Due Diligence

When acquiring traffic domains to be parked, a few points to consider:

Age of the domain.

Does the domain have a higher than average number of backlinks vs other domains of a similar age? Does this suggest backlink spam? Use Majestic SEO / Ahrefs to look at the backlink profile.

Is the domain expired?

If so, WHEN did it expire? Are you or did you buy it on the drop? Or are you buying it from someone else?

A typical expired domain performs best in the first 1-3 months, after which backlinks (the sites linking to your domain) and position in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) decrease. Is it a good idea to buy in the 1st 3 months when traffic and revenue is at a high.

The likelihood of selling the domain.

The likelihood of “flipping” the domain i.e. selling it quickly, is higher in the first 3 months, for example the previous registrant looking to buy back their expired domain, others who are interested in the same domain, etc.

When buying a domain from another domain investor, check the registration date in the whois. e.g. whois.com. How long have they owned the domain? Ask for a MINIMUM of 3 months stats and when possible, ask for a traffic test to verify the stats are accurate.

Request money back guarantees if the domains do not perform as advertised, e.g traffic drops by greater than 25% post testing.

Do the stats look credible? Is there a reason this domain(s) should be receiving traffic? Check your metrics! If not, walk away!

Are the domains fail listed? Use a parking status tool to check the fail list status: https://www.bodis.com/account/domain-status-tool (Bodis account required)

Fail listed domains are those which have been excluded from displaying T1 CPC links. Domains can be fail listed for various reasons but typically it is for Trademark infringement or  Spam reasons. Domains can be fail listed for both past and present behavior.

Are domains optimized? Is a clothing domain showing unrelated ads, like holidays? If you optimize the terms with more relevant ones, how much do you think you can improve the performance based on similar domains that you own?

When purchasing domains from auctions, dropcatching platforms, etc., it is normal that you may not be able to accurately predict the performance of the domain when parked.

For example, if buying from a domain auction site, you may or may not be provided with the number of visitors to that domain or listing in the past 30 days, but do you know how many of these visitors are bots or others looking to buy the same domain?

You could apply a 25% deduction in visitors to compensate for such factors.


Ready to start monetizing your domain names? Register with BODIS to maximize your domain revenues.

Updated on September 20, 2021

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