New or expired domain for site?

[cochiloco]

I keep reading that expired domains "may" give a boost to a new site vs a completely new domain but I've never come across a conclusive answer.

Is it worth going for an expired domain just for the ranking power or is it mostly for the actual domain name that people go through the trouble?

I thought that if a domain is expired and dropped, it loses its ranking power. Also if all content changes, it also loses its ranking power. I think the above also reset its age in the eyes of Google?

Am I right in thinking that in order for an expired domain to make sense it:

• must have hosted a similar site as the new site,
• must not have dropped but transferred through,
• must not have existed with no content for too long.

And ideally, I should go to archive.org and re-post some of its original pages.

If the above steps aren't possible, I might as well go with a brand new domain, right?

 

[Ryuzaki]

The kind that give a boost are the ones that expire but never drop. And even then it's no guarantee. But it definitely works. I built a site on one in November and it's doing great compared to a new site. I used to build PBN sites on them too and they'd crush it.

If a domain expires AND drops then yeah, some say they can make it work. I wouldn't gamble it, myself. It's the same with a domain that expires and does NOT drop but is out of the index for too long. You want an uninterrupted life span of registration and indexation, as tight as you can. There is some leeway though.

Yes, you want to keep it in a very similar niche. You don't have to use the original content, though if you want to increase your chances of everything working out you can rebuild the site out from the archive. You don't have to though.

We've had tons of threads on this topic if you do a search. Lot's of insight in those.

I'll say from experience, I've done sites on new domains and non-dropped ones. If you can afford the expense upfront of a great domain with existing backlinks and a brandable name, do that. If it doesn't pan out, you can keep building on it as if it's new and some of the old power may re-activate over time.

Time is the main enemy is the SEO game. If you can fast-forward to a year in the future, you want to do that every time you can afford to. We aren't getting any younger.

 

[LiamGallagher]

I was asking the same. I don't have like $1k to drop on a pro domain right now, so I'll try to snatch a cheaper one and see how it goes.

 

[Nargil]

Is it worth going for an expired domain just for the ranking power or is it mostly for the actual domain name that people go through the trouble?

It's because of the ranking power. The amount of money you save on the actual offsite SEO is unbelievable. For $2 - 3K you can get a behemoth of a domain to work with, with possibly 500+ referring domains (that's a rule of thumb of course). What do you get for that PBN or guest post wise? 10 decent links? I can assure you, that the domain will have more of them than 10 for the same price, plus tons of other bonuses.

I thought that if a domain is expired and dropped, it loses its ranking power. Also if all content changes, it also loses its ranking power. I think the above also reset its age in the eyes of Google?

Nothing loses its power after a drop. That would literally break the internet, just think logically. I have dozens of clients who still go after scraped domains that have been dropped for years and years and they work perfectly fine and always will be.

Concept of "age" when it comes to domains it's a total bullshit. Age, as in, when the domain was registered for the first time, is not a SEO factor. I would really like to get to know the guy, who started this hoax (just like I would like to meet the guy with "domain after 301 redirect loses its power forever"). Age of the content on the other hand, as in for how long has a page on a certain domain been indexed, is a massive factor.

So the only situation, when it actually matters to get non-dropped fully indexed domain is, when you are trying to rebuild it completely. Otherwise, there's no point. And even non dropped auction domains are mostly deindexed completely, with the exception of a few pages, because they have been offline or parked for quite some time.

Am I right in thinking that in order for an expired domain to make sense it:

• must have hosted a similar site as the new site,
• must not have dropped but transferred through,
• must not have existed with no content for too long.

None of these is true. Thing with the hosting is completely off. I have explained the drops above and content matters only if you are rebuilding and want to retain previous rankings.

And ideally, I should go to archive.org and re-post some of its original pages.

That is of course a great technique, however, with bigger domains (due to the fact that they are better known) there is a bigger chance of running into potential copyright issues. And yes, that happens.

The kind that give a boost are the ones that expire but never drop. And even then it's no guarantee. But it definitely works. I built a site on one in November and it's doing great compared to a new site. I used to build PBN sites on them too and they'd crush it.

