Buying Aged Domains

Last Updated: December 3, 2024

Aged domains are domains that have been registered before and, therefore, have accumulated backlinks and domain authority, making them, in effect, marketing gold.

In the ever-evolving landscape of the internet, aged domains have emerged as valuable digital assets. As businesses and individuals seek to establish a solid online presence, purchasing from an aged domain list has gained traction as a strategic approach to enhancing website authority, Google Index, and search engine rankings. In this authoritative guide, we’ll dive into the related FAQ about buying the perfect domain name, why you should buy an aged domain, how to decide on the valuation of an aged domain, and much more.

The Advantages of Using Aged Domains

Aged domains offer several benefits that make them attractive pieces of digital real estate to businesses and marketers:

1. Existing Domain With Backlinks

Many aged domains come with a portfolio of quality backlinks from other websites, which can significantly boost their SEO aspect.

2. Existing Traffic

Existing Traffic in Aged Domains

Some aged domains come with traffic, providing an immediate audience for your content or services.

2. Established Authority

Domain authority describes the significance of a domain's presence in a specific subject area or industry. It predicts how likely a website will rank in search engine result pages.

Older deleted domains often have higher domain authority.

3. Reduced Time to Index

Search engines may index content on aged domains more quickly than new domains.

Are Aged Domains Safe and Effective?

Aged Domain Purchase

As with any investment, an aged domain purchase can be either effective and successful or disastrous. Not all aged domains are created equal, and thorough research is necessary to ensure you're investing in a domain that aligns with your goals and doesn't carry any potential risks.

It's crucial to approach acquiring the aged domain you need with caution. The effectiveness and safety of an aged domain depend on several factors:

  1. Domain History: Ensure the domain hasn't been associated with spam or black-hat SEO practices and hasn't had any search engine penalties.
  2. Applicability: Before you buy a domain name, check if it is relevant to your niche or industry for maximum benefit.
  3. Backlink Quality: Analyze the existing backlinks to ensure they are from reputable sources. Some low-quality sources of backlinks can potentially harm your website more than help.
  4. Traffic: Check if the domain has operating traffic and its quality.
  5. Legal Issues: Verify that the domain is free from trademark infringements or legal disputes.

When purchased wisely, aged domains can be both safe and highly effective in boosting online presence and search engine rankings.

How to Utilize Aged Domains

There are several ways to leverage aged domains:

1. Primary Website: Use the aged domain as your main website to benefit from its established authority. Ranking higher on search engine result pages (SERPs) can benefit any business.

2. 301 Redirect: Some businesses use this strategy to leverage the domain authority of an aged domain while keeping the company brand the same. The process involves redirecting the aged domain to your existing website.

3. Link Building: This strategy involves linking other domains to your main site. You can use aged domains as a link-building strategy to improve your main site's authority.

4. PBN (Private Blog Network): Some marketers use aged domains to create a network of sites for SEO purposes, though this approach requires careful implementation to avoid penalties.

Aged Domains Pricing

Aged Domains Pricing

The money involved in securing an aged domain for sale can vary significantly based on certain factors, such as:

  • Domain age
  • Existing traffic
  • Backlink profile
  • Niche applicability
  • Domain extension (.com domains typically command higher prices)

We've already explained all these concepts before in this article.

Some aged or old domains may be available for as low as $0.50 per month, while others can cost thousands of dollars.

Buying Aged Domains from Experts

When looking to purchase aged or older domains, it is often beneficial to work with experienced domain management investors or reputable marketplaces.

The benefits of buying through experts can ensure you're making a sound investment. Reputable marketplaces and domain brokers often have a curated selection of aged domains that have been vetted for quality and potential.

The Best Aged Domains, Handpicked for You

Many services offer curated lists of high-quality aged domains.  Platforms like GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Sedo are examples of these services.

These domains are typically:

  • Vetted for clean history
  • Analyzed for SEO metrics
  • Categorized by niche
  • Priced competitively

Working with such services can save time and reduce the risk of purchasing a problematic domain. They also typically offer tools such as advanced domain search, broker, and backorder services.

How It Works: Finding and Buying Expired Domains: A Step-by-Step Guide

Buying an aged domain from one of these platforms is pretty straightforward. Here's a step-by-step guide to finding and buying an expired domain on these platforms.

1. Define Your Requirements: Specify your niche, budget, and desired domain metrics. Setting a budget before acquiring your desired domain is always a good idea to avoid overspending.

