Should I Buy This Domain?

grazie

grazie

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Jan 9, 2010
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Was researching a few keywords in a "certain" vertical, when checking the competition on a high volume keyword I noticed an expired domain in the SERPS. It is being offered pre-bid on Namejet for starting bid of $69.

1. It's in a damn good converting niche
2. Homepage has PR of n/a, however I believe it's due to some recent G
update when it expired, because lots of subpages have PR 1-2.
3. It has fairly decent backlinks pointing to it (from what I can tell)
4. Its #4 in the SERPS for a pretty good keyword


Now, I don't know the first damn thing about buying expired domain names. For example; since I will be moving hosting over to my server, won't those indexed pages become obsolete? Will the PR remain the same? I feel like this could be a good buy, but not sure how this whole process works when you buy an expired domain.
 


You can forget about #2 and #3 since it was an expired domain...you're starting at zero.

Sometimes you're able to grab the old files names off of google before they de-index. I typically use the same format for example if the site used an about page and it was named aboutus.html I try to stick to the same format with my new website. That way google doesn't have to rediscover the page/filename again (except the content) and imo saves sometime compared to renaming everything.

Do an exact match search for your keyword to see how much traffic is available. Sometimes you think you have a good keyword and after a little exact match research you find out you're getting like 50 people a month...lame.

I prefer dropped domains myself instead of the whole auction setup.
 
Yep, its exact match in a "good vertical". Decent volume around 4,000 EMS (exact match searches)
 
Won't I lose all of the PR and shit? I'll basically have to start all over again, no?
 
grazie said:
Also, the domain was registered in 2000....will that change once I get it?
Click to expand...


With this type of thing what you do is make a whois listing just the same as the existing domain, that way it looks just the same.

PR typically comes back after a few months, but only if the juicy backlinks are still in place. In the end its your call though.
 
I only buy domain names for the name. From my own experience, brand new never-registered-before domain names take the same investment (mostly time) to rank as old domain names once Google sees that the old domain name is clearly under new ownership with new content and structure.

If there is a difference, it certainly hasn't been congruent with the amount of hype I see around here for old domain names.
 
On expired domains, Matt said Google tries to reset pagerank/links for all expired domains to zero when they are registered by someone new. They don’t try to penalize the expired domain, but they also don’t want to give credit for the previous owner’s links.

(Referencing a domain roundtable conference in 08)
Matt Cutts Does Domain Roundtable | SEO.com


Here is another:

Buying Expired Domains: Don’t Expect Credit
Have you picked up a domain that was once owned by someone, not through buying it directly from them but because it had expired and went back into the common pool of domains for purchase by anyone? That’s an expired domain – and chances are, the backlinks aren’t going to pass credit according to Matt’s statement.

Do Links From Expired Domains Count With Google?
 
identity_00 said:
On expired domains, Matt said Google tries to reset pagerank/links for all expired domains to zero when they are registered by someone new. They don’t try to penalize the expired domain, but they also don’t want to give credit for the previous owner’s links.

(Referencing a domain roundtable conference in 08)
Matt Cutts Does Domain Roundtable | SEO.com


Here is another:

Buying Expired Domains: Don’t Expect Credit
Have you picked up a domain that was once owned by someone, not through buying it directly from them but because it had expired and went back into the common pool of domains for purchase by anyone? That’s an expired domain – and chances are, the backlinks aren’t going to pass credit according to Matt’s statement.

Do Links From Expired Domains Count With Google?
Click to expand...

Matt Cutts spits a lot of bullshit out of his mouth - his job description is to spread misinformation to stop people from gaming Google. I have had plenty of experience buying dropped and expired domains and I can tell you that sometimes they catch it and sometimes they don't (mostly they don't). I always throw content up on it immediately and 301 the old pages.

I have had some sites keep their PR permanently (Pr 6 and lower) and have only minor movement in SERP's, and I have also had one particularly bad experience where I paid about a grand for a domain that got blacklisted unofficially and nothing I did could fix it. Sometimes they keep their pagerank, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they keep their SERP's, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they keep their domain age, and sometimes they don't. Google is not as smart as everyone seems to think when ti comes to this type of shit.

For $69 you're a fool not to try because you can sell even a shitty site with no PR for that.
 
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Unarmed Gunman said:
Matt Cutts spits a lot of bullshit out of his mouth - his job description is to spread misinformation to stop people from gaming Google. I have had plenty of experience buying dropped and expired domains and I can tell you that sometimes they catch it and sometimes they don't (mostly they don't). I always throw content up on it immediately and 301 the old pages.

I have had some sites keep their PR permanently (Pr 6 and lower) and have only minor movement in SERP's, and I have also had one particularly bad experience where I paid about a grand for a domain that got blacklisted unofficially and nothing I did could fix it. Sometimes they keep their pagerank, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they keep their SERP's, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they keep their domain age, and sometimes they don't. Google is not as smart as everyone seems to think when ti comes to this type of shit.

For $69 you're a fool not to try because you can sell even a shitty site with no PR for that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Unarmed Gunman - I was thinking something along the same line as this, but wasn't 100% sure. Now, I'm getting my ass back over to Namejet :-)
 
What Gunman Said. I have bought a bunch of expired domains from Godaddy after markets, namejet and another. Some works and some don't... Domains that I buy from other drop catchers/domainers have always worked better statistically, but even there, some work and some don't. And repeating the other 69 is a steal. Also my favorite position.
 
Copy the whois, host and content using google cache and archive.org, or will come back after a few months if the backlinks remain in tact, google removes or in anticipation that webmasters will remove backlink when the new owner cones in and resets everything, content, structure, design etc. Look through backlink data as well to find out which urls you need to retain/rebuild
 
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TigerUK said:
Copy the whois, host and content using google cache and archive.org, or will come back after a few months if the backlinks remain in tact, google removes or in anticipation that webmasters will remove backlink when the new owner cones in and resets everything, content, structure, design etc. Look through backlink data as well to find out which urls you need to retain/rebuild
Click to expand...


Thanks TigerDirect - working on this as we speak. Hopefully everything will be aight. And if not, it was a risk well worth taking and I'll definitely learn something from it.
 
You need to make good efforts to boost your site even though using old domains. If Google realized tha fact, then they will allow zero credibility and that causes to start process from its begin.
 
Its better to start with a new one as its needed to make same efforts to promote your site in the old one.
 
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