January 2009 Archives
Link Juice Shopping = Expiring Domains
Buy expiring domain names and get link juice and authority. Expired domains are great for SEO. I will try to explain why.
So what are expiring domain names?
Every day thousands of domain names expire but get bought up and changes ownership before they delete and become readily available again for registration. In the domain name industry the domain name aftermarket of buying expiring domain names is big business. Lots of "domainers" and domain name companies are spending hours upon hours sifting through lists of upcoming expiring domain names.
Nowadays buying expired, or pending delete, domain names has become more of a main-stream thing, even outside domaining circles. It takes an expired domain 30 days before it goes back into the pool of masses and become readily available again to register at any domain name registrar. Within this 30 day time period, between expiring and becoming available again, thousands of domain names exchange hands in what is called the 'domain name aftermarket'.
The life cycle of a domain name
The life cycle of a generic domain name (.com, .net, .org etc) explained by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
(Source: http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/gtld-lifecycle.htm)
Expiring domain names was registered a year or more ago by someone who did not attempt to renew their domain name. Basically, once a domain is expiring it enters into an "Auto Renew Grace Period" (see above). This period usually lasts for 30 days and the owner of the domain is able to renew anytime during that time frame.
Should the owner fail to renew the domain it will enter into the "Redemption period" (see above). In the redemption period the domain name registrar becomes the owner of the domain (the original owner can still come in and renew it), and will try to sell the domain through auctions.
After the pending delete period the domain name is a goner for both the original owner and the registrar. The domain will become readily available at any registrar, as it goes back in to the pool of masses.
Domain name auction houses
Domain auction houses collect expiring domain names from different registrars and hence, have varying catalogues of names to browse. The better known ones and their major affiliate registrars are:
- SnapNames, affiliated with Moniker, MelbourneIT, DirectNIC
- NameJet, affiliated with Network Solutions, eNom
- Afternic, affiliated with Tucows
- Go Daddy, have their own Go Daddy Auctions
They work on different platforms, but what they have in common is that there is an auction and when the auction ends and you are the highest bidder, the domain is yours.
Most popular domain name registrars
The world's top 15 registrars with total domains in millions. (I highly recommend you to check out the link and play around with it, deserves a blog post on its own).
(Source: http://www.registrarstats.com/Public/RegistrarMarketShareMain.aspx)
So why should you care about expiring domain names?
Many expiring domain names hold authority in the eyes of search engines, stemming from the link juice, directory listings, and the age of domain. It is the short cut way to own a site with a reputation. The reputation and authority is carried over to the new owner, it's never voided. Deleted and readily available to register again domain names lose much of their juicy features.
With a freshly registered domain name you have to walk through the dark forest, with expiring domain names you can cruise through the woods on a bike. Buying expiring domain names can give you a domain with existing link juice. It can give you a domain already listed in dmoz and the yahoo directory, it can already have a couple of .edu and/or .gov back links and it can give you a domain with old ripe age.
Always do your research! However, don't expect to find expiring domain names like seo.com. You will come across HEAPS of junk names. Lots of crap is expiring and for that reason lots of expiring domain names deserve to be buried and forgotten. But, there are gems to be found! Make sure you always double check domain name age, PR, back links and so forth.
Best places to buy expiring domains?
SnapNames
http://www.snapnames.com
SnapNames is probably the most prominent domain auction company. SnapNames offers an "In Auction" section that works like any other online auction site (think eBay for the uber geek). They also offer an "Available Soon" section, an auction that can be joined by anyone, but is limited to those who place bids on domains before the start date of an auction. This is good for serious bidders, because it takes out people who may not be serious about the auction process.
SnapNames tries to "snap" expiring domain names from all registrars but, you will be more successful in your buying if you target expiring domain names from registrars exclusively affiliated with SnapNames. Prices start from $59 each and you will only get charged if you win the expiring domain name.