2. Analyzing potential domains using tools like GoDaddy advanced search, Ahrefs, Moz, or Semrush. These tools allow you to filter domains by their age, backlinks, domain authority, etc.

3. Verifying domain history using the Wayback Machine. The Wayback Machine allows you to see past snapshots of the websites associated with your domain. This tool can help you ensure that the domain was not involved with any illegal activities or trademark infringements.

4. Finding the domain on marketplaces or working with a broker. Select a reputable marketplace like GoDaddy Auctions, Sedo, or Afternic.

5. Place a bid or make an offer. Some platforms may also offer but are now options. A domain auction platform allows you to place a number of bids on expired domains, where the highest bidder will acquire the domain.

6. Completing the purchase and domain transfer process.

What Happens to Expired Domains?

Domains expire when their owners fail to renew their registration and pay the clerk before the expiration date. After this, they enter a grace period.

A grace period is essentially an extension period where the domain owner can pay the standard renewal fee and renew the domain.

When the grace period ends, the redemption period begins. Within this time frame, the owner must pay an additional fee on top of the standard renewal fee to renew the domain. This is the final stage before the domain's status changes to "deleted." Or they might enter the pending delete stage. When the domain is deleted, it will be removed from the annalist's database.

The Benefits of Acquiring Expired Domains

Expired domains can offer similar advantages to aged domains, including:

  • Established age and potential authority
  • Existing backlinks
  • Lower cost compared to premium-aged domains
  • Diverse Options: Various niches and domain types become available regularly.

Who Typically Buys Expired Domains?

Various individuals and entities purchase expired domains:

  • SEO professionals are looking to boost their link-building efforts.
  • Domain investors are hoping to resell at a profit.
  • Marketers/Marketing agencies seeking to leverage existing authority for new projects
  • Businesses looking for relevant domain names with a history

Key Factors to Consider Before Purchasing an Expired Domain

Purchasing an Expired Domain

Before you buy a domain, evaluate:

  1. Domain Lifetime and history
  2. Backlink profile and quality
  3. Previous content and niche relevance
  4. Traffic data and trends
  5. Current SEO indexing status

How to Determine if Your Domain Has Expired

To check if a domain you own has expired:

  1. Log into your domain registrar account
  2. Check the domain's expiration date.

Using a WHOIS lookup, you can also check whether your domain is expired.

Retrieving Your Expired Domain

If you know a domain is about to expire,  act quickly:

  1. Log into your registrar account.
  2. Look for renewal options.
  3. Pay any required fees.

This can help you secure your domain and avoid bidding wars.

If your domain has expired, you may still be able to retrieve it. If your domain is in the grace period, you can regain it by paying the typical renewal fee.

If the grace period has ended, your domain might be put up for auction. In that case, you can bid on it and potentially acquire it.

Reserving an Expiring Domain

To reserve a domain that is about to expire:

  1. Use domain monitoring services to track expiration dates
  2. Place backorders with registrars or auction sites.

A domain backorder is a service that allows you to attempt to acquire a domain name when it becomes available, typically after it expires and is not renewed by the current owner. The backorder service will notify you, usually via email, when a domain becomes available, and you can then purchase it. However, if multiple parties have backordered the same domain, it may get put up for auction.

3. Be prepared to participate in auctions if multiple parties are interested.

Transferring and Registering the Domain

After acquiring an expired domain, initiate the transfer process with your chosen clerk. If you decide to transfer the domain from one to another, you might have to pay a transfer fee. Provide the necessary information and complete the domain registration process.

Exploring Expired Domain Auctions

Expired Domain Auctions

Domain auctions are platforms for acquiring expired domains:

  1. GoDaddy Auctions
  2. NameJet
  3. SnapNames
  4. Sedo
  5. Flippa

These platforms allow you to bid on desirable expired domains, often with detailed metrics and history available. They make it easy to find and acquire expired or aged domains.

The Advantages of Expiring Domains

Acquiring an expired domain can offer numerous benefits for businesses and individuals alike. These advantages include:

1. Established Backlinks / SEO benefits

Expired domains often come with a pre-existing network of backlinks from other websites. These backlinks can be a valuable asset for improving search engine optimization and boosting the ranking of the new owner's website

2. Existing Website Traffic

If the expired domain was previously used for an active website, it may still have existing traffic. This traffic can be redirected to the new owner's website, potentially driving more visitors and generating additional revenue.

3. Brand Recognition

Some expired domains may have built up brand equity over time, which can be valuable for businesses looking to establish a strong online presence quickly.

