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Learn what is an expired domain and how to use expired domain names for SEO purposes. In this guide, you’ll learn how to find expired domains and buy them.
What Is An Expired Domain?
An expired domain is a domain name that has been registered by an individual, business, or organization but is no longer active. Domains can expire for a variety of reasons, but the most common reason is that the registrant failed to renew their domain before it expired.
Dropped domains are expired domains that have been deleted by the registry.
Reasons registrant failed to renew their domain before it expired
- They forgot to renew it
- They no longer needed it
- They could no longer afford it
- They decided to use a different domain name
- Registrant passed out
Reasons why domains are dropped:
- The registrant failed to renew their domain before it expired.
- The registrant let their domain expire and it was not renewed by the next registrant in time.
- The domain was deleted by the registry due to expired whois information.
What Can You Use Expired Domains For
Expired domains can be a great source for finding high-quality expired domains for SEO purposes. They can be bought and used for commercial purposes. It’s absolutely safe to buy or sell. However, you should check the terms of use for the expired domain to make sure that you are not violating any copyright or trademark laws.
Expired domain names can provide you with a number of benefits.
Increasing traffic
Expired domains often have high search engine rankings due to previous backlinks. By redirecting traffic from these expired domains to your website, you can increase your website’s traffic.
Improved search engine rankings
Expired domains can help improve your website’s search engine rankings. The expired domain name may have backlinks from high-quality websites, which can give your website a boost in the search engine results pages (SERP).
Brand recognition
Expired domains that are relevant to your business can help improve your brand recognition. If you register an expired domain that is closely related to your business, people searching for your business may be directed to your website.
What happens when domains expire?
When a domain expires, it becomes available for anyone to register. Expired domains can be a great source for finding high-quality expired domains for SEO purposes.
How to check when a domain expires
There are a few ways to check when a domain expires. One way is to use a WHOIS lookup tool. This will give you the contact information for the registrant of the domain, as well as the expiration date.
WHOIS lookup tools list
- DomainTools
- GoDaddy WHOIS search
- Whois.net
Another way to check the expiration date of a domain is to use a web-based expired domain search tool. This type of tool will allow you to search for expired domains by keyword, and it will also provide you with the expiration date of the domain.
Web-based expired domain search tools list
- ExpiredDomains.net
- SnapNames
- NameJet
What is the grace period for domain renewal?
The grace period is the time between when a domain expires and when it is deleted from the registry. The grace period for most domains is 30 days. However, some domains may have a shorter or longer grace period.
What time are domains dropped?
Dropped domains are usually registered for a certain amount of time, often one to two years. After the registration period expires, the domain is no longer active and is open for anyone to register.
The process of finding expired domains can be divided into two parts: finding expired domain names and then registering them.
How to buy an expired domain
You can buy expired domains from domain marketplaces or from the original registrant.
Domain marketplaces list:
- Flippa
- Sedo
- Afternic
- NameJet
When buying expired domains, you should ensure that the domain is not in the possession of the previous owner. And there are no legal issues related to it (copyright claims, DMCA infringement, blacklisted by Google or other authorities, or trademark inquiries). Check carefully the domain’s reputation, such as Spam Score, Page Authority, and Domain Authority.
These domain metrics are provided by services like MOZ. For Bulk Checks of domains, I recommend this website.
Put the expired domain names on the box, hit the captcha, and then the button “Check” (I added active ones).
One of the most important metrics is the “Spam Score” (SS). It illustrates the quality of the domain and how many other domains are linked to it. Higher than 10% is considered as “not quality”. Be aware, that the traffic is not equal to domain authority or the number of backlinks. To see lately dropped domain traffic, go to SimilarWeb (note: they provide statistics only for active domains or lately expired ones).
How much expired domains cost?
The cost of expired domains varies depending on the marketplace, registrar, and the expired domain itself. Expired domains with high search engine rankings and backlinks can be more expensive than expired domains with no traffic or backlinks.
The price of expired domains is impacted by a number of factors, including the domain’s search engine ranking, backlinks, and traffic. Expired domains with high search engine rankings and backlinks can be more expensive than expired domains with no traffic or backlinks. The cost of expired domains also varies depending on the marketplace, registrar, and the expired domain itself. expired domains with popular TLDs, such as .com and .net, can be more expensive than expired domains with less popular TLDs.
How backlink authority is related to expired domain price
The backlink authority of an expired domain is one of the main factors that impact the price. The backlink authority is a measure of the quality and quantity of the backlinks pointing to an expired domain. The higher the backlink authority, the more expensive the expired domain will be.
