SEO Domains – Buying Domains for SEO (Complete Guide)

Buying domains for SEO is one of the biggest hacks out there for quickly increasing your ability to rank for keywords on Google.

It also tends to be one of the most complex tasks in the SEO world, and many people get it completely wrong.

Over the years at our link building agency, we’ve used and worked with thousands of websites, and this experience has given us a genuine understanding of search engine preferences and how to leverage SEO domains for an extreme shortcut.

In this article you’ll learn everything you need to know from the types of domains you can buy, how to select them, tools to use, and more.

Let’s get into it!

Key Takeaways

• SEO domains can significantly speed up your ability to rank on Google.
• New, aged, and expired domains each have unique benefits.
• Aged and expired domains offer a shortcut in SEO by leveraging pre-existing backlink profiles.
• Select domains that align closely with your brand and SEO strategy for maximum impact.
• Tools like Spamzilla and Register Compass help to find domains.
• Ensure the domains you purchase have high-quality backlinks and relevant referring domains, and not too much spam.

Types of Domains Used in SEO

Let’s get started by getting some of the broader information out of the way. These are the general types of domains you will encounter when you go to buy SEO domains:

New Domains

New domains are fresh domains that you will buy from a domain name registrar (an entity that reserves domain names) that have never been used before.

These domains have no history (i.e., no domain age) in the SERPs and no preexisting backlinks, either.

Our registrar and hosting company of choice is Namecheap.

You choose the domain name for the new site. It can literally be anything that’s unique.

We suggest either using a very brandable domain name, or a partial match domain name with some keywords in it.

You can also use exact-match domain names for a more aggressive SEO approach (see our case study), however, the project will be limited in scope compared to using a brandable or partial-match domain.

The most important thing to note here is that new domains do not have any preexisting backlink authority, which is what makes aged and expired domains such a powerful shortcut for SEO.

That being said, you can always 301 redirect another domain into the fresh domain, and fresh domains can make a great starting point if you want a specific brand name.

Aged Domains

Aged domains have already been used (i.e. it’s an old site), indexed in search engines, and have a history in the SERPs.

They have also never been dropped (as is the case with expired domains).

They typically already have links pointing to them from their prior use (though that’s not always true since not all sites get referring domains linking to them over time).

Aged domains are sought-after assets by SEOs and digital marketers because they can be rebuilt or repurposed for any of your SEO projects.

Some people prefer to purchase an aged domain and make it their main domain instead of building a single website from scratch.

Aged domains can also be used for SEO strategies such as PBNs and 301 redirects.

Because an aged domain can potentially have a high quality backlink profile or high web page authority, new outbound links added to its content will deliver an extra boost to other sites (PBN).

Expired Domains

Expired domains are dropped domains that were owned previously, but the owner did not renew the domain with their domain registrar.

These domains are often no longer indexed as well.

This can be due to being out of commission for too long or from picking up a penalty.

Whatever the case, just know that buying expired domains comes with a lower price tag for a reason – they can carry a little more risk or can be a little harder to get working.

Just like aged domains, buying expired domains is somewhat easy if you know what to look out for.

You want expired domains with strong and healthy backlinks related to your niche.

Expired domains can be used in all the same ways as aged domains.

The main difference between expired and aged domains is that it will take more effort to get expired domains working, and in some cases, you might not have the best luck.

Aged domains are a safer bet but come with a more premium price tag.

Use Cases for SEO Domains

Now that you understand what kinds of domains exist in regards to SEO as well as the benefits of each, you’ll want to consider what your goals are for your domain.

Here are some potential uses for domains.

Start a New Brand

A new brand would probably want to name their company something that has never existed before, and therefore they would need a new domain with that name.

Ex: Dan The Duck Hunter wants to buy DuckHuntinDan.com.

Exact or Partial Match URL

This would be a domain that you would probably buy new, although they can be found aged or expired with a little work and luck.

The purpose would be to match the URL to the target the keywords you want to go after.

Ex: BeverlyHillsToiletCleaners.com – The intention is to be very relevant to Beverly Hill Toilet Cleaning Services.

Local, National, or International 

By deciding on your target audience, you can find better domains that resonate with a specific geographic location or be broader to resonate to a much larger audience.

Ex: AustinTxPestBoyzzz.com might be better for a local site in Austin, Texas, while MegaPestBoyzzz.com could serve a broader audience. Both will resonate differently in the SERPs.

Repurpose a Brand as a New Money Site

Maybe you find an expired or aged domain that matches the niche you want to target, so you just buy that domain and start building under what is essentially a repurposed brand (Trademarks are rarely an issue. Remember – there’s a reason the site no longer exists).

Ex: You buy ClearMangleSeas.com which has a long-standing history as a sailing domain. You get it and start repurposing it as a watersports affiliate site using its history to propel you into higher rankings.

