Buying PR domain for article directory. Worth it?

15 replies
Hi.
I want to build an article directory and all of us know that it's better to post your article in the directory that has lots backlinks to it and Pr. So now the question is if it's a good idea to buy expiring or expired domain that has Pr and backlinks already and build an article directory?

I was researching the matter last night and here is what I found.

1. Most likely you will lose that PR the next update. Not sure why maybe because of the next thing...
2. You will lose all those backlinks because the owner of that domain will remove all the links to the domain.

Now people suggest that you look what kind of backlinks the domain already has, if they are free backlinks from social sites or directories, then go for it.

I mean you can either buy "fresh" domain for $7-9 and do link building or with Pr2-3 and some backlinks for $10.

Have you had an experience with this? Would you tell me what the cons and pros of buying Pr domain?

Thank you!
#article #buying #directory #domain #worth
  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    I've bought a few domains with backlinks and most of them have kept their links and the PR as well (plus the traffic).

    But, I think you have to look at the links and see where they are coming from - are they links that are likely to be removed when the owner of the site with the link sees that the original sit is different, or are they from a site that doesn't appear to be tended to in which case the link will probably stay.

    Also, you want to look at what the site used to be and make sure it wasn't spammy as this could affect your indexing. Plus if it's already getting traffic then it might be beneficial to you to be able to monitize that in some way.

    I have found that the older sites are better as are ones that were not affiliate/adsense sites to begin with.

    I've seen some expiring article directories go for quite a bit of money on the godaddy auction block so there must be advantages to buying them, or maybe just people with good money to blow!

    Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author AlexanderFaust
    Thanks cashcow!

    What service would you suggest to find good domains? Godaddy auction doesnt give you info on pr and backlinks, check everything manually takes lots of time. I found registercompass.com is it any good?

    Thanks you.
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    • Profile picture of the author howinfo
      I think that it is really hard to get the domain name you like with good amount and quality backlinks. And If you do find it you should be prepared to pay lot of money for it. I was in the similar situation about six months ago as we decided to start an article directory ourselves. Finally we decided to go for a brand new domain name, it had no history or no backlinks but we got the domain name we exactly wanted. Now we have been using usual link building techniques and it is doing really well.
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  • Profile picture of the author VegasGreg
    PR is "Page" rank , not "Domain" rank.

    So unless you are keeping the same page content that is there now, the PR will most likely go away and you will have to start all over anyway. If there are a lot of incoming links, that could be a good head start though. Again, that would depend on how and where the links are and if they will stay.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Yeah Register Compass is pretty good. The only thing is that a lot of times you will find the perfect domain only to click through and find that the domain auction has ended - they don't have the latest stuff.

    Or maybe I never used it right in the first place?


    Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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    I've bought PR domains and they did not keep the PR without the original content. PR is normally assigned to content, not to the domain, so I don't see why it would keep the PR once the content is gone.
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  • Profile picture of the author AlexanderFaust
    Well I got the "content" thing, but I think getting backlinks that will stay definitely helps. Even I'll change the content, those links can give me some link juice. Guys what about age of the domain? Looks like G give more love to older sites (domains)?

    BTW I dont really care about what the domain says in this particular case, even it kwuugfewu.com What I'm looking for is domain age and backlinks.

    I will buy one test domain and will see how it goes )))
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    You are better off to register a new domain and spend your money on creating a "unique article directory" ... PR means nothing and backlinks can be built easily enough.

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author AlexanderFaust
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      You are better off to register a new domain and spend your money on creating a "unique article directory" ... PR means nothing and backlinks can be built easily enough.

      James
      Comе on )) How many "unique article directories" out there? What are people looking for in an article directory? For the most part people need a backlink and the don't care how "unique" this directory is. They need more link juice ))

      If I'll send you a link to 2 GENERAL (not niche based) article directories asking to submit to only one of them. Which one are you going to choose? I bet the one that has more authority in Googles eyes (read PR and number of backlinks)

      Or I'm missing something?
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      • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
        Originally Posted by AlexanderFaust View Post

        Comе on )) How many "unique article directories" out there? What are people looking for in an article directory? For the most part people need a backlink and the don't care how "unique" this directory is. They need more link juice ))

        If I'll send you a link to 2 GENERAL (not niche based) article directories asking to submit to only one of them. Which one are you going to choose? I bet the one that has more authority in Googles eyes (read PR and number of backlinks)

        Or I'm missing something?
        I disagree very much so ... There are a few of us that have a unique article directory because we realize those cheap adsense farms do not work and they will be out of business... Authors "are" looking for something unique and something you can offer them.

