I mentioned in a recent post that i am now using aged domains for my new niche websites so I’d like to give you more information on why I am doing that and how to find suitable aged domains to buy.
Advantages of Aged Domains
- Google already knows about the domain
- Yahoo already knows about the domain
- Search engines give some advantages to aged domains
- You may avoid the Google sandbox
My experiences
I started using aged domains a few months ago and so far it has proved a good move. New sites using aged domains have been indexed faster and started to receive visitors much faster too. Yahoo has been sending me visitors for most of the sites almost instantly as opposed to months for a newly registered domain.There are one or 2 exceptions where Yahoo is completely ignoring the sites. I have no idea why? So far I’ve avoided the Google sandbox but I can’t say definitely if this is coincidence or aged domains really do help you avoid it. For the $5 or $10 dollars n aged domain can be purchased for it really is worth it.
Where to Find Aged Domains
I use Go Daddy Auctions but you can also use Sedo and Freshdrop . Sedo auctions are more expensive and almost all over $50. Freshdrop gives you more information when you search but I found that not all the Go Daddy domain names available were listed. As I usually use Go Daddy I’ll us that for showing you how to go about finding and purchasing the domains.
Using Go Daddy to Find Aged Domains
You’ll need to register with Go Daddy Auctions before you can make a purchase. Go to the Go daddy Auction site and find the Join Now button or go directly to the registration page . It’s only $4.99 a year. Once registered go back to Go daddy Auctions and begin a search. You can enter a search term that is contained in or at the beginning of the domain name you’re looking for. Using the advanced search you can search for TLD’s. I usually choose .com or .net (I definitely don’t want .info!)
You can also choose the type of auction. Closeouts are all $5 expiring auctions start at $10. The other auctions are more expensive. As I’m looking for domain names for niche sites I don’t want to spend a lot so I usually only look for these two types.
Do the search and you’ll get a list of domain names. I used ‘mp3′ as an example. My search came up with the following and I’ll use newbestmp3.com as an example
Checking the Domain Name in Google
THIS IS VITALLY iMPORTANT! Use site:domainname.com and www.domainname.com to see if Google has the name in its index. Use both www and without www as Google sometimes indexes only one of them. If the site doesn’t show up move on. We don’t want a site that Google has deindexed or never indexed as this defeats the object of using aged domains. many of the domain names for sale do not appear in a site search so it may take some time to find one that may be suitable. The first 10 using ‘mp3′ didn’t show up as indexed so in the interests of getting this post written I’ll use the newbestmp3.com as my example even though it isn’t indexed.
Using Whois to Check the Age
The longer the site has been registered (and hopefully indexed by Google) the better so check the age with Whois . My example site gave the following details
Created: 2007-09-02
Expires: 2009-09-02
So this domain is not very old and I would reject it.
Using Wayback Machine
Next check any past web pages to make sure the site has not been associated with spamming or porn at The Wayback Machine
Back to Go Daddy to Bid
Once you’ve found a suitable site go back to Go Daddy and place your bid or Buy it Now. You’ll pay the regular domain price plus the amount you bid. You’ll want to get a discount on the domain price so go to Fat Wallet (they worked last time I checked!) or do a search for Go Daddy Coupon Codes. They change regularly and some sites have ones that don’t work but keep looking, it’s worth it!
Wait for you Domain Name
You won’t be able to access your domain name immediately. The typical wait is about 10 days before the domain is added to your Go Daddy account.
Conclusion
It’s well worth the extra time it takes to search for a suitable aged domain name. I haven’t found anywhere that has cheap .co.uk aged domain names so if you know anywhere please let us know. Good luck in your search!
What you really want to find is a previously satisfied customer to ask questions before you buy. Domain Names
Keeping a domain can be expensive, but it’s worth the investment in the long run. I have more than 40 domains, 30 of them are registered with Godaddy. Of the number, I can only manage 3 websites. The rest of the domains are sitting idle. But I’ll just wait until the domains age.
The wayback machine is a very useful tool. I have checked some of my domains and its interesting to see some of the screen shots of webpages that were associated with the domain. (so far no bad ones) Anyways, this is a great post, nice work! — Tony
Great post. I love to read it. But i don’t have domain so how could i do it. Thanks for sharing this in your post with us.
A good post. I actually learned something. Might go down this road in the future.
I’ve been tried to use one of aged domain… it’s hard to attract visitor but after few months it got visitor attention… some even ask if it the same as before i just said only the domain not the man
cash4gold
but you will not be satisfied with the name. If you want long term, I might as well go for a proper domain name. Otherwise you can milk to domain for a short term
I agree that keeping a domain can be expensive. But you can actually have investments on it if you have satisfied customers along the way. Patience I guess is one big factor.
