Is It Worth Buying Expired Domains?

Nothing expired is usually a good sign unless we are talking about expired domain names. If the domain owner fails to pay for the registration after 30 days, it goes into a hold period for another 30 days. After the 60 days, the domain is available for auction. 

Now, suppose you see a domain that aligns with your industry. Should you go for it? There are several factors that affect the potential of domains. But before we get into that, let's review the merits and demerits of aged domains. 

Advantages of Expired Domains 

First, it is good to note that not all expired domain names are a sweet deal. But hey, when you find the right one, it can have the following advantages over a brand-new domain name.

Aged Domain Authority 

When it comes to domain names, age is not just a number. Older domains have established some trust that may be lacking in a new domain name. A domain's reputation affects not only ranking but also email deliverability. 

In instances where you have checked the domain age, what was the intention? Most likely, it was to establish whether a website is trustworthy. When you see that a domain was registered like 10 years ago, it gives you confidence. 

Link Juice Transfer 

A backlink is seen as a vouch for your website by another in search engines. Google and other browsers give websites with a strong backlink profile an upper hand in ranking. You can buy an expired domain name with quality backlinks to transfer the link juice to another domain through 301 redirects. The strategy is even more effective when the domain has traffic and aligns with your website's content and niche. 

But this strategy requires caution because your site could end up in Google sandbox. This is a Google filter algorithm that holds sites from ranking on the first page if they are new or have suspicious activities. Before the sandbox introduction, you could pick any domain name and redirect the traffic to your site without repercussions. 

Good Resale Value 

Expired domain names tend to cost more than new ones. If you are a domain flipper, you can consider aged domains for resale. First, buy an expired domain in an auction. After that, you can build its authority by getting quality backlinks. 

Another option is to create a website and build the domain's authority through SEO. This includes adding content to the site and obtaining high-quality backlinks from reputable sources. While this strategy requires more time and effort, you can get a domain for tens of dollars and sell it for thousands. 

Established Audience 

Some expired domains have established traffic, especially if they have been active for long. Traffic means potential revenue from the domain, making it attractive if you can tap into the traffic. But such domain names usually come with premium or even exaggerated prices, so you should appraise the domain before purchasing it. 

Readily Available 

With thousands of domain names expiring daily, you can't miss one that fits your requirements. Apart from that, there are numerous platforms you can use to get expired domains. However, it will only be fair to mention that competition is usually high for quality dropped domains. 

Disadvantages of Expired Domains 

When buying expired domain names, you should keep these disadvantages in mind. 

Risk of Domain Penalties 

A domain name can be penalized for spam content, blackhat SEO, or malicious activities like phishing schemes and distributing malware. But how do you know whether a domain name has pending penalties? 

The primary indicator of a penalized domain name is a negative domain reputation. And there is no better way to establish an expired domain reputation and threat level than using the Bishopi home page widget. All you have to do is to insert the domain and get essential metrics like reputation and threat level.  

Traffic Hike through Bots 

A recent report by Imperva Bad Bot revealed that almost half of the Internet traffic comes from bots. If these stats are anything to go by, most websites don't have real traffic. If you get into the trap, you will likely see numbers in Google Analytics and other tools, but they have no real value. 

This begs the question: how can you identify bot traffic? For an active site, you can use Google Analytics metrics. If most site visits have a 100% bounce rate and 00:00:00 view duration, that is a red flag. 

Expired Domains Can Be Expensive 

Compared to new domains, most expired domain names are more costly. The price difference can be associated with the domains' potential traffic, backlinks, and trust. However, not all dropped domain names have high authority or good backlink profiles. So, you should evaluate these metrics before registering the domain. 

Negative Backlink Profile 

Another issue with expired domains is spammy backlinks. When looking for an expired domain for sale, check whether it has irrelevant, forced, or artificial backlinks. The links not only affect a website's ranking but could also lead to penalties. 

Intense Competition for Good Domains 

Like a pack of hungry wolves waiting to pounce on a juicy bone, that is the kind of competition for quality domains in auctions. The high competition could lead to prices that don't reflect the actual value of the domain name. Apart from that, you could end up with a low-value domain name because of the perceived potential arising from the competition. 

Is It Worth Buying Expired Domains? 

Considering the advantages and disadvantages, you can only determine whether buying an expired domain name is worth it after evaluating different metrics. The most essential measures of a domain value include: 

• Spam score 
• Reputation score 
• Backlink profile 
• Age 
• Traffic 

Before making any purchase decision, you should ensure the domain name has appealing metrics. And just like finding a hidden treasure in a sea of digital chaos, choosing the right expired domain requires a keen eye. That said, let's look at some factors that you should consider. 

Factors to Consider When Buying Expired Domains 

Purchasing an expired domain name for resale or a website can be a good idea, but only after considering these factors. 

Backlink Profile 

You can use a backlink checker to assess the quality of links pointing to the domain name. Be on the lookout for spammy, irrelevant, and duplicate backlinks. Apart from that, if you notice keyword stuffing for links in previous sites hosted by the domain, you should avoid it. 