        Authority !!! Please give me a break, a site has authority because people say it does. This does not make it is a great site and furthermore google is not the only search engine. PR means nothing and many know this, they know a PR 0 can outrank a PR 8 anyday of the week.

        I will choose the article directory that can offer me more as an author. Exactly why I do not post to eza because they offer nothing but an adsense farm.

        I hate to inform you but I can show you a bunch of people that do care that the article directory is unique and care about them as authors. Wannabe article marketers do not care, you are right there.. But many and I do mean many demand quality.

        More and more consumers are demanding quality and informative content and this is why many article directories go out of business each and every year... You see hundreds dropping like flies, because those adsense farms no longer work.

        Only those article directories that can think outside the box and offer something to their authors will survive the next year..

        I think you are going to find that your research lacks a great deal and you are in for more work than you can imagine. Unless you allow all auto submitting and auto approval and in that case you will have nothing but a junk filled spammy directory that no "real" author will post in ..

        James
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        • Profile picture of the author AlexanderFaust
          Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

          I disagree very much so ... There are a few of us that have a unique article directory because we realize those cheap adsense farms do not work and they will be out of business... Authors "are" looking for something unique and something you can offer them.

          Authority !!! Please give me a break, a site has authority because people say it does. This does not make it is a great site and furthermore google is not the only search engine. PR means nothing and many know this, they know a PR 0 can outrank a PR 8 anyday of the week.

          I will choose the article directory that can offer me more as an author. Exactly why I do not post to eza because they offer nothing but an adsense farm.

          I hate to inform you but I can show you a bunch of people that do care that the article directory is unique and care about them as authors. Wannabe article marketers do not care, you are right there.. But many and I do mean many demand quality.

          More and more consumers are demanding quality and informative content and this is why many article directories go out of business each and every year... You see hundreds dropping like flies, because those adsense farms no longer work.

          Only those article directories that can think outside the box and offer something to their authors will survive the next year..

          I think you are going to find that your research lacks a great deal and you are in for more work than you can imagine. Unless you allow all auto submitting and auto approval and in that case you will have nothing but a junk filled spammy directory that no "real" author will post in ..

          James
          Well, I agree with some of your thoughts and disagree with others.
          First lets get back to what this thread is about. What's better domain that has some PR for article directory or one that doesn't. I think now I know everything I need.
          Now, my question to you was..

          If I'll send you a link to 2 GENERAL (not niche based) article directories asking to submit to only one of them. Which one are you going to choose? I bet the one that has more authority in Googles eyes (read PR and number of backlinks)
          Those 2 directory dont offer adds on services like your directory, just 2 general directories, that's it. Which one would you choose?

          Why people submit to eza? We can talk about how bad it is as a directory, but first as a business it is successful, second a link from eza will boost my rankings much better then link from your directory. Where will I submit my article?

          I can feel what you are saying about "uniqueness" and totally agree with you. Directory has ho have something that will attract authors. The thread is however about PR. BTW I now that PR0 page or site can outrank PR8 site, but that's not what we discuss here. We talk about link juice that article directory can give.

          Again, your article directory looks like a good one, worth checking it out. My English is not a native language, but I think there is a typo: "But what if you could you knock out three, four or five of those bad boys in a just".

          Thanks for you opinion!
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          • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
            Originally Posted by AlexanderFaust View Post

            a link from eza will boost my rankings much better then link from your directory. Where will I submit my article?
            Do not be so sure about that ....

            Originally Posted by AlexanderFaust View Post

            What's better domain that has some PR for article directory or one that doesn't. I think now I know everything I need.
            My opinion, a new domain name.. PR means nothing again and you also need to look at the fact what was that domain name used for. Was the name used in any mass spamming ? Was it used in any illegal activities ? Was it used to rip someone off ? These are things many never think about when going to buy a domain.

            Originally Posted by AlexanderFaust View Post

            If I'll send you a link to 2 GENERAL (not niche based) article directories asking to submit to only one of them. Which one are you going to choose? I bet the one that has more authority in Googles eyes (read PR and number of backlinks)
            As I already stated : I will choose the article directory that can offer me more as an author.

            As for backlinks, nobody and I do mean nobody knows all the backlinks a site has. You can use all the tools online and still never know all the backlinks. Great example this site has over 80,000 backlinks but I promise you that you will never be able to find all 80,000+ - Article Marketing Services: Ghost Writing and Article Distribution from The Phantom Writers Since 2001

            As for google, no I am not googlized like most people are. There are far more search engines that millions use everyday. Google is nothing more than a search engine that is good for some traffic and that is all. They are not the be all and end all of search engines.

            I know for a fact that the above site mentioned only gets approx 8% of its thousands of unique visitors monthy from google.

