Buy an Aged Domain or Buy Backlinks?

[bongga]

Good day all.

I've perused many good posts about buying an aged domain to supercharge a project (and avoid the google jail). However, I am torn between buying an aged domain with existing linkage, and buying backlinks for a new site. Let's say you assign $5k to a new project.

Buying an aged domain you've got:

• history and backlinks, and other goodness (or low quality backlinks, disasters not uncovered during due diligence, etc.)
• old content in archive.org ready to update and use, if compatible
• the arduous work of 301 redirecting all the useful links to your content pages
• time spent on the auction sites looking for an aged domain that matches your chosen niche

Or start your website, write new content, and buy relatable fresh backlinks, and avoid possible landmines and 301 redirect work.

Or both - allocating $ to aged domain, and new backlinks?

If this has been already covered extensively here, please direct me to the post/s.

 

[Darth]

I would go for the expired domain. It goes that without saying, your content will be the deciding factor going either route though.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Usually, when you buy an aged and juicy domain, the price you pay for the links is a tiny fraction of what it would cost you otherwise, and you'll probably end up with some that are mostly unattainable, meaning the only way to get them will have been to buy the domain.

 

[bongga]

your content will be the deciding factor going either route though.

the price you pay for the links is a tiny fraction of what it would cost you otherwise

Thanks! In retrospect, some aged domains can be considered a bargain with all the links you get. Add some quality content that matches the intent of the old links, and then build....

 

[Golan]

old content in archive.org ready to update and use, if compatible

Might be not safe, technically it's illegal. Sometimes previous site owners hunt you and threat to sue you or complain to your hoster or whatever. Much safer is to scrape content from other abandoned sites in your niche/vertical and to use it for your site, if you have this idea.

 

[bongga]

Might be not safe, technically it's illegal. Sometimes previous site owners hunt you and threat to sue you or complain to your hoster or whatever

Is this really a thing?

These people gave up on their websites and want nothing to do with them anymore - it's a reminder of their failure as cyber entrepreneur.

They are now going to bother suing the new owner for reviving and updating/spinning their stale content?

They were too cheap to pay $10 a year to keep their domain, but they're now going to spend 100x to retain a lawyer and start some shit? That's retarded.

These petty mf'ers have myocarditis anyway...nonissue.

It's a possibility @Golan, however I believe the risk is pretty low.

 

[Golan]

You never know the circumstances.

Not necessarily one was too cheap. And certainly you can't judge here who was a successful entrepreneur and who wasn't.

Maybe someone was sick, or died, or whatever.

Maybe that was a merge and the old site was not needed anymore.

The fact that their domain got dropped and you in your full rights purchased it, doesn't mean you got any right for their content, even for a dime. Legally speaking, and (to whoever it matters, for me usually not, at least not in the drop domain SEO game) ethically.

It's not just a possibility, i'm speaking from my experience. Had like 10 such angry emails when i entered the network game, since then i always scrape content from many archived sites in the vertical and shuffle it, this way it's impossible to the old owners to hunt you.

 

[cheese]

i always scrape content from many archived sites in the vertical and shuffle it, this way it's impossible to the old owners to hunt you.

Hey Golan, what's your process for this? How do you find these archived sites? I have a bunch I come across but very randomly so. Do you do keyword research and look at the old history in the tool?

 

[Golan]

Hey Golan, what's your process for this? How do you find these archived sites? I have a bunch I come across but very randomly so. Do you do keyword research and look at the old history in the tool?

I make some marking and tagging during my daily checks, this way i have gathered quite a big database of domains worth scraping.

 

[AlbyE]

I would generally go for an aged/expired domain, after relevant due diligence, but it depends on the cost of the aged domain and the value you will get from it. As mentioned, some of the links you get on an aged domain, can be difficult or impossible to get new.

 

[ashley]

I love the idea of aged domains but can't find one in my niche that's decent and affordable. Would you go for one in a tangential niche? I'm guessing not eg your niche is boats and you buy one about cars.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I love the idea of aged domains but can't find one in my niche that's decent and affordable. Would you go for one in a tangential niche? I'm guessing not eg your niche is boats and you buy one about cars.

I would recommend getting as close as possible. If you consider the following framework:

• Vertical - Vehicles of all kinds
• Niche - Boats of all kinds
• Sub-Niche - Slower boats (pontoons, small fishing boats)
• Micro-Niche - Pontoon boats only

Obviously I know very little about boats, but I would try to find a domain that's either in the "Niche" or the "Sub-Niche". Let me explain why.

I would not try to get one in the vertical. You may find domains with more links and even more powerful links, but the relevance simply isn't going to be there. Will it work? Yes, you'd have success. What you'd lose from overly-broad relevancy would be made up from the gain in the links most likely. But you wouldn't get the benefit you would expect, unless you were able to create all the relevant content and 301 everything in. It'd be a huge task to recreate such a huge old site.

I wouldn't try to get a micro-niche domain either because it's simply not going to have the links to make it matter. If you can find one with decent branding then sure, any links are better than none. But you're better off going for...

With the Niche or Sub-Niche option you're going to have tight enough relevancy that there won't be any noticeable "loss" of effect and you'll still find options that are brandable with a higher number of juicy domains pointing in. This is the sweet spot, I think.

