Building Links on High DR Expired Domains: Pros, Cons, and Best Practices

‍Link building is one of the pillars of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Along with the correct keywords, link building can create true miracles. Majorly, it bolsters the website visibility and enables a concrete webpage to have higher search engine rankings. There is a simple principle – the more links draw attention to your website, the higher rankings it acquires. This may seem to be easy and straightforward only at first glance.

‍Practically, there are lots of nuances and even pitfalls. However, there are also not obvious but truly effective strategies that help to upgrade any website rankings. For instance, expired domains may also provide good service for your website. In this article, we will review the essence, pros, and cons of this strategy. The basics will go first.

‍Overall, domains of any type are like real estate on the web. Each domain has its unique address and potential value. In this context, expired domains are underestimated and frequently overlooked.

‍An expired domain is a web address that was active and used some time before. However, its former owner failed to renew it after the registration period lapsed. An old domain has a tracked history of its precedent use — that’s a core difference between it and any new one. The history often includes a backlink profile. Even expired domains with backlinks to reputable websites may actually turn out to be a real goldmine for SEO.

Why Expired Domains Are Valuable for SEO

‍There are three components of success when it comes to expired domains:

• Backlinks that already exist – one of the biggest advantages that any expired domain has is a wide range of backlinks in place. These were the reliable sources from which a website leveraged its traffic in the past. It is even a double benefit if a website is linked to some authoritative webpages. From the point of search engines, such a website is trustworthy.
• Domain age – search engines tend to draw attention to older domains in the first turn. If a domain existed for several years or even more, it would be perceived as more credible compared to the brand-new one.
• SEO metrics – any expired domain, at minimum, has its domain authority (DA). In addition, it is also characterized by a page authority (PA) and trust flow. If the expired domain is recycled, it possesses a worthy profile for the start compared to a new one.

Bonuses from Using Expired Domains for SEO

‍Expired domains with backlinks may drive these positive changes for your website:

• Bolster DA – by including the links to the expired and authoritative domain, you may effortlessly inherit some portion of that site’s authority. This easy switch will upgrade your own rankings.
• Make your link profile more diverse – more links, more results. Of course, the quantity matters at all times. Still, if you emphasize the quality of the links, your linking profile becomes more diversified and upgraded at the same time. In the end, your profile will be more favored by search engines.
• Add a new portion of traffic – if your chosen website is from the same niche as yours, it is quite possible that you will get a part of its traffic.

‍You may probably be a bit suspicious about this strategy. If something has expired, it is not likely worth using it further, isn’t it? That is not actually the case when it comes to expired domains backlinks. They can still bring lots of value to your website but never alone. This tactic is always a part of the overall SEO strategy. And it is never its pillar, of course.

‍Nevertheless, to eliminate all possible doubts, here are several reasons why domains expire:

• Domain is not a primary asset for a business – the latter may emphasize social media networks, for instance. Developing further its website ceases to be a priority. Respectively, a business owner stops paying for it at all. The domain expires but still has some saved potential for SEO.
• There are few domains and your target one is no longer interesting for further promotion – a company may hold two, three, or even more domains at the same time. At some point, it may decide to focus on one solely. The rest of the domains will not be paid for and renewed further. The latter may still have good DA and benefit your website. The business owners are typically interested in such cooperation. The likely dead asset starts to work again and even delivers gains.
• Business shifts – a company may change its activities or a major one. Therefore, its past domains become no longer relevant. As another variation, a company may also opt for rebranding. And again, its previous website becomes irrelevant. However, it may have quite good or even very high domain authority you may leverage.
• Financial constraints – paying for a specific domain, especially for one that is irrelevant to a business, may become too costly thing to cover. Again, a business may shift to social media accounts. That is why a domain that hasn’t been paid for will expire a bit later. Still, it retains a part of its authority which you can pick up.
• Business closure – this may also be the case for many reasons. Under such circumstances, the former owners and admins are surprisingly happy that their website can actually work on their interests further.

‍Hope these details will spread a bit more light on this tricky issue and help to eliminate possible prejudice. If you consider whether to buy expired domains with great backlinks, the answer is more likely “yes”. But, the major point here is which exactly backlinks are worthy ones.