-M from Mexico
Yes, the older domain might help but I would certainly prefer a new domain that can be related to the service that I provide and that can create more visitors
Selbourne said “but you will not be satisfied with the name”
You can usually find a domain name that is exactly related to your niche. If there isn’t one then I will register a new domain name but I’ve only had to do that once or twice.
I purchased an expired domain with a PR3 and it had been indexed in Google and Yahoo, when I changed the site and updated the RSS feeds, the Page Rank dropped to 0!
Just remember you’ll have to do some work to get the expried domain up again.
Tony Bradley.
What you really want to find is a previously satisfied customer to ask questions before you buy.
This is awesome information and I really appreciate. One question that cones to mind is whether or not page rank comes with the domain, I will have to check that out. Once again, many thanks, I will visit your blog again, I enjoy learning new things!
I learned something by stopping by here. Thank you so much for sharing a valuable information.
This is truly a great read for me!! I love the quality information and news your blog provides
I have you bookmarked to show this to my brother!
Thanks,
Buying an aged domain is still more expensive right? But I guess the benefits outweight the costs in the long run. Thanks for sharing by the way!
Yahoo’s Overture and Google’s AdSense. Both offer advertising that puts your URL in front of the people most interested in what you’re offering.
Network Solutions has there expired domains rss feed that is nice too.
Network Solutions is nice but Pool.com is one of the larger sites for expired domains.
Aged domains are good for SEO purposes. I usually build my domain by registering new, but I really should start looking at Aged domains with Quicker indexing I’m sure. For me I usually build a site and move to my next project and by the time I get back to that project its had time to get noticed and improve rank. I will try the sedo auctions.
I really didn’t know that old domain names have so much benefit for seo purposes.
Thanks to you,now I will consider buying old domains.
My friends do SEO work and aged domains make it 10 times easyer they say. They are worth the money if your looking for traffic and can afford it with what your selling.
Thanks for the tips and informations. I really did learn a lot today.
Uniqueness is ideal for site url. It must make sense, not be too long and be relevant to the service you provide or the product you sell. Old domains have PR with them but once you change the content of the site the PR goes out the window once a new search is performed.
Regards!
Very grateful for the information that I found here. Glad that I found your site.
It’s probably a good idea for most projects. Will try it when I’m starting a new site.
Cool information. Thank you for sharing this. I will use this when i gonna start a new site.
good and useful info, thank you very much, i learned something today!
Nice info. I often use aged domains for my projects
Great info, i am learning a lot from your blog.
Amazing, so many useful information on this blog.
Buying aged domain names does help in optimizing the site because it has certain level of authority or links in the past. You do not have to go through the tedious process of optimizing it at the very start.
Rif Chia
Before buying an old domain name, You should keep in mind that it might not be personalised in the way you want it to be.
You have really good idea about buy older domains because they have already a income. But for me on my own its better to start a new domains.
It really depends on how you view your website’s usage as. If it is used as the official corporate site when name is one of the consideration then getting a new domain name should be the case. However, if the site will be used to generate awareness to your business, it is wiser to get an older keyword rich domain name for SEO purposes.
Its really a nice post. But from where can i buy these old domains? what will be its cost approximately?
Thats great info on getting domains. Will come in handy when you are on the lookout for one.
Post is very interesting regarding domain knowledge but let me know, is it not possible to make income through new domain I think it will take time but we can. Am I right bcoz buying domain and spending a lot of money is not affordable for every one.
Very easy to follow the advice. Thanks
I really learn something from from your post today… nice post
Very nice post. I did’t know about godaddy Auctions. I’m going to check it now! Thanks again.
Why not just use this free website?
http://www.aged-domain-finder.com ?
It makes it easy to search for domains with multiple keywords (something godaddy does not allow).
The best part is that it also shows you the age of the domain and the page rank!
I bought a 10 year old domain with this tool. You still need to use the wayback tool to ensure it was not associated with spam, etc but it saves me a lot of time.
Enjoy!
Mike
At first, I didn’t think about Aged domain. I take it for granted because I didn’t understand it fully. What is the purpose and what will be the helpful way about this topic.But now I am thanks to know it and having this tips.Thanks a lot.
Thanks for sharing this information with us. I was a great article. I caught helpful idea that could help me a lot.
here what I’m looking for. thanks for info how to buy old domain. thanks.