it is, how can you ensure that it generates enough traffic to justify the purchase price?
- DomainTools Historical Data
Another option is to use DomainTools’ historical data tool. This feature allows you to view a snapshot of the stats for a particular domain name over time. You can compare the number of visits, bounce rates, and average session duration. Clicking on each graph gives you more detailed information about the trends.
- Index Status
Expired domains lose link juice over time. If you want to sell a domain name, it is essential to know how much traffic it generates. You can use Google Search Console to check the index status of the expired domains and see what kinds of queries bring visitors to the site.
Best Places To Find Expired Domains For Sale
There are many places where you can find expired domains for sale. But some sites are better suited for finding expired domains than others.
- ExpiredDomains.net: The domain name of hundreds, or rather thousands, of websites expires every day for various reasons. There are two reasons domain owners fail to renew their domains: they forget or don’t want to continue working on them. Expireddomains.net is a one-stop shop for SEOs, PRs, backlinks, and expired domain advocates.
- SEO Domain Names: seodn.com is a brand that has become popular among affiliate marketers, SEO agencies, and individuals. Here, you can find pre-vetted and strong expired domains ready to go. A wide variety of aged and brandable domains powered by high-DR authority backlinks are available for purchase from their inventory.
- NameCheap Domains: There are expired and new domains on NameCheap Domains. Once you have selected the domain of your choice, make an offer, and you are ready to move forward. In addition to the list of available domains, there is also information about the timeframe in which they are closing, the price, and an offer you can propose. It will be easy to choose the domain of your choice once you have an array of information at your fingertips.
- GoDaddy: On GoDaddy, you can see all of the possible expired domain names and several other factors, such as the bids placed already, the market price, traffic, and valuation, along with a box where you can place your bid.