multiple expired domains and hreflang en-in

Hello everyone,
I am planning to execute expired domains + cross canonical + hreflang strategy.
First step - i will add <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.second.com> to multiple old premium expired domains.
second step - multiple 301 redirection to http://www.second.com
this will boost authority
third steps - again multiple expired domains 301 redirection to http://www.third.com
again multiple expired domains 301 redirection to http://www.fourth.com
again multiple expired domains 301 redirection to http://www.fifth.com

each domain contains follwing two tags
<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.second.com>
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-IN" href="http://www.moneysite.com/en-in" />


will this help my moneysite rank in India?
I have analysed someones project, that is ranking successfully, despite moneysite has zero authority + zero backlinks

I do not think that setup will do what you think.
hreflang doesn't pass authority. It's a URL/language targeting signal.
Cross domain canonical only works when the content is genuinely equivalent. throwing unrelated expired domain content at second.com doesn't magically consolidate the signals.
The 301s are the only part here that could actually pass signals, but building a network this way can fall under google's expired domain abuse policy. some of these setups run clean for months before getting wiped.
Also, zero backlinks in a checker doesn't mean zero trust to Google. There can be residual signals those tools don't show.
I would give it 3 to 4 months before copying the strategy. wouldn't burn good domains on it.

Didn't the last 2 spam updates do away with that canonical trick you're attempting?

I would be careful with this setup. Canonical and hreflang have different purposes, so I would not expect them to transfer authority between expired domains.

Steptoe said:

Didn't the last 2 spam updates do away with that canonical trick you're attempting?

Click to expand...

No, still working

I’ve been tracking a very specific SEO footprint in the high-competition Indian niche lately, and the results are honestly insane.

I’m seeing brand-new money sites with zero authority and zero direct backlinks outranking established players in a matter of days. After deep-diving into the code of these ranking sites, I’ve mapped out the exact strategy they are using.

The "Mirror Cluster" Setup:

1. Premium Expired Domains: They take multiple high-authority expired domains.
2. Cross-Domain Canonical: They inject a canonical tag on all these domains pointing to a "proxy" or secondary domain.
3. Authority Stacking: They then fire multiple 301 redirects from other expired domains into that same proxy domain to concentrate the "juice."
4. The Hreflang Bridge: Every single one of these domains (the proxy and the redirect sources) contains this tag:
   <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-IN" href="https://moneysite.com/en-in/" />

By doing this, they aren't just passing link equity; they are using the hreflang to force Google to recognize the money site as the "Official Entity" for the en-IN (India) region, using the combined authority of the entire cluster.

I have started testing this setup myself and I’m already seeing rankings, though the stability is the part I’m still working on.

Is anyone else currently running this strategy?
I'd love to know if you're seeing long-term success or if you've found a way to stop the "ranking drops" after a few weeks.

I’m looking to connect with people who are executing this at scale to compare data and fine-tune the setup.