Thousands of domain names expire every day, and while most of them have little to no value, some are quite valuable. I’ve seen expired domain auctions go as high as five figures lately.

But why are some investors and SEOers paying premium prices for expired domains? What metrics matter in an expired domain name? And where can you find and buy expired domains?

I’ll try to answer these questions in this post.

Why Expired Domains Are Valuable

Not all expired domains have a significant value, but those that are considered valuable usually have one or more of the following advantages:

Strong Backlinks

Many expired domains have existing backlinks from established and reputable websites, which can give you a significant SEO head start. This could be a shortcut to higher rankings in search engines, but that’s not guaranteed.

Pre-Existing Traffic

Recently-expired domains keep receiving a decent amount of organic traffic for months, and sometimes years ahead. If the previous website had loyal visitors, you might inherit some of that traffic when you relaunch the website.

Branding Opportunities

Short, memorable, and/or keyword-rich expired domains can be valuable branding assets. They may sometimes also carry an established online presence you can build on.

Investment Potential

Just like real estate, domain names can be flipped. Smart investors buy the right expired domains at a low price and resell them later for a profit, especially those with SEO value or desirable names.

What to Look For in an Expired Domain

These are some of the most important criteria to consider when evaluating an expired domain name:

• Domain Authority (DA): Use tools like Moz or Ahrefs to check the domain’s authority or rating. The higher, the better.
• Backlink Profile: Look for domains that have natural, high-quality backlinks, and avoid the ones that have too many spammy or low-quality backlinks.
• Traffic History: Use tools like Semrush to get an idea about historical traffic.
• Clean History: Check Archive.org (Wayback Machine) to see the domain’s past content. Avoid domains that hosted spam, adult content, malware, or any other problematic content.
• Trademark Check: Ensure the domain doesn’t infringe on any registered trademarks. You can perform free trademark search at Trademarkia.com or USPTO.gov.

How to Find Expired Domains?

There are many platforms and tools that can help you find expired or expiring domains, some of which are free and some are paid.

The following are some of the top places where you can find expired domain auctions:

• GoDaddy Auctions
• DropCatch.com
• NameJet
• SnapNames
• Dynadot Expired Domain Auctions

You can also use the following research tools to help you find and sort expired domains based on different metrics:

• ExpiredDomains.net: Offers a free database of expired domains with sorting and filtering options.
• DomCop: A paid tool that aggregates expired domains with SEO metrics from Ahrefs, Moz, Majestic, and Semrush.
• SpamZilla: Focuses on filtering expired domains with clean histories and strong SEO potential.

Tips for Buying Expired Domains

• Act Fast: Valuable domains don’t stay unclaimed for long. Snag it while you can before someone else does.
• Do Your Due Diligence: A domain might look great on the surface but it could have a shady past.
• Use a Reputable Registrar: Ensure your transactions are secure and that support service is available around-the-clock.
• Plan Ahead: Think about how the domain fits into your larger strategy, whether it’s SEO, branding, or reselling.