5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Question about Buying Aged Domain

by Charles Washington
4 replies
I found a domain name I really like and it is for sale. I am going to buy it, but wanted to know if there were things to look out for.

The site is about 9 years old according to archive.com, but according to the WHOIS it is only about 1.5 years old. OK, somebody bought it after the domain expired. Prior to that, it was a nice looking relevant website, nothing even remotely black hat looking.

The site isnt being promoted a PR or anything like that. It looks like it had around 400 backlinks in the past, but now only has a handful. Also, it has a lot of indexed links from shopping.com and nextag.

When I google the website address, the website is indexed in google.

To me, it seems like the domain is fine.

Seem good to you?
#aged #buying #domain #question
  • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
    Watch for negative reviews.

    I looked at a domain name once. It was a good domain. It was indexed and had decent rankings and backlinks.

    But, the previous operator had evidently ripped a lot of people off. People placed orders and never received them. They couldn't reach him, couldn't get refunds, etc. So, there was a lot of negativity on that business.

    I did not buy the domain because I didn't want to be associated with all that. No matter how clear you made it that you were not associated with the previous owner, there'd still be a number of links out there warning people not to buy from the site. You could try to contact them all, but, in the end, it could end up being more work than it was worth.

    So, that's one thing to hunt around for.
    Signature

    Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

    Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2642061].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Charles Washington
    ^^^ Thanks. I went through looking for reviews and cant find any good or bad.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2642081].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author NaturalStyle
    Look for domain drops in the domain's history. And go to archive.org and have a look at the content that has been put on the domain before.

    If the domain has backlinks check the quality of the backlinks. They might come from dubious sources and more hurt than help you.

    If it has page rank, check for fake page rank.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2642161].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Charles Washington
      Originally Posted by NaturalStyle View Post

      Look for domain drops in the domain's history. And go to archive.org and have a look at the content that has been put on the domain before.

      If the domain has backlinks check the quality of the backlinks. They might come from dubious sources and more hurt than help you.

      If it has page rank, check for fake page rank.
      According to Way back, it was a nice looking shopping site from 2001-2008. It never really changed in look or feel the whole time. It looks like it was dropped in 08 and picked up in 09 by a broker.

      It does have a PR1, though it isnt being marketed as such.

      According to Majestic SEO, it once had 400 backlinks, most in 2007 but now it only has 5 showing in site explorer.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2642256].message }}

Trending Topics