i am planning on buying a few sites and using a 301 redirect to transfer the link popularity over to my site. has anyone tried this before? anything i should know before doing it? thoughts, suggestions, warnings, criticisms all very much welcome.

i am planning on buying a few sites and using a 301 redirect to transfer the link popularity over to my site. has anyone tried this before? anything i should know before doing it? thoughts, suggestions, warnings, criticisms all very much welcome.
I would look for sites that have relevance otherwise it may create problems.

i am planning on buying a few sites and using a 301 redirect to transfer the link popularity over to my site. has anyone tried this before? anything i should know before doing it? thoughts, suggestions, warnings, criticisms all very much welcome.

what he said... and avoid keyword domains as much as possible. A 'brand' can be anything e.g. IBM.com could be cars, horses, etc. where casion-gambling-lounge.com would be spam to everything but the gaming industry.

I may be wrong (which is why I'm posting the question - it's a genuine question) but my understanding was that:

1. If a site changes ownership (whois data) AND
2. is redirected OR
3. Changes content substantially

...then the links no longer count? Is this true? My understanding was that it is, but since I've never done it I can only go from third hand reports, and I'm kind of skeptical.

I could see a company buying or merging with another company legitimately merging the sites together. It seems odd that this would be considered spam.

At the same time, my initial understanding was with regard to "bait and switch" sites in DMOZ, etc, and it seemed pretty reasonable at the time.

Bottom line - which version is correct? Can anyone speak from experience?

Ian

I may be wrong (which is why I'm posting the question - it's a genuine question) but my understanding was that:

1. If a site changes ownership (whois data) AND
2. is redirected OR
3. Changes content substantially

...then the links no longer count? Is this true? My understanding was that it is, but since I've never done it I can only go from third hand reports, and I'm kind of skeptical.

I could see a company buying or merging with another company legitimately merging the sites together. It seems odd that this would be considered spam.

At the same time, my initial understanding was with regard to "bait and switch" sites in DMOZ, etc, and it seemed pretty reasonable at the time.

Bottom line - which version is correct? Can anyone speak from experience?

Ian

No actual experience but logically whois data can change periodically and not because of selling the domain; redirected - with a permanent 301 there is no user agent distinction between old and new IPs - it's simply superimposed; and substantial changes in content well website can have a major overhaul in both design architecture and copy.

Any of these would substantially target far more than 'bait & switch' gaming.

My understanding - an expired domain negates previous established link pop - but really not 100% sure.

expired domain

The missing link! That's the part I missed. Maybe that's what I was hearing about. I wasn't interested in doing it at the time so I didn't pay as much attention as I should have. Of course, as you say, that still doesn't mean it's true. :(

Ian

Expired domains have all sorts of pitfalls to watch out for... there have been numerous discussions about them on many of the SEO boards... am surprised no one else has weighed in... maybe just did not want to rehash old stuff.

John Scott at v7n basically created on big live experiment on all this.

He bought the expired domain "webmaster-forum.net" in 2003 to set up his webmaster forums on, he reported (http://www.v7n.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6808&page=3) that he fell foul of some form of expired domain filter - no PR at all, until he took the issue up with GG at WMW.

The site domain name was later relaunched as "internet-marketing-research.net" later the same year, which reached PR8. However, he then rebuilt the site on the domain "v7n.com" earlier this year. John mentions here (http://www.v7n.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16631&page=2&pp=20) that he's not seeing PR being passed.

Suggestion seems to be that redirects are of only very limited worth.

I'd have to hunt to find the link to confirm it, but there's a filter for expireds; they don't accrue the previous PR. Not for quite a while now.

Buying domains that haven't expired may be a different story, but then there's the 301 issue which isn't avoiding the "sandbox" for the site redirected to if it's a new one.

The expired domains have been filtered for quite some time.... 301 redirects are actually the recommended way to pass old sites (not expired but say renamed pages or new domain names).

this thread has a high Moderator density...

please kid merc keep us abreast of your efforts I am curious to hear some primary research on this subject...

this thread has a high Moderator density...

please kid merc keep us abreast of your efforts I am curious to hear some primary research on this subject...

ya but a little off-topic... buying websites & 310 re-direct isn't picking up expired domain for link pop... so best not to seek expired domains for link pop development.

Also Ian I looked for some references to your initial questions - didn't find any.

Here's the quote about the expired domain filter, with the reference from spring of 2003

http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=3267

I don't recall anything off-hand about active domains being purchased, but PR and anchor text are two different things. If the content changes substantially to a different topic previous anchor text won't be any help.

Actually, I think the best way to start seeing even more filters slapped on is to keep discussing the them. Getting them out from under the radar could help the engines a lot in cleaning up the SERPs ;)

...If the content changes substantially to a different topic previous anchor text won't be any help....

I would rephrase and say 'help less' & not - 'not help at all' - correct?

I would rephrase and say 'help less' & not - 'not help at all' - correct?
Because we all know even the most bizarre inbound link pages give a little love....

Because we all know even the most bizarre inbound link pages give a little love....

LOL - ya sometimes it 'don't figure'.

This site's mainpage [a defaced phpBB forum by webworn] and now defunct http://www.mmmaple.com went from PR4 to PR7 in 3 months without a single new link... now look at the cache. :eek:

Still trying to figure this out.

This site's mainpage [a defaced phpBB forum by webworn] and now defunct http://www.mmmaple.com went from PR4 to PR7 in 3 months without a single new link... now look at the cache. :eek:
weird that...