‍There are several points helping to detect and utilize the links to expired domains that will actually work:

• DA + PA – draw specific attention to the domain and page authority of a target website. These two indicators highlight the authority of a considered website as well as the strength of an individual page.
• History and reputation – a domain you consider should possess a clean history without any penalties. If you neglect this step and it turns out that a domain was penalized before, your effort will not bring any benefits.
• Backlink profile – evaluate precisely the overall number and quality of backlinks that lead to the target website. It is feasible to conclude preliminarily that links are valuable only if they originate from credible and relevant sources.
• Anchors – these key words and phrases should be relevant to your niche and sound natural. In this case, they will work on your SEO goals as well.
• Content – audit thoroughly the content placed on your website. Make sure it is relevant to yours. Content integrity plays a pivotal role in SEO.
• Spam – never neglect this aspect of whether there were any issues with the domain, in particular, some spammy links.

‍When it comes to dealing with expired domains, there are many practices. Here are probably the best ones to offer in the first turn:

1. Purchase it from a broker – this is probably one of the easiest and most effective ways to find an expired domain. The single condition is to cooperate with a broker who is a professional. They typically already have a vast collection of domains that have been checked. These providers do most of the work instead of you. However, their services may cost you some sum of money, of course.
2. Monitor and Buy Ones from a Domain Registrar – if you have enough time and are equipped with sufficient tools to check your purchases, this option is 100% for you then. For instance, you may enjoy using GoDaddy. This platform offers a truly wide range of domains for sale.

‍They are sold on auctions. Of course, you may find here lots of expired domains with high DA. However, once you see your dream domain, never hesitate to buy it. The best ones often go first. At the same time, be mindful of your budget constraints for this deal. Passion may prevail over reason and lead to making this part of your SEO strategy too costly.

3. Apply expired domain research tools – many truly good tools, like Ahrefs and SEMrush, suggest a respective option enabling a user to search for the right domain. As you may guess, this will always require plenty of time. However, you will get maximum freedom.

‍These apps will allow you to scrutinize the backlink profiles, domain authority (DA), and page authority (PA). You will opt for the domains that align precisely with your SEO goals and preferences.

Overall – PROs and CONs of Buying the Backlinks to Expired Domains

‍Here is a brief but informative review of the main benefits and drawbacks of the approach:

PROs

‍Expand your audience – you can get new traffic nearly effortlessly.

‍Can leverage from the existing link profile – this will greatly simplify your link-building strategies.

‍If you deal with an old-age domain, it may significantly bolster your rankings. Search engines treat old domains as more credible ones.

‍Can save your funds a lot if you pick some good but overlooked domains. And sometimes it even wouldn’t cost you a single cent.

CONs

‍If you participate in an auction, the option may become too costly at some point. If you look at the domain with a high authority, you are not the only one to look at it.

‍Vulnerability to various threats – most commonly, these are various SEO issues, but there may also be spammy cases, penalties, and even black SEO practices.

‍It is possible to figure out any issues; however, this will definitely take time, sometimes a lot.

Nobody Speaks About That

‍There are several pitfalls that are often overlooked:

• Intellectual property (AI) rights – the backlinks you acquire should not be associated with any IP issues. In the first turn, the content shouldn’t be plagiarized. There shouldn’t also be any trademark infringement or misleading pieces of information. Trademark search may be carried out for free and takes several minutes only.
• Penalties – some websites may be even penalized if they applied spammy practices before. Do check this issue in advance prior to starting dealing with a target website. If there was any case of this kind, skip the option without hesitation.
• Obligations – occasionally, it also happens that expired domains have some legal obligations and restrictions that have to be honored. Draw attention to this point before acquiring any backlinks.

‍Sometimes, non-standard approaches may substantially bolster your SEO. Even expired domains can be recycled if they possess such a precious asset as a high level of authority. Backlinks, in this case, can strengthen the position of your website – search engines are fond of old and trustworthy domains. At the same time, you can also give yourself a good portion of new traffic while you don’t create anything on your own.

‍Overall, the rule sounds and works simply: buy domains with high domain authority only. They will further bolster your SEO strategy while being a supplementary yet important part of it.