Expired domain name. To buy or not to buy?

So just what exactly are expired domain names? – They are domain names/URLs which have expired, after expiry they are thrown back into the open. Thousands expire everyday; however 98% of these domains are worthless and have never pointed towards a quality site.

The myth behind domain name expiry- Some people make buying one sound like the answer to all your prayers. The simple truth is, it can be, but for 98% of the time it won't be.  In theory it could be possible to find an expired domain name which used to belong to a highly trafficked, high PR website. By purchasing it and pointing it at your site you could see extreme amounts of traffic racing to your site overnight....

But really.. Will this happen? No. Domain names expire because they have not been renewed. This can be for a number of reasons, perhaps the person lost interest in their site or simply forgot about the renewal date. Maybe they couldn’t be bothered to keep up work on the site.... But honestly, what kind of webmaster who runs a successful site which has had enough time invested in it for it to achieve a high ranking and traffic level would simply lose interest, or forget about the expiry date. Realistically not many. I can promise you that near the renewal time for my domain name I receive letters in the post, emails and  phone calls from my web host. Anyway, most successful websites are set to auto renew so domain name expiry is simply not on the cards.

Finding a valuable expired domain name really is a lottery, and you're far more likely to waste lots of money and time chasing about than you are to win. The funny thing is, in the time that you spend scouring lists of expired domains you could have started from scratch with a new domain name and developed it into what you are looking for in the 'dream' expired domain name.

Companies who sell lists of expired domain names will tell you that their lists are valuable or perhaps that they contain ‘your key to your success'. Well, of course they will, that’s how they make money. Don't listen to them. They're only one small level above scam artists.

Why am I so negative about expired domain names? - I've been there and tried it. I've spent money on lists of domain names which have expired, I've purchased search software and I’ve wasted hours and hours and had nearly nothing in return.

I have purchased several domain names, one of which was a PR5. I got a flurry of traffic then that was it. Why? Well, a highly valuable expired domain name was successful with it’s previous website.  High rankings and listings in the search engines come from careful search engine optimisation and inbound links.

If you buy a successful domain name after it has expired and stick your site on it you won't have to wait long before your valuable inbound links start to disappear. And oh yes, once they're gone kiss good bye to the traffic. And be sure to believe that the quality links WILL go. I mean, for a link to make a big difference to your site it needs to come from a high quality, high PR website. The webmaster will check who he/she links to often. Sadly you won't last long.

Basically the odds are stacked against you. I would thoroughly recommend that you drop the idea of buying an expired domain name and instead stick to starting from scratch. To learn how to start from scratch visit my website creation pages. Success will not be immediate but once you reach it you will keep it!

Unfortunately there really is no quick way to success on the internet. It comes only to those who wait. A good site WILL get visitors, eventually.

Oh yeah and if you do purchase one do your research into who it used to belong to. There can be all kinds of copyright issues to contend with.