It seems to me that your efforts would be better spent buying good quality text links from reputable sites as opposed to buying domains. I wouldn't think buying other domains to permanently redirect would be of much use. Besides, what happens eventually when the PR of those domains you buy drop because there is either "actual" site there any longer and as a result, the links the site used to have begin to slowly disappear?

i am planning on buying a few sites and using a 301 redirect to transfer the link popularity over to my site. has anyone tried this before? anything i should know before doing it? thoughts, suggestions, warnings, criticisms all very much welcome.

This is exactly the sort of thing that will ruin the usefulness of the 301 for the true purpose it's intended for. I've actually been surprised that 301's do transfer link pop. for this very reason.

Guess we can kiss it goodbye, soon enough. :rolleyes:

This is exactly the sort of thing that will ruin the usefulness of the 301 for the true purpose it's intended for. I've actually been surprised that 301's do transfer link pop. for this very reason.

Guess we can kiss it goodbye, soon enough. :rolleyes:
I don't know whether Google will race out to change this too soon... it works and if there is a loophole there will always be loopholes.

Like Danny Devito said in Other People's Money... "I don't break the rules I adapt to them... and when they change them I adapt with the changes"....

Louie the Liquidator buying up old domains is just around the corner!

This is exactly the sort of thing that will ruin the usefulness of the 301 for the true purpose it's intended for. I've actually been surprised that 301's do transfer link pop. for this very reason.

Guess we can kiss it goodbye, soon enough. :rolleyes:

Ya know - it's great to suggest something is a bad practice, or a poor strategy, and note that 'if you do it - you will ruin it for everyone'... but why not offer a superior strategy that is deserving of the title 'best practices'.

I would think MercuryKid would be quite open to strategies that gain an industry icon seal of approval if it is demonstrated.

He is 'asking questions' yet not actually provide "a better way".

Offer a superior strategy to buying expired domain names and redirecting them for their link popularity?

How about just about anything else? Something that doesn't attempt to deceive the engines, perhaps? I could list a zillion things, but anyone can just read my site or any of the others that discuss long-term SEO strateties for success, for that sort of info.

I've actually been surprised that 301's do transfer link pop. for this very reason.
It can help for sheer link-pop numbers, so far.

Guess we can kiss it goodbye, soon enough.
Even where there's legitimate reason by the owner of the domains, like for type-in traffic or mis-spellings. Par for the course.

Offer a superior strategy to buying expired domain names and redirecting them for their link popularity?

How about just about anything else? Something that doesn't attempt to deceive the engines, perhaps? I could list a zillion things, but anyone can just read my site or any of the others that discuss long-term SEO strateties for success, for that sort of info.

The side 'topic' got you!

I 'could' buy High Rankings from you for some price - re-populate your archive in Spherica and 301 your domain - and I LOSE NOTHING and gain alot, or

Forget the existing community and 301 the archive to Spherinet and use the existing results to promote Spherinet and I lose nothing, and

in the process gain all your backlinks to either domain.

The topic isn't expired domains 'it's live websites'.

example here:

http://www.peiplay.com

http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/

PEI Department of Tourism purchased peiplay.com from a local company for $200K.

The archive was a directory of PEI tour vendors, attractions etc.

Nothing wrong with this strategy - but works best when content is related - which was the opening concerns noted.

It seems to me that your efforts would be better spent buying good quality text links from reputable sites as opposed to buying domains. I wouldn't think buying other domains to permanently redirect would be of much use. Besides, what happens eventually when the PR of those domains you buy drop because there is either "actual" site there any longer and as a result, the links the site used to have begin to slowly disappear?

ahh, good point.

Sorry if this is not EXACTLY on topic, but it seems relevant to this thread.

I recently bought an expired domain which marketleap reports as having over 30,000 incoming links, almost all to the home page. It is a subject relevant to my content, and I have built a new home page and some other pages, with links to my main site.

The question I have is...will this pass PR or not? If there is a sandbox for expired domains, can I have my site removed? As the site is present, with no redirects, there are no 404 errors, so the links should stay put (at least most of them), meaning I have live links, which are already my #11 source of traffic (after <2 weeks, alexa ranked top 100,000 site)

I will report on the effect on PR after the next update, but would appreciate any thoughts.
Thanks in anticipation for suggestions and comments
Brian

Sorry if this is not EXACTLY on topic, but it seems relevant to this thread.

I recently bought an expired domain which marketleap reports as having over 30,000 incoming links, almost all to the home page. It is a subject relevant to my content, and I have built a new home page and some other pages, with links to my main site.

The question I have is...will this pass PR or not? If there is a sandbox for expired domains, can I have my site removed? As the site is present, with no redirects, there are no 404 errors, so the links should stay put (at least most of them), meaning I have live links, which are already my #11 source of traffic (after <2 weeks, alexa ranked top 100,000 site)

I will report on the effect on PR after the next update, but would appreciate any thoughts.
Thanks in anticipation for suggestions and comments
Brian

"IF" you picked it up "IMMEDIATELY" after the expiry [prior to Google crawling and finding a placeholder] then you can possibly get the credit...

"IF NOT" - is it a dead issue - the links no longer exist - according to Google.

Google is now officially a domain registrar. Nothing will get past them.

Recently 301'ed a group of small content-based non-commercial reference sites into a single domain. Absolutely no SEO benefit from it. In fact, I now get 40% less traffic on the main domain than I did on one of the original redirected domains before it was redirected.

Feeling punished without reason for doing so. I guess its just "collateral damage".

Thanks for the replies.
Surely if the links still exist, are spidered (and/or clicked) and lead to an active page, they will register with the great G as active links? Or am I just being really naive?
Brian

Thanks for the replies.
Surely if the links still exist, are spidered (and/or clicked) and lead to an active page, they will register with the great G as active links? Or am I just being really naive?
Brian
It's not so much a question of the links being recognised, as much as being valued the same as before. In the short-term at least I don't see it happening.