Search Engine Optimization by Using Expired Domains

There are many experienced SEO practitioners who advise against building websites with new domain names but instead to acquire expired domain names that possess a clean search engine history for better results. These domains are considered to have age as a consequence of which, they usually have backlinks that lend the much-needed authority to the website that can take quite some time to be built up otherwise for a new domain name.

What this essentially means that what was junk for one owner can be a very valuable asset for another. Domains with great authority keep on becoming available as their current owners who may have put in a lot of effort in building up the blog site or website now have run out of steam or may have developed other preoccupations and the site may have been allowed to languish and the domain name permitted to expire.

Understanding the Process of Domain Expiry

When the domain name is current, it is possible for visitors to access the content and perform transactions on it. When the date of expiry comes up the registrar with whom the domain is registered sends a notice to the owner of the domain for renewal, subject to the registrar policies. The domain owner can see the expiry warning on his control panel with which he manages the domain.

If the domain owner does not renew the domain, visitors will see a notice of domain expiry when they visit the website and no content can be accessed. Even though the domain may have expired, it does not mean that it can be acquired by someone else as a grace period of around 40 days is available to the current owner to renew the domain name for another term. Even after the end of the grace period, the original owner can still retain the domain name but he will have to pay a penalty, the amount of which differs from one registrar to another.

After the end of the redemption period of another 40 days, the domain name enters a five-day locked state during which the domain owner cannot renew or manage his domain. After the end of the locked state the domain is deleted from the ICANN databases, and now it is possible for anyone to register the domain. Some domain registrars allow domain back-ordering that increases the chance for anyone to acquire a domain after it has been deleted. In case the back-order demand is large, the domain registrar may sell it off by an auction to the highest bidder.

Which Expired Domain Names Have Value?

It is not necessary for all expired domain names to have any SEO value. The objective of going hunting for an expired domain is to acquire one that has good quality backlinks pointing to it. Among the top reasons for purchasing newly deleted domains with traffic is the presence of good quality backlinks. At this point in time clicking on them will not display any content simply because the domain has expired but new content can always be served on them after the domain has been bought – this will make it possible for visitors following the backlinks to transact with the new site. It is best to acquire an expired domain name immediately after its expiry to reduce the chances of the link being reported as being dead and deleted by the source sites. Any delay also increases the chance of the expired domain being grabbed by someone else. While by domain name acquisition you do not become the owner of the content of the site, it may be possible for you to purchase the content if it is relevant to your business. However, when this is not possible it is best to publish your own content.

Conclusion

The best policy is to scrutinize the quality and history of the expired domain name and to purchase it as quickly as possible

Guest article written by: Walter Moore is an experienced SEO practitioner who recommends buying deleted domains with traffic to give SEO for new websites a momentum from day one. Walter has written quite a few articles and case studies of how websites have become successful faster by buying expired domain names.