As explained above, yes and no. Drop isn't really a factor by itself. If the domain has been offline for a while, then sure, it might take a little bit longer until all the power kicks in, but that's about it.

I believe that the misconception of why the drops actually matter comes from the fact, that, power wise, you cannot compare scraped domains with auction ones. These days you can get, maybe 20 - 30RD clean scraped domain (dropped) available for free registration and even then you have to search a lot. Those backlinks are mostly below average.

On the other hand, you can get a non dropped auction domain with 100-200 RDs of higher quality and all of a sudden, that domains does something when you post articles on it.

So, instead of actually checking the power of the domain by itself, people like to simplify. Like with everything in life really. They lack skillset to evaluate backlink profiles properly, so they throw the blame on the first thing they come up with. Which is the fact that the scraped domain was dropped, instead of the fact, that it's simply shit.

Just check Hosterstats.com on some of the auction domains, you would be surprised how many of them have been dropped, even multiple times, in the past.

I also agree, that building money sites on expired/auction domains is throwing shit against the wall. Sometimes it work, sometimes it doesn't. It's a game of luck to a huge extent.

Yes, you want to keep it in a very similar niche. You don't have to use the original content, though if you want to increase your chances of everything working out you can rebuild the site out from the archive. You don't have to though.

I agree with sticking to the niche relevancy. Even non relevant domains can do the job, but the chances of them not working properly are bigger, so ideally, stick with niche relevancy.

Time is the main enemy is the SEO game. If you can fast-forward to a year in the future, you want to do that every time you can afford to. We aren't getting any younger.

Amen

I was asking the same. I don't have like $1k to drop on a pro domain right now, so I'll try to snatch a cheaper one and see how it goes.

Well, if you do not have $1K to drop on a domain, will you have $5K to drop on offsite SEO instead?

 

[Golan]

I don't have like $1k to drop on a pro domain right now, so I'll try to snatch a cheaper one and see how it goes.

You can find very good domain for much cheaper than 1k.

 

[cochiloco]

I also agree, that building money sites on expired/auction domains is throwing shit against the wall. Sometimes it work, sometimes it doesn't. It's a game of luck to a huge extent.

Many thanks for your insights! Very useful knowledge! But the above in particular caught me by surprise.

I thought the whole point of using expired domains was to avoid this game of chance that you have with new domains. Because with new domains it’s definitely throwing shit against a wall, right? At least with an expired domain, you can have a certain minimum ranking power based on the metrics of that domain, no?

 

[Ryuzaki]

Because with new domains it’s definitely throwing shit against a wall, right? At least with an expired domain, you can have a certain minimum ranking power based on the metrics of that domain, no?

No. There's no gamble with a new domain. It's a clean slate. Complete tabula rasa. You know where you're starting... at the bottom.

With a previously owned domain the gamble is either starting at the bottom, or starting higher. The gamble here is on a benefit, not a negative.

The only negative there is is that you may waste some money, but I'd say that's pretty rare if you do basic checks on the domain like looking at the backlinks, looking in the wayback archive, seeing that it's not penalized or otherwise deindexed when possible, etc.

 

[Nargil]

Many thanks for your insights! Very useful knowledge! But the above in particular caught me by surprise.

I thought the whole point of using expired domains was to avoid this game of chance that you have with new domains. Because with new domains it’s definitely throwing shit against a wall, right? At least with an expired domain, you can have a certain minimum ranking power based on the metrics of that domain, no?

Basically what Ryuzaki said.

I will just add, that you have to be careful even with "fresh" domains. Especially if you go after EMD/PMD, because those have been abused to hell and back. Even if you start with a new domain, always check its history, anchors, historic backlink profile. Everything to make sure it has not been used before.

And another reason, why expired domain might not work for you, is this sentence:

At least with an expired domain, you can have a certain minimum ranking power based on the metrics of that domain, no?

Use metrics merely as a filter. If you have to go through hundreds of domains, use metrics to filter the shit ones out. If you are seriously interested in a specific domain, check the backlink profile by hand. Sure, some metrics are more reliable than others, Ahrefs is arguably the best one at the moment, but be very thorough about what you are buying.

All in all, if you stick with niche relevant domain, with decent backlink profile and pristine clean, the chances of it not working are very slim.