Video: Buying Expired Domain Names

Join us for the latest edition of the iGoldrush Report as Morgan Linton teaches you how to find and buy expired domain names. In the next 7+ minutes, you’ll learn how and where to find expired domain names and what 3 free tools Morgan uses to determine which expired domain names to buy. After watching this video, you’ll have the information and tools to help you build your domain investment portfolio with quality expired domain names.

In this video, we teach you how to find expired domain names to purchase and how to determine which of those are actually worth buying. A lot of new domainers – and experienced for that matter – get the bulk of their inventory by buying expired domain names. Many of these names are valuable as they have been registered for a very long time.

Expired domains generally fall into three categories:

• The original owner simply forgot to renew it.
• The owner simply never used the name.
• They tried something with the name that failed and they’re no longer using it.

First, I want to touch on those names where the owner simply forgot to renew the domain. If you purchase an expired domain name and the original owner comes to you and says that they simply forgot to renew it, be a nice person and give it back to them for the price that you paid. While you shouldn’t take a loss on it, you also shouldn’t try to profit from their mistake. I do this every time someone has come to me about a domain they forgot to renew. Remember that what goes around comes around and as investors, we should make smart investments, but also do the right thing.

Now let’s move on to the other categories of expired domains. Many of the expired domains available are ones that people didn’t forget about, but rather they just don’t care about anymore.

The key to buying expired domain names is to learn how to identify which ones really make good potential investments and this all comes down to your research. Whether you’re buying an expired domain, hand registering a domain, or buying a domain from a 3rd party, make sure to do your research.

Here’s my list of recommended tools to aide you in researching and buying expired domain names:

• FreshDrop – Rather than going to all of the individual marketplaces, I use FreshDrop as my main tool to find expired domains as it aggregates all of the marketplaces together. FreshDrop also allows you to quickly and easily search expired domain inventory in many different ways, such as by PR, the number of backlinks, etc.

• Google Keyword Tool – I mention this tool all of the time as it’s my go-to tool for domain research. The goal is to find out if these keywords in the domain really are as good as you think they are. To do this, use the Google keyword tool to perform a search. You should look at exact match local and you want to first look at search volume to make sure that there are people searching for your keyword. For instance, I aim for a minimum of 500-1000. If it’s really low, like 200 and under, you may not want the name. Use your best judgement on this though.Next, look at the CPC. I aim for over 50¢ cpc. Unless it’s a keyword that you really care about, you need to make sure the search volume and cpc are there. This will tell if you people are really searching for it and if advertiser’s are willing to pay for it.Lastly, it’s important to use the google keyword tool because it’s a key metric for domain investors. If you’re trying to liquidate a name, the first thing an investor is going to do is check out the google keyword metrics with this tool.

• Estibot- Next, I recommend you visit Estibot and take a look at the valuation of the name. Don’t take the Estibot valuation at book value, but rather as a guide. If you’re bidding on an expired domain and it goes up over $4,000, yet Estibot values it at $1,200, I’d be a little cautious. At the same time, remember that just because Estibot says it’s worth $1,200 doesn’t mean it’s not worth more as there are plenty of names worth more than their Estibot estimate. On the flip side, if you’re bidding on a name for $50 and estibot lists it at $5,000, then that may be a name that you’d want!

• DomainTools –Lastly, I recommend you visit DomainTools to look back at the history of the domain. You definitely don’t want to buy a name that someone else has used for a scam. Use the whois history tool and take a look at the previous owner/company and google them. If you come across complaints or anything negative, then you probably don’t want to buy the name.

After you’ve done your research, it’s time to start bidding! My final piece of advice is to pull emotion out of the bidding and buying process though. Don’t look at the number of bids that are out there. There could be a name with quite a few bids and you may assume that means it’s a great name, but it only takes a few uninformed domain investors to start a bidding war. Instead, use your research and data to make quality investments.

If you’ve missed an episode of the iGoldrush Report, catch up here!

About iGoldrush Report: Paul Goldstone (iGoldrush CEO and entrepreneur) and Morgan Linton (popular blogger, domain investor, developer, entrepreneur) bring their expertise to you in an exclusive monthly video series that focuses on all topics related to domain names.

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