Pre-Owned Domain

Or all about second hand domain names.

Introduction

There is a dynamic and active market in second hand domain names, sometimes called Pre-owned, Pre-loved or after market domain names. If you are skilful you can pickup a domain with pre-existing traffic and search ranking.

Why Pre-Owned.

Domains are global but most businesses are local, companies start up, close down and change plans for a variety of good reasons. Sometimes domain names are not renewed as they are overlooked or just because of the normal changes above. A domain can have a decent about of traffic and links to it but still be left to expire. Google the leading search engine sorts its search engine results based on the text on a websites page and the number of links to it. In general the better the quality and to some extent the greater the number of links to a site the more potential value it has.

How to stop a good domain name

A number of services list expiring domain expiring on a daily drop list, there are often huge numbers of domains on these lists, but with a bit of perseverance it is still possible to find great domains with traffic and search rankings.

Other factors that influence the value of a domain include:-

Is it listed in DMOZ - this is a free directory which is used by Google as an indicator of quality its tough to get a listing so if it has one, then there is a history of quality associated with the domains
Is it listed in the Yahoo Directory - again similar to Dmoz it costs $299 to get a listing in this directory so it is likely that the domain is reputable and has at least one good link!

Negative factors to consider

Potential negative factors to consider include:

Has the domain a Google penalty or is it blacklisted due to hackers or spam issues

Is the domain protected by a brand, if it is then there are potential legal problems ahead.

Has the current owner overlooked it, if they have then they may threaten legal in an attempt to recover it back.

Conclusion

All in all there are huge opportunities in the pre-owned domain market, as long as you are careful and take time to research potential domain purchases you stand to make a tidy profit. If you need help or a registrar partner to work with contact Discount Domains today on 01952 898701

Adrian Lawrence is a webmaster with Discount Domains a leading UK ICANN registrar, web host and Search Marketing company.