The expired domain’s backlink authority is determined by a number of factors, including the quality and quantity of the backlinks, the age of the backlinks, the anchor text of the backlinks, and the PageRank of the linking pages.
How traffic is related to expired domain price
The amount of traffic that an expired domain receives is another factor that impacts the price. The more traffic an expired domain has, the more expensive it will be. Traffic can be determined by a number of factors, including the expired domain’s search engine ranking, backlinks, and age.
What is a backorder?
A backorder is an order for a domain that has already expired. When you backorder a domain, you are pre-ordering the domain in case it becomes available for registration.
Backorders list:
- GoDaddy
- NameJet
- SnapNames
When you find an expired domain that you want to register, you can place a backorder with a domain registrar or marketplace. If the domain becomes available for registration, the registrar or marketplace will attempt to register the domain on your behalf.
How to use expired domains?
There are a few ways to use expired domains:
301 redirect
A 301 redirect is a way to forward traffic from one URL to another. When you set up a 301 redirect, traffic from the expired domain will be redirected to the new URL.
Pros:
– Easy to set up
– Can keep the same URL structure
– Redirects all traffic, including backlinks
Cons:
– May lose some PageRank
– Traffic may not be redirected immediately
– May need to set up multiple redirects if there are multiple expired domains
302 redirect
A 302 redirect is a way to forward traffic from one URL to another. Unlike a 301 redirect, a 302 redirect does not pass link equity (PageRank) to the new URL.
Pros:
– Easy to set up
– Can keep the same URL structure
– Redirects all traffic, including backlinks
Cons:
– May lose some PageRank
– Traffic may not be redirected immediately
– May need to set up multiple redirects if there are multiple expired domains
Domain Parking
Domain parking is a way to earn money from expired domains. When you park a domain, you can place ads on the domain and earn money when people click on the ads.
Pros:
- It is Simple to set up
- Can earn money from expired domains
- Redirects all traffic, including backlinks
Cons:
- May lose some PageRank
- Traffic may not be redirected immediately
- May need to set up multiple redirects if there are multiple expired domains
Develop the expired domain
You can also develop the expired domain into a website. This can be a time-consuming and expensive process, but it can be worth it if you are able to develop a high-quality website.
How to recover expired domain content?
If you have expired domain content that you want to recover, you can use the Wayback Machine. The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the web that contains billions of website snapshots.
To use the Wayback Machine, simply enter the URL of the expired domain into the search bar. Then, choose a snapshot from the list of results. The snapshot will show you the content of the expired domain at that time.
You can then use a tool like HTTrack to download the expired domain content. HTTrack is a free and open-source website copier. It can be used to create a local copy of an entire website.
PROS:
Can recover expired domain content fast
CONS:
May not have snapshots for all expired domains. Content may be outdated.
Build out a powerful private blog network (PNB)
A private blog network (PNB) is a collection of websites that are used to build links to a money site. PNBs can be an effective way to build links, but they can also be risky. If your PNB is discovered, it could result in a Google penalty.
Why Google does not like PNBs
Google does not like PNBs because they can be used to manipulate search results. PNBs are often used to build links to low-quality websites in an attempt to improve their rankings.
How to create a PNB?
There are a few steps you need to take in order to create a PNB:
- Find expired domains with high PageRank
- Create content for the expired domain
- Set up a 301 redirect from the expired domain to your money site
- Add the expired domain to your PNB
To avoid a Google penalty, make sure that your PNB does not contain any low-quality websites. In addition, make sure to build links slowly and naturally. Do not try to manipulate the search results by building too many links too quickly.
Only use expired domains from a PNB if you are sure that the PNB will not be discovered.
PROS:
Can be an effective way to build links. Domains may have good authority.
CONS:
May be risky because PNBs can be discovered by Google Algorithms. Also, It’s expensive to find good domains for redirecting.
When should you not use an expired domain?
There are a few situations when you should not use an expired domain. Please avoid buying expired domains if they have a bad reputation. This could affect negatively your main website. If the expired domain is blacklisted, it means that it is on a list of domains that are known for spamming or other malicious activities (that’s why check Spam Score every time!).
If that domain is not indexed in Google and does not show up in search results, then you don’t need it.
How to choose an expired domain?
When you are choosing an expired domain, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, the expired domain should be related to your website. Otherwise will be flagged as spammy by the search engines.
Quality backlinks from trusted sources like huge websites are a must. Also .edu, .gov backlinks should exist in the backlink profile of the expired domain. They’ll be transferred to your main website through 301-redirect. That’s why it’s important!
