Domains for linklove (buying domains)
In this how-to series of posts I will try to explain the best way to obtaining a bunch of linklove by buying an existing domain name. You need to be aware of all the things search engines are able to detect, but the only hard part is getting a good domain at a reasonable price.
How do you find and buy the right domain?
The “Domains for linklove” trilogy:
- SEO and domains
- Buying domains (this one)
- Using the new domain
The best domains to buy are ones that are valuable but aren’t seen as such by the current owner. All domains you can buy fall under one of the following categories.
- New domains (don’t buy these purely for SEO, because they have no authority yet)
- Deleted domains (old link value is devalued to almost nothing if search engines detect it)
- Domains about to expire (some say domains in the redemption period lose linkvalue, but I haven’t seen enough proof yet to support this)
- Registered but unused domains (always cheaper than used ones, but do they have authority?)
- Domains containing a website (most likely to have some SEO value, but do the current owners see that too)
As you see new and deleted domains are probably less usefull for SEO, so I’ll skip those. But here are ways to obtain the other three options.
Domains about to expire
Domains that are about to be deleted can be found by looking at the whois data on a domain. Some sites alow you to search for expired domains or domains in the redemption period.
See this example for expiring domains containing “links” and try to find your own domains. The only rule is: “Be the first to register the domain as soon as it is deleted”. If you are able to place your new website (or a copy of the old one you snatched from archive.org) before the spider bot passes, search engines will probably let you keep all existing linkpoints. This way of obtaining the domain costs you nothing more than the yearly registration fee.
Registered but unused domains
More than half of all domains registered aren’t used as the main domain for a website. They can be extra domains pointing to the same website or unused domains with nothing more than a holding page. For unused domains there are several brokers willing to auction or sell the domains.
Brokers like SEDO allow you to search their database and give extra information about link value. Most domains sold via SEDO are valued far too high, but sometimes an opportunity knocks on your door. Igoldrush gives advise how to value a domain.
Unused domains can also be found via search engines. A query like “this domain is for sale” inurl:mortgage gives you available mortgage domains.
You can also include “under construction” and “placeholder” in the query. Anything that is a telltale sign of default placeholders for unused domains. When people are already selling the domain it is probably more expensive then when the domain only contains a placeholder or temporary website.
Domains containing a website
Domains most likely to have authority already contain websites. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t for sale. Be the first to make an offer and you could get it cheap.
- When someone discontinues a website they probably don’t realize what they’re throwing away. Keep your eyes and ears open for businesses discontinuing or filing bankruptcy, etc.
- Look in the serps (search engine result pages) on topic related terms for websites that rank high but don’t seem to convert to high earnings and offer to buy the website.
- And if you have alot of money buy your competitors
Always calculate how much effort (time and money) it would cost you to build the same authority as the website you’re buying. This effort can be seen as the real worth of the domain. Never tell the seller of the domain what you’re buying it for.
After you bought the domain you need to be carefull how you change the content to your own or redirect to your own website. In the next post I will try to elaborate more on this.