Buying an existing domain with higher ranks for redirecting

[upick-162391]

I've recently came across one of my competitors who's looking to sell their domain. Now they currently rank higher than my primary site for a few keywords we are targeting.

Would it be wise to buy the domain and do a name server change over to my primary domain? Would it even help boost ranks for the keywords they rank higher for? Or will the link juice be minimal?

Any thoughts would be great!

[mediabase]

Hi Upick,Fisrt of all I wan to tell you that It’s no secret that one of the tactics search engine optimization specialists use to increase search rankings is domain purchasing.  The idea is that you find a domain that currently ranks well within your niche, buy it and then redirect the site to your domain.  Alternatively you could purchase this domain and continue to build off of it and utilize its existing rankings and site traffic.

Below are several do’s & don’ts to keep in consideration when purchasing a domain.

DO:

• Look for existing rankings
• Research websites existing links.  Are they all pointing to the home page or do internal page links exist?
• Examine the existing content on the site; can it be leveraged for more links?
• Take into account the domain age/authority before purchasing
• Take the time to determine if the price of the domain will outweigh natural content building and link building.
• Check to see if any existing penalties or filters have been placed on the domain.
• Map out domains internal pages to the pages of your current website.
• Look for websites that are relevant to your niche.
• Examine incoming links and see if they target your specific keywords.
• Determine if the links from this domain will stay put even after a redirect placed.
• Do look for yahoo, best of the web, DMOZ, business.com directory links.
• Look to see if the backlinks come from other sites that the current site owner may own as well.  There is a good chance these links could disappear after the purchase.
• Check out the websites existing traffic and verify it if possible.
• Check the age of the domains existing links.
• Look for authority news sites linking to the domain.

DO NOT:

• Purchase a domain based off its Google Page Rank.
• Purchase a domain that only has low quality and spammy links.
• Place too much value on a keyword matching domain.  (watch out for hyphenated URLS)
• Redirect the entire website to your homepage.
• Buy a site that’s not indexed in the search engines.
• Purchase domains that are not in your niche.
• Use any other redirect outside of a 301 redirect.  The value will not pass otherwise.
• Substitute organic link building with multiple domain purchases.
• Purchase a domain that has its entire link equity coming from a small quantity of domains.
• 301 redirect several newly acquired domains at once; this could send a red flag to Google.

These “Do’s & Don’ts” of domain purchasing hopefully will guide you in the right direction when it comes to you purchasing additional domains.  There are too many scammers with the intent of selling you a low value site at a high price.  This is why it’s crucial to do your homework before you purchase any domains.   Yes there are deals to be had out their but you have to be extra careful when you think your getting a steal.  If you follow the basics tips listed above you should be just fine!

For more details please visit the Buying Expired Domains

I hope that your query has been solved.

[MattJanaway]

Great advice. If there are similar pages on both sites then why not redirect them to the similar page on your site. You can then add a link on the homepage of the new domain to pass through some juice

[DougRoberts]

If you buy the domain and re-direct then remember to think of your competitors customers - not just the potential ranking boost!

Ideally you want their customers to become your customers, so think about how you might redirect specific pages from their domain to landing pages designed to reassure people looking for you competitors products/services and position yourself as a viable alternative.

The last thing you want if for them to think they're in the wrong place and bounce straight away, never to return!

Before buying the domain, can you get any supporting stats / analytics? How many direct visitors, how many via search etc.You're likely to have a small window of opportunity, but it's definitely worth thinking about how you can get some of those customers that you might not be able to replace just from search.

[Gustav-Northclick]

A 301 should work fine.

You should in theory gain some linkjuice and rankings from the domain.

However the effects wont be as good as regular do follow links to your site.

But as Marcin says it's still an efficient way...

[marcinlejman]

Hi upick,

you can buy the domain and do a 301 redirect to your site. I've done it many times, and it is still surprisingly powerful method to quickly get the desired rankings, obviously if the domain you're 301-ing was powerful enough.

Hope it helps.