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Making the decision to go ahead and purchase an expired domain name can be tough. Over the past few years, domain name registrations have increased tremendously due to everybody wanting to make money online. Add that to the fact that it is becoming ever increasingly easier to setup your own website or blog and you quickly realize that there are a lot of domains out there.

With so many people buying domains to make money from them and others setting up websites and blogs you may be wondering if there are any good domains left. There are still a few good domain names left out there that have not been registered but they are a rare breed. Sure you could do a search for a domain name, find out it is already registered and either being used or just parked. Instead you could look into purchasing an expired domain name. A domain becomes expired when the owner does not pay for the name and after a certain length of time, the domain registrar lets it expire. Buying an expired domain name is a great way to potentially save a lot of money.

Things you should consider before purchasing

Before you head out and search for a domain name there are a few things that you need to think about.

History

While you may find a great domain name that suits your needs perfectly, it’s history is something that needs to be addressed. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN keep track of a domain name and the content that has been on it. While you may think that your domain name is perfect it could have very well previously housed illegal or adult content. Although a domain name that is home to or was home to adult content doesn’t automatically mean that it has any bad marks against it as far as search engines are concerned, the possible type in traffic and backlinks coming in to the site may not suit your current plans.

Illegal content is a big red flag and almost any domain that has hosted illegal content is most likely already banned from the big search engines. This is bad news and though you can successfully get the domain name reincluded it is just extra work that is unecessary. Your best bet would be to search for a similar domain name that is expired or possibly a fresh domain name.

Domain Age

The age of the domain name can determine it’s authority within the search engines. An older domain typically will have a higher level of authority due to the fact that it has been around longer. There are however a few exceptions that can subtract from the authority.

It is suggested that the longer a domain name is registered and remains registered under one individual or company it will almost always beat out a domain that hasn’t been registered for as long. Constantly switching a domain name could lead to search engines thinking that your domain may be used to promote spam.

Backlinks

As far as Google is concerned the more relevant links that a site has pointing to it the more they will trust it. Notice that relevant links was mentioned and not all links, Google’s goal is to provide the most relevant information to it’s users so the more relevant links pointing to a site the better. Whether you tend to keep the same information on the domain name or use it for a different purpose, search engines will still place more trust in it compared to a domain name that has fewer backlinks.

Domain Name Length

In a previous guide Choosing A Domain Name, the issue of the domain name length was briefly discussed. A domain name comprised of 2 or 3 words is going to be a lot easier to remember compared to one that is 6 words or more. Not to mention it will be a lot easier to brand and market as well.

Extension

Though there are many different domain name extensions available for you to register such as .us, .me, .asia, .co.uk and so on, nothing will make your site sound more professional then a .com on the end of it. People nowadays automatically assume that a site should end in .com and will almost 100% of the time type in your name with a .com at the end. Many business and ecommerce sites that do not have the .com version of their names are potentially missing out on a lot of traffic. We have become so acclined to hearing .com that it almost seems as though it is wired into our brains. Unless you have a lot of money to throw at marketing your name, it is crucial that you find a .com version.

Where to search for and buy expired domain names

There are many sites on the internet today that allow you to search for expired domain names. One of the biggest and most trusted sites is tdnam.com which is owned and operated by the largest domain name registrar GoDaddy.com. You can typically expect to find over 20,000 expired or expiring domain names listed over at tdnam.com. It costs only $4.99 a year and you are given complete access to all the tools and features that other sites charge hundreds of dollars for.