There Is No Ranking Bonus Awarded to Expired Domains
It does not come as a surprise to those of us who have more than 20 years of experience in SEO because Mueller’s explanation that expired domains have no bonus is based on that fact.
Because our generation was the first to begin the practise of purchasing expired domain names and the first to witness the moment when Google implemented an algorithm update to deal with them, we were already aware of this fact.
We found out the hard way that using expired domains actually helped sites rank higher in search results.
Not only were they helpful for ranking purposes, but the amount of PageRank that they offered could actually be seen in the toolbar on Google’s website.
It should also be noted that holdover PageRank was not limited to merely expired domains. A link that points to a domain that is no longer active can also be a source of PageRank SEO services near me.
The standard procedure called for running a crawler on a popular website and examining the outbound links that produced an error message reading “404 Page Not Found.”
These 404s were links to pages and websites that had been removed or were no longer available.
Therefore, we decided to purchase those domains, which were typically variations on misspelt words, and then point those domains to affiliate websites. Within a few short weeks, PageRank would begin to flow to the affiliate site, and the site’s ranking would begin to improve.
Buying misspelt domains that already had a large number of inbound links and purchasing expired domains were both examples of the practise of recycling PageRank, which is a technique used to help rank websites without the need to build links.
These were the short cuts to link building SEO
Related: Eleven Domain Factors Every Search Engine Optimization Audit Should Look at
Already Handling Expired Domains: The Google Algorithm in Action
After learning about the practise in 2003, Google made changes to their algorithm that reset the PageRank of domains that had expired.
Those individuals who are new to SEO and have approximately five years of experience and believe in expired domains are likely to be taken aback by this information.
But it’s true.
“At the moment, the penalties may continue to be placed on a domain. Therefore, before you buy a domain, you are going to want to do some research.
The resetting of PageRank was not restricted to just expired domains. PageRank was also reset for domains with typographical errors in their names.
Soon after that, the market for previously owned domain names experienced a precipitous decline, and almost nobody was buying them anymore.
I was working as an SEO at the time that it took place, so I was able to observe the consequences of that change.
Update on Google’s Expired Domains Announced (Announcement)
The announcement that Google would be resetting the PageRank for expired domains was made by a Google engineer who goes by the nickname “GoogleGuy” on the WebmasterWorld forum.
The majority of the time, Matt Cutts was hiding his identity as GoogleGuy SEO
However, other search engineers also used that alias to make announcements in the name of Google. These announcements were made by both of them.
Google published the following information in a post on WebmasterWorld titled “Good News About Expired Domains.”
Soon after that, the market for previously owned domain names experienced a precipitous decline, and almost nobody was buying them anymore.
“Hey, the index is going to be released very soon, so I thought I’d give everyone a general idea of what to anticipate for this index. Not only is it larger and more in-depth (yay! ), but we have also placed a greater emphasis on developing algorithmic improvements to combat spam issues.
The authority for a domain’s authority will be reset when a domain expires, even though dangling links to the expired domain are still out there on the web. This is one of the improvements that has resulted from using this index, and it is one of the improvements that has improved the handling of expired domains.
Google has confirmed that a domain that has expired can still rank, but this will not be due to any previously established links because those will no longer be considered.
It was written by GoogleGuy:
“…you will be able to get that domain into Google; the only difference is that you will not receive credit for any pre-existing links.”
Furthermore, GoogleGuy mentioned that expired domains that already had penalties would be subject to those penalties even after the domain had expired.
The GoogleGuy recommened:
“At the moment, the penalties may continue to be placed on a domain. Therefore, before you buy a domain, you are going to want to do some research.
The resetting of PageRank was not restricted to just expired domains. PageRank was also reset for domains with typographical errors in their names.
Soon after that, the market for previously owned domain names experienced a precipitous decline, and almost nobody was buying them anymore.
A Comeback For Purchasing Previously Deleted Domains SEO
Then, approximately ten years later, a new generation of SEO professionals came along and rediscovered expired domains, without knowing the history of Google taking measures to ensure that they no longer worked. Specifically, these SEO professionals were unaware that Google had taken steps to ensure that expired domains no longer worked.
The entire process of dealing with expired domain names started all over again.
It’s possible to find anecdotal evidence to back up just about any SEO practise you can think of. Even vociferous supporters of ineffective strategies such as comment spam are out there, waiting to be found. As a result, it should not come as a surprise that a concept like expired domains would become popular once more.
Obtaining Information from One’s Opponents
Google has the ability to halt the flow of PageRank that would otherwise come from links in the sidebar or footer.
Google has the ability to restrict the amount of PageRank that travels from one website to another depending on the significance of the link in question.
Due to the fact that there is no pertinent context for the link, Google is able to prevent PageRank from flowing from one website to another website.
The majority of SEO are capable of understanding those Google facts.
When it comes to expired links, however, some search engine optimization specialists have the impression that Google is powerless and unable to reset the PageRank of expired domains.
Google has more than 20 years of experience dealing with issues pertaining to the manipulation of their search engine, including issues pertaining to expired domains (which is documented above).
There is even a term for the process of developing search systems that are immune to manipulation; this process is known as adversarial information retrieval (AIR).
In a world where Natural Language Processing, BERT, and MUM exist, and in light of the fact that Google announced in 2003 that it would reset the PageRank of expired domains, one could argue that the assertion that all that is required to beat Google is to purchase an expired domain pushes the bounds of plausibility to their breaking point.