Go Daddy Auctions
https://auctions.godaddy.com
Go Daddy is both a domain name registrar and auction house. They are my personal favourite, mainly because it's the world's biggest domain name registrar, meaning a lot of domain names also expire through them. Unfortunately there are a lot of poor domain names expiring through Go Daddy. There is a $4.99 annual fee to bid on their expiring domain names.
Go Daddy 'Closeout' domains are domains that went through domain name auction already but nobody bid on. Closeouts are sold for a flat fee of just $5 plus an annual registration fee.
Go Daddy Expiring Domains start at $10 plus an annual registration fee but may increase since it is setup as an auction. Expired Names, most of the time, have more valuable names then 'Closeouts' since Go Daddy Auctions makes a domain available first with the expired names auction and if it does not sell then Go Daddy Auctions places it in the 'Closeouts' section.
The best kept secret tools when buying expiring domains!
I am intentionally keeping this section very short, as I don't want to give away everything but I realise I maybe have anyway. You have to learn this yourself....
The first tool I wanted to mention is the "Best Upcoming Auction" tool from DomainTools. My tips here are to use the filters in the right hand menu. Most expiring domains found here are auctioned off on SnapNames. Check it out on: http://www.domaintools.com/advanced-auction/top-picks.html
The second tool is Fresh Drop. I used to spend a lot of hours on this website going through expiring domains and watching/bidding in auctions. This tool is a bit under the radar, even amongst domainers. The Fresh Drop tool is free to use for Go Daddy Auctions, what it does is it scans through upcoming expiring domains (their PRO subscription membership lets you scan SnapNames, Name Jet, Pool etc. as well as Go Daddy)
(expiring domain names filtered on the number of .edu back links)
My tip for Fresh Drop is to have a good look at the column headers, notice that you can filter domain names on their Age, Dmoz, .Edu and .Gov and lots more. I love this! My other tip is to familiarise yourself with the filters on the right hand menu. Check it out on: http://www.freshdrop.net
Enjoy... and I would love to hear your comments about your experience from buying expiring domain names.
So what are expiring domain names?
Every day thousands of domain names expire but get bought up and changes ownership before they delete and become readily available again for registration. In the domain name industry the domain name aftermarket of buying expiring domain names is big business. Lots of "domainers" and domain name companies are spending hours upon hours sifting through lists of upcoming expiring domain names.
Nowadays buying expired, or pending delete, domain names has become more of a main-stream thing, even outside domaining circles. It takes an expired domain 30 days before it goes back into the pool of masses and become readily available again to register at any domain name registrar. Within this 30 day time period, between expiring and becoming available again, thousands of domain names exchange hands in what is called the 'domain name aftermarket'.
The life cycle of a domain name
The life cycle of a generic domain name (.com, .net, .org etc) explained by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
(Source: http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/gtld-lifecycle.htm)
Expiring domain names was registered a year or more ago by someone who did not attempt to renew their domain name. Basically, once a domain is expiring it enters into an "Auto Renew Grace Period" (see above). This period usually lasts for 30 days and the owner of the domain is able to renew anytime during that time frame.
Should the owner fail to renew the domain it will enter into the "Redemption period" (see above). In the redemption period the domain name registrar becomes the owner of the domain (the original owner can still come in and renew it), and will try to sell the domain through auctions.
After the pending delete period the domain name is a goner for both the original owner and the registrar. The domain will become readily available at any registrar, as it goes back in to the pool of masses.
Domain name auction houses
Domain auction houses collect expiring domain names from different registrars and hence, have varying catalogues of names to browse. The better known ones and their major affiliate registrars are:
- SnapNames, affiliated with Moniker, MelbourneIT, DirectNIC
- NameJet, affiliated with Network Solutions, eNom
- Afternic, affiliated with Tucows
- Go Daddy, have their own Go Daddy Auctions
They work on different platforms, but what they have in common is that there is an auction and when the auction ends and you are the highest bidder, the domain is yours.