 

[bartman]

I get the whole aged domain thing and no doubt it can be effective right now. But I'm concerned at how hard the big gurus are pushing it - nearly all pushing ODYS. I've been around for years and we SEO folks have a tendency to ruin good things!
What are the chances of Google making changes and those domains getting whacked or devalued? Could be costly. Maybe I'm just wearing my tinfoil hat here!

 

[tziahs]

Aged domains for me, always. New domains are good, as they give you almost complete branding independence and uniqueness (you can start from scratch with everything, and that's very enticing to many). However, it takes years of work to build links and a reputation for a new domain.
Aged domains come with their own set of problems. For me, I often simply don't find a good one for my project. Finding a reliable seller is another major issue. It really takes a lot of work to find something decent.

 

[bernard]

I get the whole aged domain thing and no doubt it can be effective right now. But I'm concerned at how hard the big gurus are pushing it - nearly all pushing ODYS. I've been around for years and we SEO folks have a tendency to ruin good things!
What are the chances of Google making changes and those domains getting whacked or devalued? Could be costly. Maybe I'm just wearing my tinfoil hat here!

It's a relevant question, but Odys are easy to push because they are just an excellent business and so it makes it easy for people with morals to send people to their affiliate program.

Expensive, yes, that's the price of being excellent. That also keeps a lot of people out, which should answer your second question in part about Google finding out.

I've purchased 3 domains from Odys and it's been a very good experience. If this was a blogpost and not a forum post, I'd drop in my affiliate link.

 

[Magoo]

I would recommend getting as close as possible. If you consider the following framework:

• Vertical - Vehicles of all kinds
• Niche - Boats of all kinds
• Sub-Niche - Slower boats (pontoons, small fishing boats)
• Micro-Niche - Pontoon boats only

Obviously I know very little about boats, but I would try to find a domain that's either in the "Niche" or the "Sub-Niche". Let me explain why.

I would not try to get one in the vertical. You may find domains with more links and even more powerful links, but the relevance simply isn't going to be there. Will it work? Yes, you'd have success. What you'd lose from overly-broad relevancy would be made up from the gain in the links most likely. But you wouldn't get the benefit you would expect, unless you were able to create all the relevant content and 301 everything in. It'd be a huge task to recreate such a huge old site.

I wouldn't try to get a micro-niche domain either because it's simply not going to have the links to make it matter. If you can find one with decent branding then sure, any links are better than none. But you're better off going for...

With the Niche or Sub-Niche option you're going to have tight enough relevancy that there won't be any noticeable "loss" of effect and you'll still find options that are brandable with a higher number of juicy domains pointing in. This is the sweet spot, I think.

First of all, I thought the strategy of choosing domain names like "bestmountainbikes.com" was outdated and that it was all about branding these days ("WildWheels" for example)?

Then you also wouldn't be limited to a certain niche or sub-niche, and neither have the relevance to them that you are talking about (something that is also provided as a good example in the crash course)?

What are your thoughts on this?

PS. About the verticals' explanation in the crash course, is it really supposed to be THAT broad as in your example here? I perceived it as that your example for a niche would be the broadest possible vertical you could go with

 

[Ryuzaki]

First of all, I thought the strategy of choosing domain names like "bestmountainbikes.com" was outdated and that it was all about branding these days ("WildWheels" for example)?

Then you also wouldn't be limited to a certain niche or sub-niche, and neither have the relevance to them that you are talking about (something that is also provided as a good example in the crash course)?

I'm in complete agreement with you about this. Above we were talking about buying an aged domain and keeping the existing topics related to what you intend to target, not naming a brand new domain.

PS. About the verticals' explanation in the crash course, is it really supposed to be THAT broad as in your example here? I perceived it as that your example for a niche would be the broadest possible vertical you could go with

It depends on your goals and your capabilities (money, team, time). You could have a site like WebMD that's about the entire medical industry, or you could have one simply about stomach ailments. It just depends on your goals and ability to compete.

You could do all Arts & Crafts, or just crocheting and knitting (I think they're related), or either one, or just cross-stitching, etc. It's whatever you're interested in developing a site for and how broad you want it to be in terms of realistically being able to cover it and actually compete within it. But leaving some space to grow, as you described with your "WildWheels" expamle is always a smart idea.

You can always tackle one niche at a time, or sub-niche even.

 

[jpaask]

I think the ideal is both.

Old domain that has links already preferably and if it has old content, original and without having been cloned, the better.

To all this, you boost it with link building campaigns and content, and fly.

 

[SourceButler]

I think the ideal is both.

Old domain that has links already preferably and if it has old content, original and without having been cloned, the better.

To all this, you boost it with link building campaigns and content, and fly.

So this BUT with a domain that has good branding or atleast that which doesn't hurt. (In which case you can still make good use of the old domain.)

 

[Steve Brownlie]

The only thing I'd caution if you have a smaller budget is that sometimes you'll buy an aged domain and it just won't bite no matter what you do with it. I went on a little run with buying them a few years back and three worked really well (for a while) then just started to have issues and rankings went away, and one wouldn't rank at all no matter what you did with it.

I know that's not everyone's experience and some people have done amazingly with some purchases but we've had way more luck starting our side projects on clean new domains than we had buying expired ones - especially when you take into account the money spent - though I will admit the ones that did well then went away more than paid for themselves they just didn't 'last' in the way you'd hope.

 

[bernard]

It's definitely a risk with expired domains.

I've had success with recreating the domains very close to their original use, even recreating their main category structure. I also go into Google Search Console and look for 404 and make sure to recreate or redirect them as soon as possible.