Background of the Website
Before jumping into Western markets, I searched for and bought a solid domain at auction that had backlinks from major news outlets. It previously had traffic, which confirmed my hypothesis that it would rank much faster.
Its main advantage was prior traffic and TRUST backlinks—it had heavy-hitting news authority links pointing to it.
I launched 3 pages on this dropped domain back in January and then left it alone. One of those pages was specifically built for monetization, and I managed to push it up roughly 5 months later. I wrote about it here.
Then, starting in mid-July, I began adding content and published a total of 30 articles on the site by the end of August. I am currently promoting inner pages—specifically these new articles, which had no links prior to this. These new articles are what this case study is about. Let’s start with choosing an expired domain.
Choosing an Expired Domain: 3 Types of Domains
There are 3 domain categories:
- Drop domain — nobody claimed it and you registered it yourself. The registration date is brand new.
- Backordered domain — caught via a domain drop catching service like DropCatch.com. The registration date is also reset, caught within seconds after release.
- Auction domain — a domain bought at GoDaddy Auctions.
I personally register auction domains most of the time.
Finding the Domain via GoDaddy Auctions
You can see for yourself which domains I bid on but didn’t win, and evaluate their link profiles. This is useful for understanding which domains are worth picking up.
Here are the auctions I lost:
Update June 2019: Auction prices have increased significantly since then. I have learned to filter dropped domains much better and more strictly. If you see that there isn’t strong competition for a domain, chances are high that it looks good only in your eyes.
To start searching for domains, simply go to expireddomains.net and sign up.
I use this filter during the initial domain screening.
Victor Karpenko, for example, also uses GoDaddy auction domains, whereas regular expired drops pass significantly less equity.
Checking for Search Engine Penalties
Victor Karpenko (Seoprofy) mentioned in one of his videos that if you search Google for domain com (i.e., without a dot, using a space), and it doesn’t show up, the domain is penalized and risky to buy. I registered a domain like this anyway and am quite pleased, even though the domain still doesn’t show up for that query today. Theoretically, it should have been penalized…
UPDATE June 2019: The domain now ranks #1 in the USA region. In other regions, it is not in the first position.
I don’t rule out that some domains will fail to rank altogether, unfortunately, but it’s a double-edged sword: if you want fast results, get an expired domain; if you want slow and steady progress, launch a brand new domain.
The jackpot is registering an exact niche-matched domain. That is, if you are promoting a best [product] site, the backlinks pointing to the domain match that exact niche. But I haven’t managed to register one like that yet… You really have to search thoroughly for a long time or buy the domain directly.
A truly niche-relevant domain is rare, plus the price tag will be astronomical. Calculate what is more cost-effective for you: building links from scratch or buying an expired domain like that.
Why Buy an Auction Domain? Domain Trust VS. Page Trust VS. Quality Content
In Google, the trust of the domain itself comes first, followed by the trust of the individual page. So if you have 2 pages equal in content quality, user signals, etc., Google will almost always favor the higher-trust domain. This is easy to see across any search results.
Or a second example:
In other words, by having a higher-trust domain packed with backlinks, you already get a head start. Take this Ahrefs study, for example:
So content in Google is not king—backlinks are a far more crucial factor.
How a High-Trust Domain Performs: My Experience
An affiliate keyword with a monthly search volume of 6,600. The page was published on 2018/08/29 — August 29.
Visitors are already coming in, and impressions are growing. I expect conversions soon, as I only recently added affiliate links. That’s solid growth for a month and a half.
Another example: an affiliate keyword with a search volume of 5,400.
Page published:
Here is the status 2 months after launch. I consider this a strong growth metric. Impressions are climbing, and visitors are landing on the page. I’m expecting top positions very soon.
Keyword Difficulty
I select keywords with an Ahrefs KD (Keyword Difficulty) of up to 10. These are affiliate keywords, but with low competition.
Accelerating Page Ranking in Google
To speed up results, I use the following tactics:
- Forum backlinks — manual placement and private PBNs
- Social signals from Facebook, Twitter, Google+
I’m not sure which specific tactic works best; I believe everything works well in combination.
Bottom line: High-trust domain + content + ranking acceleration (backlinks + social signals) = TOP positions in Western SERPs
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.