Domain names are an essential part of a website. Not only do they help to make the first impression, but they also affect the ranking of your site on the search engines.
So, of course, there are businesses out there that focus on buying and selling good domain names to other people. The practice is called domain investing.
In this article, I’ll explain what domain investing means and provide seven ways you can start buying and selling domain names on your own.
Let’s get started.
What is Domain Investing?
Essentially, domain investing is buying domain names and selling them for a profit. People who go into domain investing are called domain investors. When you want to start domain investing, one of the first things you need to do is compile an inventory of domain names.
To have an inventory of good domain names, domain investors will go and buy expired domains. Every month millions of domain names become available because the owners failed to renew them. Domain investors purchase the ones with the most potential and put them up for sale.
7 Ways to Buy and Sell Expired Domain Names
In case you’re wondering, buying expired domain names is a legal practice. If the former user has abandoned the domain name, it’s probably because it no longer aligns with their business. So it’s perfectly fine to buy and sell expired domain names. Here’s how you can do that too.
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1. Find Expired Domain Names
Go and find the expired domain names on auction sites like GoDaddy Auctions, NameJet, or SnapNames. You’ll want to look for domains in a specific niche, preferably a niche you’re interested in.
The next step is to conduct domain keyword research to find out the most relevant domain names in that niche. There are tools like YouDot that can assist you by filtering the keywords and choosing the length and extensions of the domain names.
The tool will then provide you with a list of expired domain names. If you find one that interests you, immediately go to the domain auction site to see when the domain name will be up for sale and place your bid to buy it.
2. Determine the Domain Name Registrar
A lot of the domain name registrars have their exclusive auction partners. To know which auction partner will sell the domain name you want, you first need to determine which domain name registrar the domain name was previously registered with.
To do that, you can go through the WHOIS lookup. Type in the domain name you want into the search bar, and it will give you detailed information about the domain name, including the domain name registrar.
3. Analyze the Domain
Once you know where the auction will occur, the next thing to do is check its link quality, domain age, and traffic. Head to sites like the Wayback Machine to find out the history of the website. Insert the domain name on the search bar, and you’ll get a complete historical capture of the domain.
Make sure to also use available backlink audit tools to find out the domain name’s backlink profile and see if the site has conducted any black hat SEO practices in the past.
4. Bid on the Domain Name
Once you know that the domain name has a clean history, it’s time to place a backorder on the auction site before the domain name hits the registration expiration date.
Having a backorder means you can monitor the domain name’s status and be notified when the auction is about to start. Then, if you want to buy the domain name, simply place a bid on it, and the highest bidder will win.
Once you buy the domain name, there are plenty of ways you can earn profit from it. The three most common methods will be explained in the following sections.
5. Sell Expired Domains on Your Site
If you already have a website about online marketing with a dedicated audience, it’s a good idea to sell the domains you just bought on your website.
List the domain name and its price on your site. Utilize PageRank so people know how good the domain name you’re selling is. PageRank scores websites from 0 to 10, with 0 being a low-quality website and 10 being the most authoritative website on the internet.
Then just sit back and wait for your audience to make the purchase.
6. Sell Expired Domains on Flippa
Another option is to sell your domains on Flippa. It’s a dedicated marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. All you need to do is register on the site to start selling.
However, take note that listing a website is quite expensive. You’ll need to pay a fee of $15 per month. So if you’re just planning to sell one or two sites, this may not be the best option. But if you’re planning to buy and sell domains regularly, this can be an excellent place to go.
Flippa makes it easy for you to sell domain names – simply fill in the necessary information and income of the domain name, then decide whether you want to sell it at a fixed price or in an auction.
7. Build an Authority Site from the Expired Domain
If you’re able to buy domains that have a PageRank of 5 or higher, then you’ve got yourself a valuable asset on your hands. It’s a good idea to develop the website into a high-quality authority site.
So rather than spending years building up your website from scratch, using a well-ranking expired domain can help you start ahead of the game.
But do note that finding these types of domain names is rare, but they’re not unheard of. You’ll need to dedicate a lot of time looking through various auction sites and domain checkers to find a good domain name that’s no longer connected to an active website.
Conclusion
Investing in expired domain names is a good idea, especially if you know how and where to find them. Once you have the domain names, there are a few handy ways to use them. Either sell it for profit or use it for your website to build upon its already existing authority.
Remember that you should do a thorough research of the domain name’s history before making any purchases and ensure that it hasn’t been flagged for any black hat SEO techniques.
Good luck!