301 Redirects

Maybe you already have a website and want to give it an extra kick.

You can purchase a domain in a similar niche and then 301 redirect it to your domain.

This is supposed to mimic a company buying out another company and then completing the online merger. Essentially, you add the history of both sites together.

Ex: MySuperSite8882.com buys out MySuperSitezzz.com and then 301s the domain to their own domain. This basically points all of its backlinks and power at it.

PBN

PBNs are a great way to pass an insane amount of juice to a money site.

You can purchase expired or aged domains and rebuild them in order to push juice from their homepage to your money sites based on the backlinks they had historically.

Any domain with preexisting links can be a PBN domain.

Ex: You buy mag77898.com which has 600+ clean referring domains to it and build it out as a PBN to point at your affiliate site. You now get the benefits of all that authority, power, and relevance.

Factors To Consider When Buying Domains for SEO

Once you’ve considered your goals for your expired domain, aged domain, or new domain, there are some other very important things you will want to keep in mind.

The TLD (Top Level Domain) 

The most commonly used TLD is .com, but you may want to consider other options depending on the types of things you are ranking for, your business’ location, etc.

Ex: If you want to rank for geographically specific SERPs you may want to consider a TLD specific to that country. If you sell workout products exclusively in Estonia, a .ee TLD would be preferrable to a .com.

Is the URL Easy To Remember?

If you’re going to repurpose an aged domain to be a PBN or for a 301 redirect, then the URL may not matter as much.

On the contrary, if you’re trying to create a new and memorable brand, the domain name will be much more important to you.

Backlink Quality

You can use a tool like Ahrefs or Majestic to scan for a site’s backlinks and gauge things like niche, power, authority, and whether or not the site is going to resonate properly in the SERPs you’re targeting.

This might be one of the most complex aspects when it comes to gauging the quality of a domain.

That’s the point of our SEO Domain services – to remove the guesswork and let us do it for you.

Just keep in mind that you want to find domains without high levels of spam backlinks.

We do not recommend any tools for judging spam scores or anything like that, and highly suggest you use your eyes for this task. The tools we’ve tested don’t do a good job.

And also remember that it’s natural for all sites to accumulate some spam. No domain will be completely clean, and this is very natural and normal. Google is pretty good at ignoring spam these days.

Aside from checking for spam, you also want to make sure the domain you are purchasing has backlinks from relevant sources.

Not all sources will be completely relevant for your domain, and more general domains can carry a ton of power as well. CNN, for example, is a very general domain, but links from this website will be highly beneficial.

To sum things up, you will want to make sure the domain has links from relevant sources with a mix of authority, trust, and power. How many quality links from reputable domains there are, the more expensive the domain will usually be.

Internet Archive History 

You can go to archive.org and get snapshots of a domain’s historical usage. By doing this, you’ll get an idea of what type of content the domain had on it previously or if it was used for anything nefarious.

Domain Age

You can go to whois.com and get a registration date on any domain as well, so you’ll have an idea of how long it’s been owned/active.

Domain age isn’t necessarily a ranking factor on its own, and usually has more to do with the backlinks that have been acquired during that time.

However, domains with age could have also established more trust with Google.

Where to Buy SEO Domains

Here are the different ways to buy SEO domains.

Buy From a Provider

As mentioned before, we have many clients that come to us to purchase domains.

This is because the task can be quite complex and take many years to get a good feel for.

As it’s probably not something you’re going to be doing often, it can make sense to let professionals handle this task for you instead of trying to learn a new skill and do it yourself.

Spamzilla

Our favorite way to hunt for aged and expired domains is with a tool called Spamzilla.

You can easily sort through thousands of domains based on metrics of your choice.

Then, you can pop the domains that make your shortlist into a tool like Ahrefs for further inspection.

Register Compass

Register Compass is another platform we use very often for finding domains.

We prefer Spamzilla these days, but this definitely does the job as well!

Godaddy Auctions

Godaddy is another great place to buy domains for SEO, but it lacks the functionality of something like Spamzilla or Register Compass.

Final Thoughts

Buying SEO domains is a nuanced and powerful strategy for boosting your website’s visibility and ranking on Google.

Whether you opt for new, aged, or expired domains, each comes with distinct advantages tailored to different SEO goals.

It’s crucial to select domains that align with your brand’s identity and SEO objectives, considering factors like domain history, backlink quality, and relevance to your niche.

Utilizing tools like Spamzilla and Register Compass can greatly simplify the process, allowing for informed decisions.

However, the complexity of domain acquisition and its strategic implications often make it worthwhile to enlist the expertise of professionals, ensuring you leverage the full potential of SEO domains to enhance your digital presence effectively.

Hope this helps!

Related Posts