How do I chose domain for authority site

Hey guys,

lately i started thinking to build my own huge authority site, and my main question is which domain should i buy ?
I mean, do i buy just a new domain like from go daddy or something like that, or do I have to finds some good old one ?

Id like to hear some advice from someone who's experienced with authority sites.

Find a good old one. A new domain takes longer. An old domain is a solid platform to kick start your website, and tends to look more natural. Domains get bought by real companies all the time. Adding content to one makes sense.

I find it safer, better, and the quicker path to find a good domain.

If you can't find something, you can go with a new domain. But I prefer old.

lightningblitz said:

Find a good old one. A new domain takes longer. An old domain is a solid platform to kick start your website, and tends to look more natural. Domains get bought by real companies all the time. Adding content to one makes sense.

I find it safer, better, and the quicker path to find a good domain.

If you can't find something, you can go with a new domain. But I prefer old.

Click to expand...

yeah thats what i thought too, where do you usually look for old ones? beside expireddomains net

Personally I prefer to start with a new domain. It's still easy enough to rank a new website within a 2-3 weeks (although this depends on the competition of course). The reason I prefer it this way is that you know exactly what has happened on the domain - nothing. With old domains you gain history, which can be good but it can also be bad. Metrics tools can certainly help you learn about the history of a domain but it certainly isn't definitive.

How competitive is the niche you are going after?

2spoons said:

How competitive is the niche you are going after?

Click to expand...

Thank for the advise, gonna research. I think it'll be one of the competitive niche, its all about diet

If you can afford big money,then you can go for expired domains on godaddy auctions which is best suit for his niche.Or you can simply register with the new domain.The old domain is better then new domain.

As long as you get a brandable domain name, an expired domain with a clean back link profile would work well. Make sure to see the history of the domain on the wayback archive as well.

I would choose brand-ability over the back link profile. It is easier to gain back links to make your site an authority site compared to changing the domain name once you have invested time in marketing it.

Age, trust and authority is what turns Google on. You will get a really deasent domain on godaddy auctions for $300! Im talking 15 years old, DA/PA 30+ TF 30+. Just make sure its brandable and clean

so basically old one is better but many different ways...

For niche sites I go with old domains, for long term authority site projects I go for the most brandable name possible. Since you're in it for the long haul, I choose long term viability over a short term boost.

where do you guys usually check the history ?

If you're going to be in it for the long run and be investing lots of money into content etc. I recommend just starting with a new domain.

Yes using an expired domain to build a site on may give you an initial boost, but you may pay for it down the line if Google ever figures out you're just using an expired domain for the SEO boost.

I would say just pick a domain that has brand appeal to you and something that will appeal to your audience.

chickensalad said:

For niche sites I go with old domains, for long term authority site projects I go for the most brandable name possible. Since you're in it for the long haul, I choose long term viability over a short term boost.

Click to expand...

you use expired even for niche sites?

Gyuman82 said:

If you're going to be in it for the long run and be investing lots of money into content etc. I recommend just starting with a new domain.

Yes using an expired domain to build a site on may give you an initial boost, but you may pay for it down the line if Google ever figures out you're just using an expired domain for the SEO boost.

I would say just pick a domain that has brand appeal to you and something that will appeal to your audience.

Click to expand...

what tools do you use for see domain history ?

Domains are like a fine wine. It is all about picking the right wine to go with what you are making. Brand does matter, depending on the project.

My process has been like this.

1. Pick Niche.
2. Google Search for Expired Domain Websites.
3. Poke around for several hours.
4. Buy a domain if I like it.
5. Start building.

Now, if I do not find a good website, depending on project, I may do this:

1. Find a variation on the KWs I will be targeting.
2. Pick a new domain that plays well with my niche.
3. Start building.

Some variation does exist. For a MNS that I will not be putting a lot of work into, I almost always try to find a good domain and I re build. For a larger site, I try to always find a brand - able and strong aged domain. It passes along some juice, as well as some recognition.

If I have no idea the project I want to launch, I look for the best domain possible and work around it.

This applies to just about everything I build. If I can get an advantage I will without a doubt take it. Its the name of the game.

thanks for such good information man, really appreciate it!!!

would you recommend some good tools for domain history lookup beside ahrefs and etc

Definitely go with a quality aged domain if possible. If it's relevant to your niche then even better.

Do You think buying old and 301 it to new domain make sense?

I don't use a lot of tools, for any IM really. Best example can be my first 'big' site I made. You can say it is in a specific part of the dating niche.

I went through and looked for old domains. Found about 10 - 20 which 'stood out' which remotely could fit into my niche. Some were good, others were bad. I went through in Waybackmachine, Ahrefs, and google cache to find out what the sites were like. I wanted to know the back link profiles, sure, but I also needed to know what type of stuff they had, and if they had brand recognition. I knew the niche, but if I did not, I would have to learn it.

None worked for me, so I made a new domain. I then went through and picked up some of the domains after they expired or were not sold at auction. I was looking for steals. I also emailed some webmasters in the niche whose sites I knew personally went down. I also followed broken links of my niche and looked up who owned the site. It took a while but I had a handful of useful sites.

I then played the game of trying to get these powerful, niche related domains to re - direct to my domain.

I then made an exact match domain for a product I sold and did a soft launch. After a while, because the product was under a pen name and not sold by the 'website' but promoted through it, and some social media, I did a redirect to my site. I then went through and redirected domains to my product I was now pointing at my domain. It seems counter intuitive but it was all for brand recognition.

This was all done manually. If a site like 'flirting.com' was available for a steal, I would buy it and redirect to my money site which was for brand recognition.

ALL of my work was manual within my niche. Some surprising gems I found as an insider in most of the niches I have dabbled in are:

- Check any and all 'News Sites' for old broken links relating to your niche.
- Check old forum posts relating to your niche in signature links.
- Check way back machine / Google Cache on everything. On small blogs, I often will see people linking to esquire / huff post / CNN when they get featured, like a badge of honor.
- Check My Space for websites in your niche.

The surprising one was my space for me. As far as dating goes, which got big in the early 90s and internet boom, it was a lot easier to get a feature in a high 'page rank' site which by now has faded away. A lot of internet start ups have failed. Simply checking some old mediums of the internet will find you sites which WERE popular, have or had a bunch of good links, and are now useless. Sometimes the domains will be registered to no one and all you need a 0.99 to snatch one up. Most people have no idea these domains exist. No one has them registered but they do hold brand recognition and you can replicate the links which are now broken.

My way may not be the best, and not the most efficient, but it works for me. I like to do manual homework on any domain I will be pointing at a brand - able site. If it is not a brand - able site, I care far less. I go more for good metrics.

In a round about way, I am saying I do things by hand. No algorithm can tell you if it was a shit domain which bought a good link. No metrics can tell you if it is a good fit for your brand. It depends if you want a brand of the metrics. Most people want the metrics, which I completely agree upon. But if you are looking at a great domain but all the links and content were in Russian, you are not buying the brand for an English market, you are buying the metrics. It is something to consider when checking at domains.

Authority sites in a field are almost always .com, they generally have better resale values, so if possibler go with .com