Expired Domains

[pauldodds1]

Hi,
I am new to the warrior forum and firstly I would just like to say hi to everyone.
Now,for the last few months I have been toying with the idea of buying an expired domain with traffic and links to promote affiliate products.Also I would monetize the site with adsense and maybe CPA offers.
Is there a system for this,and has anybody had any success with using expired domains to promote their own products,or affiliate products in the past. I mean if I found an expired domain that sold mobile phones for example,and it still had thousands of visitors a month,I would snap it up,build a site or buy a ready made site,and re-direct the traffic.

Would This Be Worthwhile:

Thankyou

[Mary Green]

It is going to be pretty expensive. You might just want to consider other traffic sources.

Mary

[Micheal Perkins]

There is a site called ExpiredDomains.com that has a service based around this idea. They charge a monthly fee for their service, but they put a bunch of expired sites on a list each month. When I used it before (a few years ago) they provided alexa rankings, and several other things resources to help evaluate the domain.

You might look into that.

[mompessons]

Hi Paul,

This is just an idea, and I don't know if it would work or not. Firstly, I don't know how you find expired domains. Maybe you can share that with us. But if you find one say IMsecretscourse.com could you buy IM-secrets-course.com ? Would it get the same traffic as the expired domain? I don't know anything about it, but just thought it might be an idea.

Marc Sampson.

[avi_31337]

If you get that domain name for cheap.... preferably the regular price...

you could be winner.....

[ExRat]

Hi Paul,

Yes you can have a lot of success with expired domains, and it doesn't have to be expensive.

I buy mine through tdnam (part of godaddy) and I have bought and tested hundreds of them. Look at closeouts (cheap) AND auctions (often not so cheap).

You have to be prepared (as with any online endeavour) for the fact that some will bomb, whereas some will be golden.

You will also find that certain things work, whereas certain other things don't. I probably should create a product on this because there's no way I'm about to give away all of the different things that I have discovered over a few years of testing this system out, at my expense.

I read most of the posts that come up on this subject, and I see many people basing their conclusions on very small tests (or possibly pure speculation or hearsay) and consequently sharing what looks (to me) like bad information - the point being, don't take anyone's advice as gospel (including mine) and conduct your own tests and look very closely at everything - IE - everything to do with the domain before purchase, and results after purchase. Then tie the two together and work out what works and what doesn't.

You will find that there are certain kinds of backlinks that are worth a lot more than others.

The knowledge that you will gain from this (such as the backlink findings) can be used in other areas - EG - new domains.

Overall, it is worthwhile looking into this and taking a punt on a domain that isn't too expensive. Personally though, I would avoid looking to use adsense on it because Google is the smartest of the SEs and will see this as an attempt to buck the system. Hope this helps.

[Anna Johnson]

Hi Paul,

We have an extensive portfolio of expired domains and regularly buy and monetize them. For the most part, we use parking and make an excellent ROI doing so. However, the model you've outlined definitely has potential and we plan to implement that same plan for some of our domains. My husband/biz partner runs DomainerIncome.com and we have more information (including a free report) on that site that may help you learn more about domaining.

Anna

[Anna Johnson]

I probably should create a product on this because there's no way I'm about to give away all of the different things that I have discovered over a few years of testing this system out, at my expense.

Isn't it funny? I have actually argued with my husband about doing such a product and he has largely refused for the same reasons. It's also telling that no high profile domainer has ever put out a 'how to' product. I think we will do some kind of tight coaching program in the future, and I still think there are plenty of helpful things you can teach without devaluing highly lucrative strategies, but there will still be some arm-twisting involved...

[ExRat]

Hi Anna,

It's also telling that no high profile domainer has ever put out a 'how to' product.

I've seen plenty of people pretending to do this and re-hashing slightly useful info that's been scraped from across the web. But I guess that's the nature of internet marketing, as I see the same thing across all IM areas.

Perhaps I should also create create products that spill the beans across many of those areas?



The eternal exrat dilemma....

[jasdon]

Originally Posted by pauldodds1

Hi,
I am new to the warrior forum and firstly I would just like to say hi to everyone.
Now,for the last few months I have been toying with the idea of buying an expired domain with traffic and links to promote affiliate products.Also I would monetize the site with adsense and maybe CPA offers.
Is there a system for this,and has anybody had any success with using expired domains to promote their own products,or affiliate products in the past. I mean if I found an expired domain that sold mobile phones for example,and it still had thousands of visitors a month,I would snap it up,build a site or buy a ready made site,and re-direct the traffic.

