How to Buy Old Domains
Brand new domains are great, but it can take one to two years to get top rankings for competitive phrases. It takes this long before Google will trust a new domain enough to reward it with page one results. Some call this the Google aging filter.
You can purchase pre-owned domains that are already aged for as low as $20. You do this by purchasing expiring domains from one of the registrar auctions. These are domains that people have let lapse and you can purchase them before they are deleted. This deletion resets the age to zero. One of my favorites is GoDaddy Domain Auctions. Look for the expiring auctions.
Tips for selecting domains
- Backlinks: Many times you can find domains with hundreds or even thousands of existing backlinks. This is a very important factor in selection.
- Age: Domains should be at least 2 years old… ten years is ideal.
- Indexed: Does Google have indexed or cached pages from that domain? Do a Google search for site:yourdomain.com. Note which URLs are indexed. You will need to know these when you create a new website.
- Google PR: If it already has Google PR, great. If not, it may quickly return once you put a website on it if it has age and backlinks.
- History: Check what kinds of websites have been on that domain by looking at the WayBackMachine. Has there been a website on that domain continuously? Stay away from sites that have had gambling, porn or pharmacy websites on it.
If you have checked these factors and all looks good, then buy your new domain as a platform to launch your new venture. These older domains respond well to SEO.
Optimization Tip courtesy of the SEO Services Company, Doug Williams, SEO services.