Let me begin this post by stating that this is completely experimental at the time of this post. However, finding and using an expired domain is an interesting concept for doctors who are just getting started building a website.
I’ll explain how I got here…
Outside of my role with Galen Medical Systems and the focus on helping physicians market themselves online, I’m personally invested in several online businesses.
One very exciting niche opportunity came up, and as I was evaluating the opportunity, I was introduced to the idea of finding and acquiring a recently expired domain name from which this particular website could be built.
The possible upside to using an expired domain was that it already had Domain Authority established with Google and a lot of existing backlinks, which means an opportunity to rank organically even faster for keyword targets. This is very appealing, especially as the average length of time for organic SEO seems to have increased to a 6-12 month window for many brand new sites.
What are expired domain names?
An expired domain name is a domain that has not been renewed by the owner, and as a result, is now available to be registered by someone else. It’s not uncommon for domain names to “expire,” and in fact, it happens all the time.
The process works like this:
- A domain name is registered for a certain period of time (1 year, 2 years, 5 years, etc).
- When that time period is up, the domain name “expires.”
- If the domain name is not renewed by the owner, it becomes available for anyone to register.
- Depending on the extension (.com, .net, .org, etc), there may be a grace period where the domain name can still be renewed by the owner before it becomes available to the public.
How do I know if an expired domain is any good?
The short answer is, you don’t. But there are a few things you can look at to try and gauge the potential value of an expired domain name.
- Domain Authority – This is a metric created by Moz that essentially measures how strong a website is in Google’s eyes. The higher the DA, the better.
- Number of backlinks – This measures how many other websites are linking to this domain name. The more backlinks, the better, but be careful that the links aren’t spammy.
- Age of domain – Generally speaking, the longer a domain name has been around, the better. This isn’t always the case, but it’s a good rule of thumb.
You can use online tools like SEMRush to get a helpful idea of the site health.
Should I use an expired domain for my doctor website?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’m not sure. This is something that I’m experimenting with, and I will report back on what I find.
Here are a few things to consider if you’re thinking about using an expired domain for your doctor website:
- Make sure the domain name is relevant to your niche – If you’re a plastic surgeon, you don’t want to use a domain name that’s related to something completely different like real estate or car insurance.
- Do your research – Like I said, you don’t want to just buy any old expired domain. Make sure you look at the DA, backlinks, and age of the domain to get an idea of its potential value.
- Make sure it’s available – Just because a domain name is expired doesn’t mean it’s available for you to register. If it’s a popular domain, there’s a good chance someone else has already snagged it up.
I hope this has been helpful. Again, this is purely experimental at this point, but I’m excited to see how this strategy plays out with my personal investment.
Once I have more data, I’ll post an update on this new strategy and concept.