10 Things to Consider Before Buying Your First Expired Domain

Are you planning to buy an expired domain? Did someone tell you about the golden opportunity of buying a soon-to-be expired domain? Or perhaps, you wish to buy an expired domain to work around its technicalities.

An expired domain name is a domain name that wasn't renewed within the 30-day extension period. Often the buyers get a domain name for 10-15 years on lease. Often third-party sites renew the domain name automatically on their behalf of them. Yet, sometimes after the expiration period, the buyer forgets to renew or chooses voluntarily in case s/he doesn't want to pursue further.

Now, many people wish to monetize the efforts that the previous buyer might have put into the website. For instance, a person might run a tech blog for 2 years and then shut it down. Another tech blogger could pick this up and use it to strengthen its backlink and build authority.

Well, people buy domains majorly for two reasons: self-use or resell. Let us first understand why people invest in expired domains and then look at things to consider before purchasing an expired domain.

Why Should You Buy an Expired Domain?
What to Look for When Buying an Expired Domain?

• Website Quality
• Backlink Analysis
• Brandability
• Google Adsense Ban
• Facebook Ban
• Manual Penalties
• Google Indexing
• Trademarks
• Number of Drops
• Identical IP Address

Why Should You Buy an Expired Domain?

An expired domain can offer two major benefits: authority and backlinks. A website with relevance (related to your niche) can either act as a great source to pass on link authority or can be used again with refurnishing.

1. Authority- A website backlink needs to be assessed on the quantity and quality of backlinks. Are the backlinks coming from relevant sites? You don't want Harvard to point at your eCommerce store site. Relevancy is the key when it comes to authority passing. One could simply use redirect 301 to pass this authority from the old to the new site.
2. Resale- Another way to leverage an expired domain is to purchase and flip it at a higher rate. However, you need to analyze the sites with the value worth flipping for big bucks. Often, dedicated bookies are looking for such sites.
3. Rebuilding- One could rebuild the same site from where its previous owner left it. However, this again requires checking the relevancy to the niche and category of content you are catering to. Often, people look for the expired domain in the desired niche to get a better start on their website.

Even though an expired domain can be useful in multiple ways, not all of them are equally beneficial. You need to closely examine these domains for any penalty and other technical aspects. Let us look at a small checklist for buying an expired domain.

What to Look for When Buying an Expired Domain?

Buying an expired domain needs a proper background check. You don't want to spend any money on a domain that has penalties, is irrelevant, or has any other unfavourable scenario. Here are 10 things to consider before buying your first expired domain:

Website Quality

The core of website analysis is checking it for any possible spam. You could use Wayback Machine and Majestic SEO for website quality checks.

WayBack Machine helps you look for non-English, plagiarised, and unsafe content. It also highlights the website for any keyword stuffing.

Majestic SEO analyzes the website with an SEO background. It examines the backlinks to give insights into spam anchors and irrelevant backlinks. It highlights the site DA (domain authority), which is crucial if you plan to rebuild the same site.

Backlink Analysis

Backlink analysis of a website is crucial to understand the expired domain’s health. You don't want irrelevant and spammy backlinks pointing at your site.

For instance, if you are running a site related to marketing tools, you would want authority passed from other related niche websites, not some tech blog.

Brandability

Check the expired domain name for the brand's ability. You don't want a name with a negative image or something already known for another business. For instance, you wouldn't buy the domain name Shoppifi because of the similarity to the eCommerce store Shopify. Brandability can be subjective and you need to look for it depending on your requirements.

Google Adsense Ban

The main aim of running a blog or a website for many people is to earn through Google Adsense. What if the domain that you purchased is banned? Some domain names are often banned by Google Adsense due to penalties or other mishappenings.

You could use Adsense SandBox to check if your desired domain is banned by any chance. You wouldn't buy such a domain name cause getting the ban removed is a lot of hassle and might take a considerable amount of time.

Facebook Ban

Ads aren't restricted to Google Adsense. A website can run ads on Facebook to get traffic and grow. But often some sites are restricted or banned on Facebook as well. Check the ban of similar kinds on other social media platforms if you wish to work cross-platform.

Manual Penalties

Apart from the Google Adsense ban, an expired domain could also have manual penalties. You could simply use Google Search Console to check for manual penalties on your domain name. It would take a few minutes only to identify if any.

After this, you could put a request for reconsideration of these penalties under the heading "newly acquired domain". It allows you to get the domain name reconsidered and get any penalties removed.

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Google Indexing

Google indexing is the mechanism where Google reads and analyzes your data to show on the search engine. It is only when your content is indexed that it ranks.

Oftentimes, Google doesn't index certain websites due to certain penalties. You could easily identify these penalties by running a test to see if Google indexed your site.

Just type in the name of your domain name with the prefix "site:". If some pages appear, it means Google is indexing the site and if not, then there are penalties and your domain name might never rank.

Trademarks

Often the old owner drops the site due to trademark infringement. A simple search on the US trademark search engine will let you know if the domain has any trademark infringements. These can negatively impact your site by leading to multiple penalties.

Number Of Drops

Drops refer to the number the times the site has not been renewed by the owner. It is advisable to not buy domains that have been dropped more than 5 times. This means that the site has some internal penalties or infringement issues. Use domain tools to check how many times a domain has expired or been repurchased.

Identical IP Address

The IP address of a domain is like the address of the website on the internet. Every website has to have a unique IP address. Check the expired domain name for an identical IP address. You might need to redirect the site to a new IP address altogether to ensure smooth functioning.

Once you get a green signal after all these tests and checking these elements, you can be reassured to buy a worthy expired domain. They ensure that the site actually serves value and doesn't have technical drawbacks.

Conclusion

Buying expired domains is more like an art and a work in itself. But it comes with SEO benefits worth the effort. Spending 3-4 hours checking a website's credibility can serve to be fruitful.

You can easily buy expired domains on Freshdrop, DomCop, Expired Domains, Moonsy, NameJet, and many other sites. Some of them are free while some are paid. You can choose the desired tool, that caters to your needs.

FAQs

What should I consider before buying an expired domain?

Things to consider before buying an expired domain include:

• Website Quality
• Backlink Analysis
• Brandability
• Google Adsense Ban
• Manual Penalties
• Google Indexing

How can I check if a website is banned?

You can use Adsense SandBox to check if your desired domain is banned by any chance.

Can I check if a domain name has a manual penalty?

Yes, you could simply use Google Search Console to check for manual penalties on your domain name. It would take a few minutes to identify if any.

Why should I buy an expired domain?

An expired domain can offer two major benefits: authority and backlinks. A website with relevance can either act as a great source to pass on link authority or can be used again with refurnishing.