Most popular domain name registrars
The world's top 15 registrars with total domains in millions. (I highly recommend you to check out the link and play around with it, deserves a blog post on its own).
(Source: http://www.registrarstats.com/Public/RegistrarMarketShareMain.aspx)
So why should you care about expiring domain names?
Many expiring domain names hold authority in the eyes of search engines, stemming from the link juice, directory listings, and the age of domain. It is the short cut way to own a site with a reputation. The reputation and authority is carried over to the new owner, it's never voided. Deleted and readily available to register again domain names lose much of their juicy features.
With a freshly registered domain name you have to walk through the dark forest, with expiring domain names you can cruise through the woods on a bike. Buying expiring domain names can give you a domain with existing link juice. It can give you a domain already listed in dmoz and the yahoo directory, it can already have a couple of .edu and/or .gov back links and it can give you a domain with old ripe age.
Always do your research! However, don't expect to find expiring domain names like seo.com. You will come across HEAPS of junk names. Lots of crap is expiring and for that reason lots of expiring domain names deserve to be buried and forgotten. But, there are gems to be found! Make sure you always double check domain name age, PR, back links and so forth.
Best places to buy expiring domains?
SnapNames
http://www.snapnames.com
SnapNames is probably the most prominent domain auction company. SnapNames offers an "In Auction" section that works like any other online auction site (think eBay for the uber geek). They also offer an "Available Soon" section, an auction that can be joined by anyone, but is limited to those who place bids on domains before the start date of an auction. This is good for serious bidders, because it takes out people who may not be serious about the auction process.
SnapNames tries to "snap" expiring domain names from all registrars but, you will be more successful in your buying if you target expiring domain names from registrars exclusively affiliated with SnapNames. Prices start from $59 each and you will only get charged if you win the expiring domain name.
Go Daddy Auctions
https://auctions.godaddy.com
Go Daddy is both a domain name registrar and auction house. They are my personal favourite, mainly because it's the world's biggest domain name registrar, meaning a lot of domain names also expire through them. Unfortunately there are a lot of poor domain names expiring through Go Daddy. There is a $4.99 annual fee to bid on their expiring domain names.
Go Daddy 'Closeout' domains are domains that went through domain name auction already but nobody bid on. Closeouts are sold for a flat fee of just $5 plus an annual registration fee.
Go Daddy Expiring Domains start at $10 plus an annual registration fee but may increase since it is setup as an auction. Expired Names, most of the time, have more valuable names then 'Closeouts' since Go Daddy Auctions makes a domain available first with the expired names auction and if it does not sell then Go Daddy Auctions places it in the 'Closeouts' section.
The best kept secret tools when buying expiring domains!
I am intentionally keeping this section very short, as I don't want to give away everything but I realise I maybe have anyway. You have to learn this yourself....
The first tool I wanted to mention is the "Best Upcoming Auction" tool from DomainTools. My tips here are to use the filters in the right hand menu. Most expiring domains found here are auctioned off on SnapNames. Check it out on: http://www.domaintools.com/advanced-auction/top-picks.html
The second tool is Fresh Drop. I used to spend a lot of hours on this website going through expiring domains and watching/bidding in auctions. This tool is a bit under the radar, even amongst domainers. The Fresh Drop tool is free to use for Go Daddy Auctions, what it does is it scans through upcoming expiring domains (their PRO subscription membership lets you scan SnapNames, Name Jet, Pool etc. as well as Go Daddy)
(expiring domain names filtered on the number of .edu back links)
My tip for Fresh Drop is to have a good look at the column headers, notice that you can filter domain names on their Age, Dmoz, .Edu and .Gov and lots more. I love this! My other tip is to familiarise yourself with the filters on the right hand menu. Check it out on: http://www.freshdrop.net
Enjoy... and I would love to hear your comments about your experience from buying expiring domain names.
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