New Domain vs. Expired Domain

DeadJoe

DeadJoe

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Hey guys,


This post is directed towards the more experienced SEO's on this forum, preferably the ones that own multiple sites and test different things from time to time.


I was wondering, how much of an impact does an expired domain have vs. a new domain. I know that domain age matters, but when a domain is expired and you register it again the age pretty much resets, correct? So other than the previous links pointing to that domain, is there anything else that gives an expired domain advantage over a fresh one?


Also, the links are mostly scattered, pointing to different pages on the expired website. If I am using this domain as a money site, I am not going to recreate the exact same pages. In this case, should I redirect the links to my new pages, or just leave them be? because if I redirect them, I feel that would be a bit of a footprint. If I just leave them alone, then what is the point of using an expired domain, if all the authority links are pointing to pages that don't even exist anymore?


Thank you in advance. Looking forward to your responses.
 
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Expired domains > new domain. Redirect all 404s to the homepage. But that does not mean new domains can't rank as good as an expired domain. Expired domains have more affinity for "spam" than new domains, of course.
 
The existing back link profile is about it. Most home pages have some links, even if you have one great link on a domain it is a leg up over a brand new domain.

I think of it this way, brand new domain is $10. Expired domain is $10 + Finding it.

New domain has no link juice.

Expired domain has some link juice.

New domain will not have a 'top tier' link.

Expired domain could have a link from: CNN, Tech.co, MSNBC, Fox, Wikipedia, etc, etc.

The value of a single great link makes it worth the effort to find a good expired domain.

Or you can do what I do. Buy expired domains, put my site up, and add some links. When I start working on the site and trying to rank KWs, it is aged at least 30 days and does not have the new domain smell.

I am sure others will chime in, but in my opinion an expired or aged domain is worth every penny as you will get links that will cost you $XXX if you can actually buy them. I have tried to buy an NPR contextual link, not exactly easy to show up in the section I desired. Expired domains? Easy.
 
I would think redirecting all 404s to the home page would be a big footprint.. it would be a little too obvious in my books. Maybe I am thinking too much, is that how you've been working your expired domains? If so, then that's great.
 
As long as the old domain has no penalties or bad links in the backlink profile, I would say old domain wins.

-research the backlink profile
-check the age & PR.
-use archive.org to view the website in it's previous form.

You can also buy the expired domain and redirect it to your new domain - but I wouldn't recommend it.
 
lightningblitz - that makes sense. A single authority link would make up for the cost of a new domain x 10.

OutOfTown - you're right, I'm also a little skeptical with 301's, especially to a site that I plan on keeping long term.

Thanks guys.
 
DeadJoe said:
lightningblitz - that makes sense. A single authority link would make up for the cost of a new domain x 10.

OutOfTown - you're right, I'm also a little skeptical with 301's, especially to a site that I plan on keeping long term.

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...


Doing the research will tell you. Hit up expireddomains.net and see what's out there. Do your due diligence on each domain and you'll find a good one.
 
Expired domains are better, I also like to 301 a clean expired domain to my site. It gives you a head start.

And dont worry, 301'ing links is NOT something google will penalize you for.
 
Hi guys,
I was wondering if a site which is, let's say, 10 years old but haven't been used (properly) for 2 years will help as well?
Any experience with that?

Great topic DeadJoe, was having the same questions as you! I recently bought my first expired domain and 301 this to a new domain. This worked out very well I must say!

Regards
 
To my own experience the age of a domain doesn't mean a thing. The reason why old domains usually rank better is because they have backlinks.

There is one big difference though and that is that you can push a lot harder, making new backlinks, on an old domain. Can't do that with new domains without risking some kind of drop in rankings.
 
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One more question. Does a domain with the same keyword but with a different language help as well? I'm currently trying to rank a (dutch) website with jacuzzi now but there is a russian website and apparently in Russia it is also 'jacuzzi'. Do you think this can help?

Chiefjop. Does that mean that, for example, I have the following
Old domain 301 --> new domain

You do linkbuilding on the old domain so that the linkjuice passes through the new domain? Don't you think that's a bit obvious?
 
Old domain if they have good existing backlinks, age of the domain doesn't matter.
 
In my experience expired domains are a shortcut to better quick success. But some people think that just using a few expired domains will be enough. You still need to put in the time and work to make the link building and content more natural and consistent. You should not have all expired domains, and you should not have all new domains. You should have some of both and obviously some from old and always existing sites. If anyone is in need of some expired domains I am always looking and have some extra one's just lying around.
 
DeadJoe said:
I would think redirecting all 404s to the home page would be a big footprint.. it would be a little too obvious in my books. Maybe I am thinking too much, is that how you've been working your expired domains? If so, then that's great.
Click to expand...

Ive had success by getting a dump of my sites back links through something like ahrefs then manually adding a redirect to my homepage or money article. This method is a pain, especially on bigger sites, but seems to work better and is less of a footprint IMO.
 
expired domain is good if they have good metrics and good backlink from quality metrics sites.
 
jimbobo2779 said:
Out of interest, what would this achieve? I think it is fairly common practice to redirect all 404s back to the homepage.
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Grand mistake. Google sees that as "soft redirect" and manipulation. There was even a video interview with G bosses a couple years ago about that. You can probably google that video.
 
I've been looking at some keywords today for an Adsense and affiliate linking. It is sort of adult related, but not porn, aimed at men! I found an expired domain with these metrics Moz DA 14/PA28, Majestic TF 18/CF 19. The site was dormant from 2011, but on wayback machine it seems a became a Chinese language site for a short time. The original site content and name is exactly what I'm looking, $10 to register. what do you think/
 
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