Comprehensive Guide to Recovering and Using Expired Domain Names
Release: November 1, 2023
-> Free with purchase: digital version of the book “Web strategy, the central role of domain names”
Contents
FIRST PART. WHO COVETS EXPIRED DOMAINS AND WHY?
Chapter 1. What is an expired domain name?
I. Mechanisms and actors involved
A. The domain name system
1. ICANN, regulatory body
2. Alternative roots and blockchain domains
B. Domain name registries and extensions
1. Historical Records
2. nTLD Registry
C. Registrars
II. Domain name lifecycles
A. Expiration of gTLD domain names
1. Grace period
2. Redemption period
3 Pending delete period
B. Expiration of ccTLD domain names
Chapter 2. The expired domain at the heart of SEO strategies
I. A Pagerank maximization tool
A. Central role of links in Google algorithms
1. Principle of Google pagerank
2. Increase in pagerank with expired domains
B. A black hat practice
1. Google’s official position
2. Practices of SEOs on the French market
II. Monetization potential
A. Selling links
B. Other monetization methods
1. e-commerce
2. Advertising and sale of data
Chapter 3. Expired domains: preferred source of supply for domaining
I. Snap as the main method of acquiring premium domain names
A. Types and advantages of premium domain names
1. EMD domain names
2. Brandable domain names
3. Better CTR of EMD and brandable domain names
B. Characteristics of the domain names searched
1. Syntax
2. Expansion
C. Possibilities of acquiring premium domains via snap
II. Make the acquisition of premium expired domains profitable
A. Purchase and sale of domain names
1. A sluggish growing market
2. Difficult meeting between supply and demand
B. Monetization of domain names
Chapter 4. Expired Domain Disputes
I. Expired domains: need for monitoring for brands
A. Cybersquatting: a scourge for brands
1. An organized racket
2. Insufficient responses from brands
B. Evolving activity and protection measures
1. No more need for exhaustive defensive recordings
2. Shorter and less consistent damages
3. Cases facing which it is necessary to act
II. Modes of action
A. Preventive measures
B. Extra-judicial procedures
1. The UDRP procedure
Special case of new extensions
Case of ccTLDs
Syreli: a French originality
C. Legal proceedings
1. Counterfeiting offense and unfair competition action
2. Importance of prior art
3. Domain name rights enforceable against trademarks and domain names
4. Low enforceability of decisions for other jurisdictions
D. Choice of pragmatism
1. Repurchase of disputed domain names
2. Technical recovery of expired domain names
SECOND PART. OPTIMIZE YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE WITH EXPIRED DOMAINS
Chapter 5. Selection and qualification of expired domain names
I. Detection of expired domain names
A. Scrap directories and directories
B. Monitoring of ad hoc lists
1. Make your own lists
2. List monitoring
C. Online Lists
1. Lists provided by namecatchers
2. Lists of services specialized in monitoring domain names, expired or not
II. Qualification of expired domains
A. Analyzing Expired Domains for SEO
1. SEO Metrics
2. Quality and relevance of inbound links
3. Age of the domain name
4. Domain name history
5. Secondary criteria: language and domain name extension
The language and theme of the field
The extension
6. How much does an expired domain name cost for SEO?
B. EMD and brandable domains
1. Automatic evaluations
2. Determinants of the value of a domain name
Chapter 6. Registration and redemption of expired domain names
I. Registration of free domains
A. Definitive shortage of free domain names for registration?
1. The available domain names are the ones that no one wanted
2. Principle of domain tasting
B. Opportunities in Secondary and Exotic Sets
II. Prerelease
A. General operation
B. Main services
1. Prerelease Godaddy
Godaddy Expired Domains
Godaddy Closeouts
2. Pre-release Snapnames
3. Other offers
III. Repurchases on the secondary market
A. Offers from namecatchers
1. Namecatchers specializing in gTLDs
2. Namecatchers specializing in ccTLDs
B. Sites specializing in the sale of expired domain names
C. Platforms for buying and selling domain names
D. Over-the-counter repurchase
1. Redemption from a known or unknown holder
2. Redemption after a request by email
E. Purchase of websites
Chapter 7. Recovering Expired Domain Names
I. Snap principles
A. Recovery scripts
1. operation
2. Limited effectiveness
B. Setting up backorders
1. Principle of backorders
2. Tips for backorders and auctions
Proxy Auctions
3. Risks of irregularities in high-amount auctions
II. Offers from namecatchers
A. Namecatchers specializing in gTLDs
1. A market dominated by two players
2. Dropcatch
An opaque company, with considerable resources
Pre-reserve a domain name on Dropcatch
Dropcatch Discount
2. Namejet / Snapnames
Pre-reserve a domain name on Snapnames
Snapnames Resellers
3. Other namecatchers offering generic extensions
4. Case of exotic extensions
B. Namecatchers specializing in ccTLDs
1. Namecatchers specializing in .FR
Kifdom
Domexpire
DomainOrder
Nicesell
Match
Catched.com
2. Other French extensions
3. Other geographic extensions
Chapter 8. Using Expired Domain Names
I. Technical management
A. Choice of registrar
1. Uncompetitive leaders
OVH, hosting giant less efficient in the domain name segment
Gandi and Ionos, limited challengers
2. Other possibilities in terms of registrar
Reseller Offers
Be a registrar yourself
B. Technical operations
1. Transfer of domain names
Obtain the auth code of a domain
Push: solution if transfer is impossible
2. Registration and renewal
Contact management
Update: a specificity of .FR
3. Registration and renewal of domain names
II. Types of use
A. Legal rules to know
1. Trademark law
2. Content protection
B. Blocking competition
C. Uses for SEO
1. 301 Redirects
2. Private Blog Networks (PBN)
D. Site editing
1. Disposable Churn and Burn Sites
2. Thematic sites
3. Master sites
E. Resale of expired domain names
1. What sales price should you set for your domain name?
2. Sell on platforms
3. Use of a broker
4. Prospecting: energy and time spent for uncertain results
5. Sell in private groups and social networks
6. Direct Sales and Fake Reviews Scam