question Acquiring Expired Domains for Backlink Profile (ethical?)

[Federer]

Quick question for you SEO experts...
I am soon going to be buying (directly from owner) a very high DA/DR domain name. I know there are buyers for these names, depending on the quality of the BL (and past usage/traffic). But is it LEGAL for businesses to acquire expired domains JUST for their BL profile / SEO Juice? (Isn’t this cheating?) - as the new owner of the domain has not really “earnt” those BL (apart from them having pay up for a expired domain with BL). Also 100% of the BL are relating to a site that does not exist anymore, and will then be leveraged/pointing (or giving SEO juice) to the new website that the new owner will be building (usually in the same niche).
Is this a perfectly legal practice/nothing wrong or shady?
Just wanting to double-check that all this is ethical, before I go out and acquire a valuable ex-website…

 

[NickB]

I've never read anywhere that is illegal, the only ones I would be careful of are those domains that infringe on TM's - people still buy these expired domains to make a quick profit before/if any action is taken.....

Hell, I've seen examples of people buying an expired domain with a good backlink profile and then cloning the old site and just tidying it up and they have had no issues......

The new owner of an expired domain has not earnt those links, they come with the purchase that they make to acquire that domain, it's similar to buying a business with existing assets - nothing wrong with it.

Just make sure to really dig deep into the backlink profile before buying it

My site had an existing backlink profile and I've personally have had no problems

 

[KTC]

I've never read anywhere that is illegal, the only ones I would be careful of are those domains that infringe on TM's - people still buy these expired domains to make a quick profit before/if any action is taken.....

Hell, I've seen examples of people buying an expired domain with a good backlink profile and then cloning the old site and just tidying it up and they have had no issues......

The new owner of an expired domain has not earnt those links, they come with the purchase that they make to acquire that domain, it's similar to buying a business with existing assets - nothing wrong with it.

Just make sure to really dig deep into the backlink profile before buying it

My site had an existing backlink profile and I've personally have had no problems

Have really just come on here to cosign what Nick has said. As long as the backlink profile is pretty good, it really just comes down to buying a name for the link profile like assets from any other business. Nothing illegal about it.

It would be a bit of a different story if you bought it, cloned the old site, and used the old content as that could cause legal issues from that angle(from my old personal experiences).

 

[Federer]

The only question is > (once the new buyer has created a new website with relevant, original content) the Backlinks will be directing to a "different website" than the original website (when the BL were created) - is that still ok? Isn't that tricking/manipulating/frowned upon?
As I am interested in acquiring (directly from owners) some very high-authority domains with the sole intent of flipping to SEO experts so they can... do their thing and build them out (monetize). But I am only interested in buying these types of in-demand domains if the whole process is ethical (buying the domain - letting the new owner developing and profiting from old links from the OLD website) etc.

 

[KTC]

The only question is > (once the new buyer has created a new website with relevant, original content) the Backlinks will be directing to a "different website" than the original website (when the BL were created) - is that still ok? Isn't that tricking/manipulating/frowned upon?
As I am interested in acquiring (directly from owners) some very high-authority domains with the sole intent of flipping to SEO experts so they can... do their thing and build them out (monetize). But I am only interested in buying these types of in-demand domains if the whole process is ethical (buying the domain - letting the new owner developing and profiting from old links from the OLD website) etc.

I'd guess it'd depend on the situation and how'd you feel about it. You'll have someone always out there that wants a bit of an easier time trying to boost SEO in a short amount of time. I've done it where building new sites on top of existing backlink profiles and plenty more have done the same. It probably won't stop either way no matter where your ethics may lie, especially if there's a way to get profits faster from the big G. I'll outline two of my personal examples for you.

Example 1: I had a domain name that related to embassy info and had quite a bit of SEO juice/backlinks behind it and sold it for about $1k. The catalyst behind finding out domain name reselling is a legit business. What did they do with it? Turned it from an English site from the old content to a Bahasa Indonesian language site(couldn't tell you the niche if I even wanted to.) Not related to the old content whatsoever. Would I buy this one back for resell? Nope, I wouldn't. The name was ok, but the backlink profile sucks now.

