Expired Domains — The Metric I Check First

I've bought and tested a few expired domains over time, and I used to focus heavily on DR/DA.​

• old URLs
• anchor text history
• referring domains
• Wayback snapshots
• whether the strongest backlinks still exist
• signs of previous redirects or spam

martinbrook said:

I've bought and tested a few expired domains over time, and I used to focus heavily on DR/DA.​

That was a mistake.
Now the first thing I check is the historical relevance.
If the domain was previously about home improvement, for example, I'd much rather have that than a high-metric domain that used to be about gambling, coupons, or something completely unrelated.
I also check:

• old URLs
• anchor text history
• referring domains
• Wayback snapshots
• whether the strongest backlinks still exist
• signs of previous redirects or spam

One thing that surprised me is how often a domain with mediocre metrics can be more useful than a "powerful" domain with a terrible history.
Metrics are easy to manipulate.
History is much harder to fake.
For people still buying expired domains, what's the single biggest red flag that makes you walk away?

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