If you are new to the online world, you certainly know that feeling - when you want to buy a good domain name (requested, suitable, and of course - SEO friendly), but you search, and search, and... they are all taken. But sometimes they become free. Moreover, some people keep track of how many days are left until a domain name becomes available and "pray" that it will not be extended.
Let's see: how to correctly choose a domain name that is SEO friendly? Also, let's find out: what are the risks of buying a recently expired domain? Is it worth hunting down domain names already taken? Read everything you need to know about buying a recently expired domain and SEO in this article.
This article answers the question: does it make sense to buy a newly expired domain name, from an SEO point of view, or is it better to get one that expired months/years ago? It all started with a request. We needed to help someone decide if it would be a good idea, based on SEO metrics, to buy a recently expired domain name.
By reading this analysis on buying a domain name, you will learn:
1. If for SEO it is better to get a domain name that contains the keywords you are hunting for?
2. The risks of purchasing an expired or expiring domain name, and how to choose an SEO-friendly domain.
3. What are the tools to help you find out how good an expired or soon-to-expire domain name is?
4. What is the connection between the age of a domain name and the positions of a site in Google?
In today's analysis, we will focus on a few axioms. Here is the first axiom:
A well-chosen domain name is a privilege, but a small enough one to give too much importance to.
Does the main keyword have to be in the domain name?
If the keywords you want to focus your business on are found in the top-level domain (TLD) - that's an advantage, but... it helps a bit! Let's say you want to be found on the internet for the keywords "SEO services". And by coincidence, a lot of analysis, and ... a little luck - you managed to purchase the excellent domain name - "seo-services".
Does this ensure your search engine ubiquity for your SEO keyword family? Will you now have positions on keywords such as: "SEO services", "SEO Romania services", "SEO Bucharest services" etc.? Not likely.
How important is your domain name to Google?
Over time, search engine algorithms have become more intelligent. This means that in addition to analyzing your domain name, they are measuring your site's relevance/popularity on many more metrics than you might imagine.
Our advice is not to settle for a domain name that matches your keywords exactly. Focus primarily on great content. If you want good rankings for SEO services, write a series of articles on: What is SEO? How does SEO optimization work? What does SEO Services include? You're much closer to ranking well in Google by following this basic principle that hasn't expired yet and probably never will – good content is key to success.
If you keep your visitors engaged with interactive content, infographics, images, and unique and deep texts, the rest... will matter less.
The 2nd axiom reads like this:
The internet belongs to no one, yet everyone and Google (and other search engines) know it.
At the other extreme is the fear of purchasing a domain name that has recently expired because it might have a bad reputation.
Or, conversely, one hopes to gain particular advantages by taking over a name with a long and good history. They look for sites with high DA (Domain Authority – which means domain authority), with many backlinks, and with a high PR.
But still, what are the risks when you decide to buy a recently expired domain?
- The risk of this domain name being penalized by Google. Before purchasing, use tools that check whether the site has been penalized by the search engine, such as an online checker.
But if you only discover the penalty after you've purchased the domain name, you can save your online reputation. Google allows you to fight for your positions. Use their tools to explain what the situation is. Fight bad backlinks. Use disavow if appropriate, or build a campaign to get rid of bad backlinks. And don't forget – problems without solutions don't exist! Learn more about how to escape a Google penalty here: support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2604824?hl=en.
- The risk of this domain name being penalized by Google AdSense. If one of your goals is to place AdSense advertising on the newly acquired domain name, it would be ideal to check whether this domain name has been banned by Google.
How do we measure the performance of an existing / recently expired domain?
So is a domain name with an extensive history better than a domain name with no history? For a random name, the answer is always the same – it depends. We use relevance and popularity metrics analysis to find out.
In our case study, the domain name expired about a month ago. It had a fairly low domain authority (DA) and only 4 indexed pages of that site (which used to have thousands) remained in Google.
Our answer was: if you're going to care about "rebuilding your Authority", get it, if not - it won't do you much good in SEO.
Or, you see, in one month the site disappeared to the extent of 99.9% from the Google index.
Almost entirely. You will start at 0. You still have one chance to increase it.
The link between domain age and SEO performance
There has been an uproar over this topic for years now. Many notice that the Google charts are full of articles written years ago. Or, it is also said that a good site has a good history.
Google cares not to disappoint its users with bad or uninformative content. Precisely for this reason, he is very careful who he puts in the TOP search results. Thus, he prefers to give priority to a good "soldier", who has served well for years in a row. Google chooses sites that have performed well in the SERP: without disappointment, without deleting the content from the site without a trace, and without trying to manipulate the search engine. But, at the same time, relatively new websites that have something to offer users also appear in the results. Websites with excellent content, well-built, with good architecture are also privileged by Google.
Our bottom line is this: domain age is certainly part of Google's Algorithms, but it doesn't play a huge role compared to content relevance, user experience, or load speed.
Buying recently expired domains and SEO. Final thoughts
Our final advice is to focus on creating a unique, informative, interactive website that users will simply fall in love with instantly. In such a case, purely technical metrics such as domain age, and the presence of an important keyword in the domain name - remain on the back burner.