Look up affordable domains. Don’t start with too expensive, it might not be worth it and this will be just a waste of money.
It’s super if the expired domain leads traffic that could be deed to your website (again with 301 redirects). Ensure that the traffic is not bot traffic.
The domain name expired: how to get it back
If the domain name expired, you can try to get it back by contacting the registrar or the previous owner of the domain. If you are unable to get the domain name back, you can try to register a new domain name that is similar to the expired domain.
You can also try to buy the expired domain from an auction site like GoDaddy Auctions or NameJet.
If you are unable to get the expired domain, you can try to find a new domain name that is similar to the expired domain.
How to register an expired domain
If you want to register an expired domain, you can use a domain registrar such as GoDaddy or Namecheap. You will need to search for the expired domain and then follow the registrar’s instructions for registering the domain.
How to find an expired domain – Step By Step
Step 1: Determine your niche
I recommend you determine your keywords. In my case, I’ll use “nutrition”. It’s related to healthy, eating and more keywords but for the example, I’m going to keep minimalistic, just nutrition. Could be perfect if we find expired domain names with the included keywords themselves.
Step 2: Discover expired domains
Go to ExpiredDomains.net and use the search bar (most likely you have to sign up on the site first). Type your keyword. Today it’s “nutrition”.
Set the filter by clicking on the BL label (Backlinks) – simply click over the red arrow. That will order the expired domains by total backlinks.
Step 3: Analyze the expired domain metrics
It’s crucial to value the name’s extension. Look carefully: we had two co.uk TLDs and also one .fr. If you’re not interested in local SEO (your site is not regional), skip these three on the list. I prefer .com domains as overall.
Then let’s go to semantics. My website is about human nutrition and tips to achieve better eating. But what do I see in the list with expired domains above? WhitesFarmNutrition. Yes, I remove it because of the TLD but if that was .com domain, I had to cut it for sure because it’s not relevant to my niche.
Moving forward to the DP which shows backlinks from different domains. In my opinion, this is more weighty to have backlinks from different domains. Think about: what is better? 2M backlinks from one domain or 10K backlinks from 200 unique domains?
This way, we have to reduce the list OR make new filtering by DP. I promise you, the results will be better.
But now we can note something strange – some domains with DP have no backlinks or they’re less. The cause of this is simple – many backlinks are lost due to domain expiration or deleted web pages and broken links.
The age of the domain is not an SEO factor for ranking but as long is a domain, we can expect more backlinks and authority. Speaking for authority, copy-paste the desired domains from the list and make a bulk check via WSC.
I chose 5 domains for revealing metrics and…
The result is not satisfactory. First, two of the five do not exist in the MOZ records, which could be due to many factors. More importantly, however, 2 of the remaining three have high spam scores. This means that their content was not of good quality or the links to these sites were from suspicious websites. However, the latter seems reliable. I’m talking about NutritionForum. It was registered 21 years ago and has reasonable metrics.
Next, I’ll check NutritionForum on SimilarWeb:
The last must-check is: go to Archive.org. Type the domain name in the search bar. This will show you when the website has been online and what it looked like.
Click on the timeline and then the calendar below will refresh itself. The colored dates are when the WayBack Machine captured the HTML of the website. Just choose a snapshot. Some people reverse the domain content once they bought it, using the HTML structure (Save as a page on Chrome) of the past. They add a link to their main website.
Step 4: Check the history of an expired domain
So you’ve found an expired domain that you’re interested in, but how can you tell if it’s a good investment? One way to check is to look at the domain’s history. This can give you some insight into whether the domain was popular in the past and whether it might be again in the future.
There are a few ways to check the history of a domain. One is to use the Wayback Machine at archive.org. This website takes snapshots of websites over time, so you can see how they looked in the past. Just enter the expired domain’s URL and see what comes up.
Another way to check the history of a domain is to do a WHOIS lookup. WHOIS is a directory of registered domains and their owners. A WHOIS lookup will show you when the domain was first registered, who owns it, and when it expires. You can do a WHOIS lookup for free at whois.net.
Checking the history of an expired domain can give you some valuable insights into whether it’s worth buying. If the domain was popular in the past and has since lapsed, there’s a good chance that it could be popular again in the future.
Conclusion
An expired domain can be a great way to improve your website’s SEO. However, you should be careful when choosing an expired domain. Make sure that the domain is relevant to your website, has a good reputation, and is indexed in Google. If you are unable to get the expired domain, you can try to find a new domain name that is similar to the expired domain.
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