Building Links With Expired Domains
Researching Dropped / Expired Domains
There are many tools around the internet to find expired domains or recently dropped domains. One of my favorites is ExpiredDomains.net. Many people simply search for high PageRank domains, register and 301 redirect the domain to their existing website. I personally am not a fan of this technique because you typically aren’t redirecting a website that is thematically relevant and the anchor text / link domains aren’t relevant either. I like to think that Google is smart enough to track this and many SEOs have rumored the devaluation of links once a domain expires. I don’t believe the second part but I do think there is a better way to utilize these newly acquired domains.
Building Micro Sites
Did you find a domain that has expired with multiple valuable links? Why not create a small 2-3 page resource website that adds value to visitors that at the end links to your money site as a resource? I’ve seen this technique add value. The key in my mind is to make sure your staying relevant to your niche. Don’t bother picking up an old dental website to build out into a small informational site linking to your weight loss website. Look for dropped domains in the health or fitness niche that you can build this mini resource on. Odds are the inbound links going into this expired domains will be relevant to your money site which will make the outbound link from your new informational niche site much more valuable.
What To Look For In Dropped Domains
The question most will ask is what should they look for when scouring dropped or expired domains? First thing I look for is a relevant domain name to your niche. Second I look at link authority (specifically trust and domain). Third I look at the actual link profile to see where the links are coming from. Fourth i’m looking at the anchor text of the links and the age of the domain.
Moving forward with the weight loss example I would be looking for a dropped or expired domain that looks like this:
- Domain name that is relevant to health care, fitness, or healthy eating.
- Domain trust number above 3.00
- Domain Authority above 25
- Link profile that isn’t primarily built with directory links or other spammy links. If I can identify at least 5 “non reproducible” links then i’m pretty excited. Domain trust and authority is a good metric to determine if these domains have a couple of these types of valuable links.
- Anchor text that is relevant to my niche. In this example anything to do with exercise, weight loss or health in general.
Build A Well Rounded Link Profile
I’m not advocating that you build your own mini link network of expired websites in order to rank your money site. I suggest using this tactic as an additional link building lever that your competitors cannot reproduce. Depending on what type of risk you want to take and to what level you want to scale your expired domain link building you might want to consider unique web hosting plans so you can diversify your IP addresses.
On the note of hosting; HostGator recently sent me a discount code that i’ll share with you guys for 35% off a new hosting plan. use code “FEB35“. The code is not tied to my affiliate account so if you choose to use the promo code and want to help me out you can use my affiliate link right here. Otherwise use the code when you sign up and i’ll receive nothing which is fine by me too. The promo code expires at the end of the month so if your reading this post February you might want to scour the internet for a different code.
Nice article Nick. I have setup a couple of these as a trial for some of my smaller niche websites to drive some traffic and it’s showing good results. Got a 5400 exact match search keyword to bottom of page 1 from 2 average expired links that just meet the above criteria which was a nice benefit. I suppose the balancing act is in not going too far and getting slapped!
Hey Greg. Thanks for commenting and sharing your success with this strategy. I agree that its all about balancing your tactics and techniques. I definitely wouldn’t go about building every link to your money site this way. This may however be a good tactic if your bouncing between positions or looking for something to put you just over the edge to a successful ranking!
What kills a person is the money involved in separate ip classes. A person is looking at $5 a site a month unless you have hundreds of sites where then you would get a discount. So then 20 websites puts you at $100 monthly just in HOSTING. I see the most benefit in this as using free hosts that let you use their hosting. For instance, sites like Weebly lets you use your custom domain and you can ride on their hosting for free. Or Blogger.. There are only a select amount but you can still reap the benefits of the free ones for sure.
I’ve also learned that if you can just save your money and buy a $500 domain with a lot of authority, that it can sometimes be more useful because you spend way less money in hosting and in the long run.. it just is sometimes worth it. The saying “it takes money to make money” is true in this instance. Great stuff Nick. Looking for some tips or real tricks though haha just messin
Hey Chris, I think if your building niche sites and only making $5 a month then your 100% right. You obviously can’t spend more than you earn. I personally have a couple different web hosts but don’t go to overboard on worrying about IP diversification. My focus is primarily on relevancy not “tricking” the search engines with different IPs. My experience is that I make enough money with each niche site a month to pay for the additional $6 a month for a Hostgator account.
As for the $$$ domain that’s definitely a technique that’s great for building an established authority site. Nothing better then starting out of the gate with some solid domain authority and juicy links. If you can get an awesome domain name too that’s killer!
Hi Nick! Nice Article.
About your Statement: ” I like to think that Google is smart enough to track this and many SEOs have rumored the devaluation of links once a domain expires.”
A 301 is not having the Power it used to have ( See Video Of Google her: “What percentage of PageRank is lost through a 301 redirect?” http://youtu.be/Filv4pP-1nw )
Allmost all my Customers on Snap.at (Expired Domains that i own Myself!) use the Expired Domains to build there own Landingpages / Websites or small sites in order to build there own little Linkwheel or Project in order to Exchange links.
See ya
Regards
Leo
Hey Leo, sorry for the late response.
Nice to see others utilizing this technique. As I mentioned before, I think it definitely offers value but I wouldn’t only use this technique when building links.
I would be very interested in hearing more about the results your clients are receiving from this technique. Care to share?