02-29-2016, 09:27 AM
How to Vet Expired Domains
Check to see what domains 301 redirect to them. I use Link Research Tools for this as you can run a backlink report on the domain in question and see the redirects. If you find a domain that has 50 spammy 301s pointing to it, it may be more trouble that it’s worth. Preventing a 301 from coming through when you don’t control the site that redirects is almost impossible. You can block this on the server level but that won’t help you with your site receiving bad link karma from Google. In that case, you may have to disavow those domains.
Check their backlinks using your link tool of choice. Is the profile full of nothing but spam that will take ages to clean up or will you have to spend time disavowing the links? If so, do you really want to bother with it? If you want to buy the domain to use for a 301 redirect and it’s full of spammy links, at least wait until you’ve cleared that all up before you 301 it.
Check to see if they were ever anything questionable using the Wayback Machine. If the site simply wasn’t well done 2 years ago, that’s not nearly as big of a problem as if you’re going to be using the site for educating people about the dangers of lead and it used to be a site that sold Viagra.
Check to see if the brand has a bad reputation. Do some digging upfront so you can save time disassociating yourself from something bad later. You know how sometimes you get a resume from a person and you ask an employee if they know this Susan who also used to work at the same place that your current employee worked years ago and your employee says “oh yes I remember her. She tried to burn the building down once”? Well, Susan might try to burn your building down, too.
Check to see if they were part of a link network. See what other sites were owned by the same person and check them out too.
Check to see what domains 301 redirect to them. I use Link Research Tools for this as you can run a backlink report on the domain in question and see the redirects. If you find a domain that has 50 spammy 301s pointing to it, it may be more trouble that it’s worth. Preventing a 301 from coming through when you don’t control the site that redirects is almost impossible. You can block this on the server level but that won’t help you with your site receiving bad link karma from Google. In that case, you may have to disavow those domains.
Check their backlinks using your link tool of choice. Is the profile full of nothing but spam that will take ages to clean up or will you have to spend time disavowing the links? If so, do you really want to bother with it? If you want to buy the domain to use for a 301 redirect and it’s full of spammy links, at least wait until you’ve cleared that all up before you 301 it.
Check to see if they were ever anything questionable using the Wayback Machine. If the site simply wasn’t well done 2 years ago, that’s not nearly as big of a problem as if you’re going to be using the site for educating people about the dangers of lead and it used to be a site that sold Viagra.
Check to see if the brand has a bad reputation. Do some digging upfront so you can save time disassociating yourself from something bad later. You know how sometimes you get a resume from a person and you ask an employee if they know this Susan who also used to work at the same place that your current employee worked years ago and your employee says “oh yes I remember her. She tried to burn the building down once”? Well, Susan might try to burn your building down, too.
Check to see if they were part of a link network. See what other sites were owned by the same person and check them out too.
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