When you’re buying an expired domain, it’s like picking up a used car. You might get a great deal, but there are things you need to check under the hood. Here are three key points to consider to ensure you’re making a smart investment.
1. The Branding Factor
Imagine you’re running a teddy bear business, and you find a domain like Teddybears.com for sale. Sounds perfect, right? But wait—what if that domain used to belong to a different company entirely?
Why Branding Matters
Branding is crucial. A domain that’s closely aligned with your business can boost your online presence and credibility by search engines. However, if the domain has a past life selling unrelated products like Viagra or cryptocurrency, it might not fit your brand’s image.
Action Step: Use tools like the Wayback Machine to see what the domain used to host. This will give you a clear picture of its history and help you decide if it’s a good fit for your brand.
2. Costs: Upfront and Hidden
Domains can be expensive. When I tried to buy SEOButton.com, it was priced at $5,000, so I added “The” and got TheSEOButton.com for $8.
Understanding the Financial Impact
Besides the purchase price, consider potential costs like domain registration and transfers. Also, think about whether the domain has existing inbound links or requires a lot of SEO work. These factors can significantly affect your budget.
Action Step: Use tools like Ahrefs to check the domain’s current state. Look at keywords it ranks for, domain authority, and backlinks to understand its true value.
3. SEO Considerations
SEO is where the rubber meets the road. An expired domain might have built-in advantages, like existing traffic and backlinks. However, it could also have potential issues like penalties from search engines.
Checking SEO Health
First, see if the domain is indexed and what kind of pages are live. Check for penalties using Google Search Console. Analyze the backlink profile to ensure they’re quality backlinks from reputable sites, not spammy ones.
Action Step: Use SEO tools like Ahrefs and Moz to scrutinize the domain’s SEO metrics, including domain authority, trust flow, and organic traffic. Ensure it aligns with your business’s SEO strategy.
Conclusion
Buying an expired domain can be a valuable asset for boosting your online presence. However, it’s essential to do your homework. Check its branding history, consider all costs, and thoroughly assess its SEO health. With careful evaluation, you can find a domain that propels your business forward without wasting money on a problematic URL.
Watch the Video: For a deeper dive into this topic, check out my YouTube video below where I discuss these points in more detail.