Getting traffic with expired domains

Among the biggest difficulties in being a new webmaster is attempting to gain traffic.  This is because trying to build valid traffic calls for both time and money.  How is this so?  Well, whenever a webmaster is trying to get traffic through search engines, they will need to spend a good deal of time with link-building and content creation.  If they are seeking to get traffic by a pay-per-click program, they will have to invest hundreds to thousands of dollars if they would like to make the best of a high-performance keyword.  Nevertheless, there is a different option that can allow for a webmaster to obtain tons of hits without being forced to invest  a great deal in time or money.  It involves buying expired domain names.

What is an expired domain name?  An expired domain name is a domain name that never got renewed by its owner.  This could be for a variety of grounds such as disinterest in the original internet site, lack of funds or something graver, such as an owner’s death.  Whatsoever the reason, when the renewal fees are not paid, the expired domain name sitting out online is still operating as any other domain name.  There is just one difference: an expired domain name does not have a website tied to it, so it alternatively points to a 404 error page.

So, it is a waste of traffic when an expired domain name points to a 404 web page.  A lot of domain name companies have realised this, which is why quite a few sell expired domain names either through a regular, direct sale or through an expired domain name auction.   The costs for these domain names can range from less than $100 to over $1 million.  Many of these sales may even include a website.

Thus, how does a webmaster know if an expired domain name is worthy of a purchase?  First of all, they need to check to see the Google PageRank of an expired domain name.  To do this, they need to download Google’s toolbar, then type in the URL of the expired domain name.  The toolbar will then let them recognise what the PageRank is.  If the PageRank indicator is gray, the expired domain name must be averted since this signifies that the site has been blackballed by Google.  Otherwise, it ought be okay, though webmasters had better also take into consideration the actual number associated with the PageRank.  If the number is between 6 and 10, they should strongly consider buying the expired domain name.

Secondly, webmasters need to determine the Alexa rating of an expired domain name.  The Alexa rating determines how much traffic has really gone to a domain name.  If a website has not obtained a substantial amount of traffic, it will not get an Alexa rating.  To check the Alexa rating for an expired domain name, webmasters need to visit Alexa.com.

Finally, webmasters need to see how many websites are linking up to the expired domain name.  To do this, they need to put the command link: followed by the URL of the expired domain name into a search engine.  If many links are generated, this is a sign that the traffic concerning the expired domain name started from legitimate sources.