1. The domain name has been banned by Google
2. The domain name's Google PageRank does not recover after being reset to 0
3. The inlinks are low-quality
4. The previous domain name owner used shady business practices

The domain name has been banned by Google

Some unscrupulous website owners will attempt to improve their Google PageRank through spamming and other less desirable means. As a result, Google may have banned the domain name from their index (which means it will not appear in any of Google's search results). Although it's possible to successfully petition Google to un-ban a domain name, it can sometimes be a bit of a headache.

There aren't any reliable ways to check if an expired domain name is banned by Google. One indicator you can use is its PageRank in our data. If it has a PageRank of 1 or higher, then there's a good chance it's not banned. If it has a PageRank of 0, then it may in fact be banned. Banned domain names have a PageRank of 0, but not all domain names with a PageRank of 0 are banned.

Another method you can use is to analyze the previous website's content and inlinks, and then make an educated guess. If the content and links seem legitimate (and not the result of spamming or ranking manipulation tactics), then there's a good chance it's not banned. Use the WayBack Machine to check previous versions of the website, and try to research the previous owner for insights into their credibility.

The domain name's Google PageRank does not recover after being reset to 0

Once a domain name expires, its Google PageRank is reset to 0. This is due to Google's expired domain name filter, which removes a domain name from their index once it expires. In our experience, this removal and PageRank reset is only temporary. Once it is re-submitted to Google's index, the domain name's PageRank is often restored to its pre-deletion value within a month or two (assuming the content is comparable to that of the previous website). But beware, there's always the possibility the PageRank won't recover. NOTE: You must resubmit the domain name to Google's index in order for the PageRank to begin recovering.

The inlinks are low-quality

If you're using a domain name's link popularity to decide whether or not to backorder it, it's a good idea to confirm the inlinks are "quality" links, and not from link farms. A link farm is a set of web pages that have been built for the sole purpose of increasing the number of incoming links to a domain name. Although they do count as inlinks, it's unlikely that qualified users actually use the pages and click their links. So even though a domain name may have strong link popularity, the links may be weak which won't generate much traffic. On the flipside, a few quality links can generate a lot of traffic.

The previous domain name owner used shady business practices

If you're backordering an expired domain name in order to increase website traffic, beware of its history. If the previous owner was shady, and created a lot of negative sentiment, you could be transferring that negative sentiment to your website if you acquire the domain name. For example, if the previous owner sold extremely low-quality products, then you could be faced with dealing with a lot of irate customers trying to get a refund from you, instead of from the previous website operator.

Conclusion

When buying an expired domain name, it pays to do your homework.

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Last Updated: April 4, 2007