Unnatural backlinks, like from non-English sites, also indicate a domain name has a questionable reputation, potentially harming its credibility and search engine rankings.  

You can use tools like Majestic and Ahrefs to get all the backlinks pointing to a domain. If a domain name has few spammy links, you can disavow them after acquisition. But if they are too many, you should avoid it. 

Domain History 

Understanding how a domain was used previously is essential. You can use Wayback Machine to access archived snapshots of the website over time. This allows you to explore its historical content, design, and purpose. The tool provides essential insights that can help uncover any unethical activities associated with the expired domain before buying it. 

WHOIS history is another tool you can use to access crucial information like past domain owners and DNS changes. This is an essential check to avoid domains involved in scams, phishing, or hacking. 

Trademark 

Past owners can drop a domain owing to the legal implications of trademark violation. Some common types of domain names trademark infringement you should check include the following: 

• Cybersquatting: Registering a trademark as a domain name and diverting traffic from the trademark owner. 
• Typosquatting: Registering a domain name with a slight variation from a popular trademark. For instance, registering niike.com to deceive users and potentially divert traffic to your website for malicious or deceptive purposes. 

You can check whether a domain has trademark issues by browsing through the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). The database provides a comprehensive search platform, allowing users to verify existing trademarks and assess potential conflicts with the domain name. 

Social Media Bans 

Some expired domains may be banned on social media platforms due to violation of community guidelines or terms of service. Because most communication happens through emails, getting information about such bans may be challenging. However, you can do a simple keyword or domain search on social media to check whether there are any complaints. These can be a reliable indicator of potential bans or penalties on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms. 

Indexing 

If a domain has some indexed pages, it is a good indicator of past value and potential for SEO benefit. However, this is only available for sites that expired recently. After expiration, Google usually removes the indexed pages from search results. 

You can check whether a domain name was previously indexed by searching on Google using the "site:" operator followed by the domain name. For example, entering "site:example.com" in the Google search bar will display indexed pages from the domain "example.com." Psst, Bishopi also offers a range of advanced SERP operators as an API.

Domain Age 

How old is the domain? This is an essential question when buying an expired domain name. Older domain names tend to have higher authority scores, which means credibility and trust from search engines and web users. 

Domain age is an essential factor in email deliverability. So, if you are considering a domain name for cold emails, check its age. Email service providers consider the domain's age to determine an email address's reputation. 

Domain Traffic 

When a domain name has significant traffic, it has some ranking benefits. It also shows that the domain name is in high demand. However, you should ascertain that the traffic is from real people, not bots. 

Traffic is especially important if you want to create a website for guest posting. You will likely get more requests if the domain name has considerable traffic. This also makes improving your site performance and number of site visitors easier. 

Where to Buy Expired Domains 

After understanding the merits, demerits, and factors to consider when buying aged domains, the next question is where to get them. 

Bishopi 

Of course, we have to vouch for our platform, and we have some good reasons to back it up. Bishopi stands out because it is an all-in-one platform for domain investors. Apart from getting thousands of dropped domains, we also provide the tools you need to make purchase decisions. 

Bishopi's Fresh drops also updates the database as domain names expire. This gives you an edge when high-value domains expire. The high competition means you need a tool that can help you snap a domain in minutes, if not seconds.  

Namecheap Marketplace 

Namecheap offers domain auction, registration, and hosting services. This is a good platform if you are considering buying an expired domain for your business. The platform also provides the most recent domain extensions. They also offer regular discounts, which can help you get domains at a lower price. 

ExpiredDomains.net 

This platform specializes in expired and deleted domain names. The site supports over 500 TLDs. This makes it ideal if you are looking for a platform that lists different versions of the same domain name. The home dashboard also helps you identify which domain name extensions are available. The only downside is that the site provides millions of domains, making it challenging to filter quality names from the huge database. 

Flippa 

Although this is a paid platform, it is a good place to get domain names. The site also offers a marketplace to sell your domains. So, you can buy expired domain names to sell them at a profit on the same platform. 

Conclusion 

In summary, the merits of expired domain names include age authority, link juice, good resale value, established traffic, and ready availability. The downsides include penalty risks, bot traffic potential, high cost, harmful backlinks, and high competition for quality domains. 

When buying an aged domain name, you should consider its age, traffic, indexing, and backlink profile. You should also check whether it has social media penalties or trademark violations.  

If you want to assess whether an expired domain is worth buying, Bishopi is your go-to. Not only do you get all the metrics you need to make an informed decision, but you also get domains as they expire. Take advantage of all these features now. 

FAQs 

Can you use an expired domain to improve authority? 

You can use an expired domain to improve domain authority. However, you should ensure the expired domain has a good backlink profile. Apart from that, check whether the site has any penalties due to malicious activities. Lastly, the domain should be relevant to your niche. 

Is buying irrelevant expired domains and redirecting to a site problematic for link building? 

It is not advisable to redirect irrelevant traffic or link juice to your site. Although you can see an increase in traffic for a few days after the 301 redirect, the risks outweigh the benefits. The risk of manual Google penalties means your site could be flagged as low-quality or lacking in credibility.