Using Expired Domain Names To Get Traffic

Getting traffic to your website takes time and money and is one of the biggest challenges to any website owner. The process of getting traffic through SEO and link building takes a long time and a certain amount of commitment. Getting traffic through a pay per click strategy costs a lot of dollars, and again is not without a great deal of effort in keyword research and so on. However there is a way of getting large amounts of traffic without a heavy investment in time or money, and that is by buying expired domain names.

So how does this work? Expired domain names are simply domain names that have not been renewed by their owner for one reason or another. Perhaps the business didn't take off or sometimes a domain becomes forgotten because there are lots of other businesses on the go. A domain becomes expired when the renewal fees aren't paid, yet the domain name is still there in cyberspace with no website -- instead of a website it points to a 404 error page.

These expired domain names can still attract traffic and can be acquired for a price. Some even still have websites available. There are a few domain name companies that sell expired domain names, either through a fixed-price or an auction and prices range from under $100 to over a  $million.

Is a domain worth buying?

Not all expired domains are worth anything, but there is a way to find out by checking the Google Page Rank of an expired domain name. Just download Google's toolbar and type in the URL of the expired domain and the toolbar will show the page rank. Note that grey page indicators show that the site has been banned by Google -- other ranks should be fine but check the number associated with the page rank because numbers between 6 and 10 are indications that this is a good domain to buy.

Another way to check if a domain is worth buying is to have a look at the Alexa rating, which is an indication of the amount of traffic that a website has had. Low amounts of traffic will not even have an Alexa rating, so it's worth checking on Alexa.com before you consider buying an expired domain name.

Just remember to do your homework and think carefully about how you can use an expired domain name to help grow your business -- make sure it's worth it before you part with any money and make sure you buy through a reputable source.