Example 2: No backlink profile from when I originally had the name, but found out that the new owner that bought it from me ended up building a bit of one themselves. Checked on it about a year later and turns out that they ran a scam site where they sold services, but never provided them. Would I buy this one back? Absolutely. The name is good, the backlink profile(outside of the negative press from being found out that the owner was shady) ain't bad either.

I don't think you can stop anyone from doing what they are planning to do. If you know that a backlink profile is shady and aim for an unsuspecting buyer that doesn't know how to remove that kind of stuff, I'd say that would be unethical(from my own eyes). But, it truly comes down to what you believe is ethical or not. You see those names being sold every day because of backlink profiles. What's really stopping you from doing the same?

Edit: Almost forgot to add that even if you do acquire a good backlink profile, it doesn't necessarily equate that the juice from them will transfer over under new ownership depending on certain factors. Always do your due diligence.

 

[twiki]

It is known, it is done. I also have a few domains acquired for backlinks, although generally I focus on other things.

Nothing wrong with it until - you do something really wrong.

Should you have bought a domain/site from a friend, with the backlinks, would it have been wrong?

You're over-analyzing too much.

Edit: You should rather worry on not paying a kidney for a good one.

Valid domains with good backlinks are sold anywhere from mid 4-fig to 6-fig.

If you get them for a few hundred tops, chances are you might have been gotten a dud.

 

[KTC]

You're over-analyzing too much.

This is pretty much the TLDR version of what I was trying to say.

 

[evil]

Link Juice (301 redirect) is usually done with expired domains and nothing illegal with it.
A part of the backordered domains are acquired by SEO agencies for their customers.

Buying a very high DA/DR domain name for redirecting is a waste.
I will invest money for a traditional SEO optimization or acquiring multiple domains in the same niche instead of a single good (and most probably expensive) website

 

[trap3]

People buy other peoples companies all the time for their assets.

Backlinks are assets. So there is nothing wrong/illegal whatsoever with this practise.

 

[SCP Foundation]

Quick question for you SEO experts...
I am soon going to be buying (directly from owner) a very high DA/DR domain name. I know there are buyers for these names, depending on the quality of the BL (and past usage/traffic). But is it LEGAL for businesses to acquire expired domains JUST for their BL profile / SEO Juice? (Isn’t this cheating?) - as the new owner of the domain has not really “earnt” those BL (apart from them having pay up for a expired domain with BL). Also 100% of the BL are relating to a site that does not exist anymore, and will then be leveraged/pointing (or giving SEO juice) to the new website that the new owner will be building (usually in the same niche).
Is this a perfectly legal practice/nothing wrong or shady?
Just wanting to double-check that all this is ethical, before I go out and acquire a valuable ex-website…

i think there is no law about this
it's all up to you man : you should decide if you see it ethical or not

 

[AstoundingDesigns]

Acquiring expired domains for the purpose of using their backlink profile to boost the SEO of a new website is a common practice in the SEO industry, but it is important to understand that it is not without risk.

Search engines like Google may penalize a website if they suspect that the backlinks were obtained through manipulative or deceitful means. As such, it is important to thoroughly review the backlink profile of an expired domain before acquiring it, and to only use backlinks that are relevant and come from reputable sources. Additionally, it is important to use a 301 redirect from the expired domain to the new website, in order to maintain as much link equity as possible.

It is also worth to note that, as the new owner of the expired domain, you should not expect to achieve the same search engine rankings as the previous owner. Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving and are designed to detect and penalize manipulative practices.

In summary, purchasing expired domains for the purpose of using their backlink profile to boost the SEO of a new website is a legal practice, but it is important to take care to ensure that the backlinks are obtained ethically and that search engine guidelines are followed. It is also important to note that, while backlinks can be an important factor in SEO, they are not the only one. Other factors such as website architecture, keyword relevance, and user engagement also play a role in determining search engine rankings.