Would This Be Worthwhile:

Thankyou

Yes, this works, but you need to do it in a certain way.

A few tips; firstly, only a small percentage of expired names get any traffic at all - most of the ones that do get picked up through the auctions (Snapnames, Namejet etc). If you're entering the auctions to get names, be prepared to have to pay.

Before you buy a name, check what site used to be on there (through archive.org) and see if you can find a suitable CPA program that complements the previous site. Any traffic the name gets will likely come from SEs and backlinks, so the traffic must find content that they expected to find on your site, otherwise they'll hit the back button, and eventually you'll lose the backlinks.

Try and aim to get a name that makes sense in a commercial way, that way if things go wrong (there are no guarantees that you will retain the traffic) you will still have a salable asset.
For instance, it may be better to pay $1,500 for qualityrugs.com that only gets 200 uniques per month, than spending the same money on jimsqualityrugs.com that gets 1000 uniques per month (just made-up examples).

[Anna Johnson]

Hi Roger,

I also think the difference between domaining and some other areas is that you can seriously create a disadvantage for yourself by revealing certain strategies. That's not the case in say, scrapbooking, where if I put out a guide on scrapbooking, I won't suddenly lose my 'edge' in scrapbooking.

Having said that, you need to do an ROI analysis to really work out the pros and cons involved, what you're really in business to do, etc. I think the best scenario (and one I'm pushing for) is to be actively involved whilst also providing a range of training (the more information given, the more expensive and the fewer people allowed). But that's also because I love the information/education business.

Perhaps I should also create create products that spill the beans across many of those areas?

How about a 'tell all' on who has rehashed what? Now that would be very interesting...

[jasdon]

Originally Posted by mompessons

Hi Paul,

This is just an idea, and I don't know if it would work or not. Firstly, I don't know how you find expired domains. Maybe you can share that with us. But if you find one say IMsecretscourse.com could you buy IM-secrets-course.com ? Would it get the same traffic as the expired domain? I don't know anything about it, but just thought it might be an idea.

Marc Sampson.

No - traffic to a domain is unique. Unless you're talking about typos, but that's a whole different ball game. The majority of traffic to expired names comes from backlinks and SE listings, so it's totally unique to that domain.

[Dave777]

Here's another warrior thread and resource you need to checkout...
Thank You Warriors - I Have Done It

Dave

[allenjohn]

Hi - What would be the best way of testing for existing traffic for an expired domain? i.e. see a domain on a 'for sale' list, any way quick and easy way to ascertain whether that domain has traffic?

Thanks, Allen

[ExRat]

Hi Allen,

What would be the best way of testing for existing traffic for an expired domain? i.e. see a domain on a 'for sale' list, any way quick and easy way to ascertain whether that domain has traffic?

If it's through GoDaddy, they provide a traffic estimation.

Personally, the ones I have dealt with usually have such low traffic that it doesn't register on many of the sort of sites that claim to be able to predict.

And I don't buy them so much for existing traffic, as for how much traffic they will get when I put the type of site on there that I am planning to. What provides that traffic is a combination of all of the different elements that have proven to count.

In other words, it's not existing traffic - it's how the SEs will 'view' that domain with a new site on it, based on it's history.

There are a whole host of different elements that contribute to this. If I could offer one tip, it would be to examine the 'type' of backlinks it has. Of course, to be able to accurately understand what 'type' are the most powerful, requires buying a bunch and analyzing what works and what doesn't.

Quick example, a directory backlink such as google or yahoo or dmoz, is good. Most times they will be removed by the directory editors once they realise that the domain has expired, but still, even if it is removed, it is a great indicator for you and would suggest that the SEs will view this domain with more trust - even when the link is removed.

Another hint - a lot of the tools/sites that reveal a domain as having these links, are not updated too quickly. Therefore it is possible to establish that a domain used to have a directory backlink, even when it has been removed. This will also reveal to you why a domain might have a decent PR (also updated later rather than sooner) if it doesn't appear to have many other backlinks (which might conversely be a reason not to buy a domain, particularly if it's price is higher because of the PR.)

Hi Anna,

Thanks for the advice. My main reason is -

what you're really in business to do

I'm trying to work this out currently.

but that's also because I love the information/education business.

I have a love/hate relationship with it

How about a 'tell all' on who has rehashed what? Now that would be very interesting...

My first 5000 posts here were about that - most of it deleted now though

Hi Dave,

Here's another warrior thread and resource you need to checkout

No stone knowingly left unturned here