4. Personalized Search Results

Expired domains with a high domain authority can influence personalized search results, giving the new owner an advantage over competitors.

What Metrics Are Used to Search for Domains?

When searching for expired domains, you may consider the following metrics:

  • Domain Lifetime: The age of the domain.
  • Domain Authority: A measure of the domain's overall authority and SEO rankings. Domain Authority scores range from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater likelihood of ranking.
  • Backlinks: The number and quality of backlinks pointing to the domain.
  • Keyword Relevance: The relevance of the domain name to your target keywords.
  • Trust Flow and Citation Flow: Trust Flow predicts how trustworthy a page is based on how trustworthy sites tend to link to trustworthy neighbors. It's measured on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher numbers indicating more trustworthiness. Citation Flow measures the quantity or "power" of links to a given page or domain. Like Trust Flow, it's scored on a scale from 0 to 100.

Expired Domain Search Tools and Checkers

Every major domain public sale site offers multiple tools to search for expired domains. These tools can help you find your desired domain faster.

Several tools can help in your search for good expired domains:

  • ExpiredDomains.net
  • GoDaddy Auctions
  • Sedo
  • Afternic

These tools provide various filters and metrics to help you find domains that meet your specific criteria.

Domain Auctions and Marketplaces

Popular platforms for buying and selling domains include:

  1. GoDaddy Auctions
  2. Sedo
  3. Flippa
  4. NameCheap Marketplace
  5. Afternic

Each platform offers unique features and inventory, catering to different needs and budgets.

Comparison of Top 5 Marketplaces for Expired Domains

PlatformProsCons
GoDaddy Auctions- Large Inventory
- User-friendly interface
- High competition - Can be expensive
- Backorder service is no longer available
NameCheap- Access to premium expired domains- Requires a deposit to bid
- Might not have as many premium domains as GoDaddy Auctions
SnapNames- Wide variety of domains
- Backorder service
- Can be pricey for popular domains
Sedo- Global Marketplace
- Escrow Service
- Mixed quality of domains
- Can be more complex to navigate compared to other platforms
Flippa- Detailed metrics provided
- Option to buy websites
- Higher risk of low-quality domains

Current Inventory As Low As $0.50 per RD

Many marketplaces offer domains with pricing based on referring domains (RD). Prices can start as low as $0.50 per RD, making finding valuable domains at affordable prices possible. However, always prioritize quality over quantity when considering such offers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an aged domain and an expired domain?

An aged domain name has been registered and used for a significant period, while an expired domain has lapsed in registration and become available for purchase.

How can I verify the history of an aged domain?

You can view archived versions of the website using tools like the Wayback Machine and analyze backlink history using services like Ahrefs or Majestic.

Is it better to buy an aged domain or start from scratch?

This depends on your goals and resources. An aged domain can provide a head start regarding authority and backlinks, but starting from scratch offers complete control over the domain's history and development.

How can I check if an aged domain has been penalized by Google? 

Use tools like Ahrefs or Moz to check for sudden traffic drops and review the domain’s history in the Wayback Machine. You can use the Wayback machine to see older snapshots of websites associated with your domain.

How long does it take for an expired domain to become available?

The process varies but typically involves a grace period, followed by an auction period, before the domain becomes available for general registration.

Can buying aged domains improve my SEO?

When used correctly, aged domains can contribute to improved SEO through established authority and existing backlinks. However, it's crucial to integrate them strategically into your overall SEO plan.

How can I avoid buying a low-quality aged domain?

To avoid buying a low-quality aged domain, carefully analyze its history, backlink profile, and overall quality. Consider using tools like Wayback Machine and Moz's Domain Authority to assess the domain's reputation.

Can I transfer an aged domain to a different registrar?

Yes, you can transfer an aged domain name to a different clerk. However, you'll need to follow the specific procedures outlined by both clerks, and you might have to pay a transfer fee.

What is the difference between page authority (PA) and domain authority (DA)? 

Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA) are both metrics used to predict a website's ranking potential. PA focuses on a specific page, while DA focuses on the entire website. Both consider factors like backlinks, content quality, and domain name age. A high PA or DA indicates a greater likelihood of ranking in search engine results pages.

Conclusion

In conclusion, buying an aged domain name can be a powerful strategy for boosting your online presence and could be a good investment. However, it requires careful research, due diligence, and a clear understanding of your goals. By following the guidelines and considerations outlined in this article, you'll be better equipped to navigate the world of aged and expired domains, potentially finding the perfect domain to elevate your online ventures.

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