            James
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        • Profile picture of the author JoeWunschSEO
          Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

          I disagree very much so ... There are a few of us that have a unique article directory because we realize those cheap adsense farms do not work and they will be out of business... Authors "are" looking for something unique and something you can offer them.
          James, you do realize you can purchase a pre-release domain and still create a unique site using that domain, right?

          There are many advantages to purchasing a pre-release (soon to be expired, but not expired) domain, such as getting a domain that is over a decade old, with aged links.

          You do not have to worry about new website filters and have a huge head start over a fresh domain. There are of course many cons as well such as not being able to pick your own domain name, which affects branding ability -- but there are many positives to picking up a pre-release domain.

          Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

          I know for a fact that the above site mentioned only gets approx 8% of its thousands of unique visitors monthy from google.
          Thousands of unique visitors per month is nothing, that is hardly any traffic. Since it gets such a small amount of traffic, my guess on why it gets only 8% of its traffic from google is because it does not rank well on google. If it ranked well on google it should be getting tens of thousands - hundreds of thousands of unique visitors per month.

          That site is targeting the term "ghost writing" which isn't even the correct keyword, it should be targeting "ghostwriting". And then after looking on google for the term "ghost writing" it can not be found until the 6th page.

          That is why it only gets 8% of its traffic from google, not many people go to the 6th page to find a website, and google can not send you traffic if you do not rank.

          Originally Posted by AlexanderFaust View Post

          Hi.
          I want to build an article directory and all of us know that it's better to post your article in the directory that has lots backlinks to it and Pr. So now the question is if it's a good idea to buy expiring or expired domain that has Pr and backlinks already and build an article directory?

          I was researching the matter last night and here is what I found.

          1. Most likely you will lose that PR the next update. Not sure why maybe because of the next thing...
          2. You will lose all those backlinks because the owner of that domain will remove all the links to the domain.

          Now people suggest that you look what kind of backlinks the domain already has, if they are free backlinks from social sites or directories, then go for it.

          I mean you can either buy "fresh" domain for $7-9 and do link building or with Pr2-3 and some backlinks for $10.

          Have you had an experience with this? Would you tell me what the cons and pros of buying Pr domain?

          Thank you!
          I have listed some of the pros above.

          You do not want to purchase an expired domain, you want to get a pre-release domain that is being auctioned off by a registrar -- such as from namejet.com

          This way the domain does not expire and google does not 'reset' the authority, it keeps it.

          I personally purchase pre-release domains for a different reason. I purchase 5+ year old domains with PR3+, and I put them in blocks of 10 on shared hosting accounts with different C Class IP's.

          I then put wordpress on them and use them to build links to my main sites (all my other sites not in this network of blogs)

          I have a little over 700 domains now in my personal link network that I can use to build links to any new site I create. This lets me get any new site I build ranking very fast without any link building effort besides posting blog posts on these sites I own.

          I do however of course do some other link building so that my links are varied, but very minimal, I run them through BMD for a few hundred socialbookmarking links, and I use all of Big Mike's Icansoft Bot Tools (VideoBot, BlogBot, PadBot, DirectoryBot, PressBot, RssBot, ArticleBot) to submit them to many different types of sites from videos to article sites so that my links are varied, all of them being from wordpress blogs I own would surely trip a filter.

          And the cost is relatively cheap, for 700 domains I am paying around $6000 per year for the domain registrations and the various shared hosting accounts and C-Class IP's I rent on some of them because I ran out of shared hosting accounts to sign up with so I had to start renting my own IP addresses.
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  • Profile picture of the author Grapho
    Originally Posted by AlexanderFaust View Post

    expiring or expired domain
    There's a difference between expiring and expired.

    Expiring is usually sold at auctions/marketplaces (godaddy, dynadot, name.com...) while still registered and pending renewal (if you do a site:domain.tld it still appears on google). This has the greater chance to keep its PR intact.

    Expired or backordered domains (domain nabbler on name.com and many other) have been deleted from the registry and do not appear in a site: query. They will loose PR almost for sure (always check the whois - if it has PR and is just weeks old it's likely to have been re-registered after a drop).

    Having said this, to the best of my knowledge there's no way to know in advance if backlinks/PR will survive or not. Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Keegan
    For the majority of expiring domains I've bought the PR has remained but there have been a few where the PR has dropped or disappeared.

    There is no way of telling what google will think of the new site you put on the domain or if the backlinks pointing to the site giving it the PR will be removed by the site owners.

    As long as the price isn't to high I think purchasing expiring domains with PR is a worthwhile investment.

    Cheers,
    Danny.
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