Buying An Old Domain Name
If you’re considering buying an old domain name, but are concerned about how much money is too much to spend, you may want to read the article Domain Acquisition — How Much is Too Much? by Mark Jackson.
He found an old domain name for a client that contained the perfect keywords and came with many backlinks, but also had a $20,000 price tag.
Their reply probably won’t surprise you: “We can’t afford $20,000 for a domain name!”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Check the Math
We knew that this exact keyword phrase generated approximately 180,000 searches per month because this prospect bought PPC ads on this exact phrase for many years. And, based upon some studies, we know that a number one organic search engine ranking could get them up to 56 percent of all of the clicks. Even if we “only” had a number two or number three ranking, we could expect at least 10 percent click-through ratio.
This client was also discussing cutting way back on their Google AdWords campaign because the CPC wasn’t getting them the return it once did. They know they can make money on a $2.50 CPC, but in recent months, the CPC has skyrocketed to $5 (or more) per click.
Let’s do some math: $2.50 CPC times 18,000 clicks (a 10 percent click-through from 180,000 searches) equals $45,000.
That math works. And the prospect is now reconsidering what they can and can’t afford.
PPC advertising has gotten ridiculous. The CPC for some of the terms I used to advertise are about 20 times more expensive than they were just 6 years ago.
Talk about a price bubble! Can’t wait to watch that one burst….wonder if the Fed will bail out Google…
Google Adwords has been increasing its price tags for popular keywords every few days to a week. This is mainly because larger companies are moving into PPC with a huge budget which boosted the pricings. In the past, where PPC was mainly used by start-ups and SMEs as an affordable way of advertising. Nowadays, it is a heavy price to pay for PPC ads.
Rif Chia
I would love to buy some domain names with age and links. Any advice on where to find some good domain names for sale that are not obvious through a Google search?
I have been in the domain flipping business for about 5 years now. At first I used to get ripped off on buying domains because I would always think I was getting this great deal when I wasn’t. Thankfully I have found guides like the one you cited and they have helped me to keep from being ripped off.
Old domain are more expensive than a new domain! They are ranked well in search engine. Domain age is a key factor in Google algoritm. Old domain is also good for blogs.
I’ve never done ppc and instead have worked to write content-rich posts on my various blogs. So this has been an interesting take on the value of it and what it brings to domain names.
@Myrtle Beach MLS – I know, some PPC advertising is very expensive, and real estate is so competitive.
@Marc – tdnam.com is one place; it’s a GoDaddy site.
@Stan James – that’s cool. I keep reading that domain flipping is very profitable, but haven’t tried it.
@Mary Pope-Handy – organic is the best way to go. It’s invaluable!
The cost of cpc has been getting ridiculous enough to make a $20K price tag for a domain seem almost cheap. There’s still a lot to be said for good organic seo and classic marketing
WOW. 20k is a lot of money. I hesitated at $500. I would not pay that much.
Even if you can earn $45 K, investment of $20 K is too much. Not everyone will be able to afford it, I feel
How to buy a domain for a blogspot blog?
Interesting post. I have been wrestling in my head over 2 domains I no longer need.
Little to no links or traffic, but the names themselves are keyworded and SUPERB for a smart marketer.
Math is a great thing. And 20K is really not that much it really worth it.
BRILLIANT!!! I love it when someone breaks it down and does the math!!!!
The saying “Pound wise and penny foolish” definitely applies here.
Just goes to show, when someone says they can’t “afford” something, it’s really just another way of saying, “Tell me more!”
The cost savings seems to justify the purchase in your example. For this particular application the expected closed sales over a reasonable period of time should have some relevance as well, especially of the “expense” of the domain purchase is amortized over a period of several years.
I notice PageRank wasn’t mentioned in the article, I take it PageRank is reset to nothing if the page is taken away. The links coming in and the keywords in the url are what are valueable here.
Excellent job explaining what a lot of people don’t realize; you get what you pay for.
If you’re going to make $5k/month on a domain, that $20k investment will pay for itself in 4 months.
If you buy a domain for $500 and it takes you 2 months to make $500, did that domain really pay for itself, or are you just wasting your time?
Agree with Barry Wise there. If you are going to make an investment, it may take a while recoup your original investment. After that it is all gravy.
Thanks for explaining in everyday terms how to evaluate the cost of buying an old domain name to a total newbie.
I believe I was going to overpay for a domain name my first time out the gate, and you saved me!
This is something interesting …I want to buy old domains is it good if it dropped domain ???
Please let me know
And of course this might be a good point to let everyone know that the age and links on a previously owned domain are 100% absolutely worthless. That is sooo old school. Google knows when a new registrant owns the domain and restarts the links from the new owners acquisition.
Hi, SEO Diva, I got to your blog from your comments on my blog. The moment I saw it, I was like, wow, how did you found my blog ? is it from sphinn ?
Do you also write for SEW ? I remember seeing this name many times at many places.
As far as this post concerned, it makes total sense. PPC is getting to ridiculously level and unfortunately people are not looking for other alternatives to generate leads.
Pushkar
$20,000 is a lot of money. Specially for those just starting out. But if you have money to invest, it will be worth it because of the age of the domain and the amount of search it gets from search engines. Profit will surely skyrocket.
So it is better purchased by people who have a lot of money to spare.
The CPC for the keyword that I advertise one fof my sites with has increased more than tenfold. I just can no longer afford to use adwords.
Thanks for sharing the post. Buying an old domain is a great idea. but dont you thinks it is pretty expensive. Can you tell me some good auction site from where i can get these domain at reasonable prices.
$20,000 is of course a lot of money but at the same time its worth for The age of the domain.
These days lots of outsourcing companies are providing seo work in relatively low cost so new domain can also get the same amount of traffic if you have a bit patience.
With ur suggestions i started investing in Old domains …Is it Good thing to do ???
And main tips to follow when buying the old domains?can any one tell me please
i have twice bought old domains (forged ones) and all i need from both of them was just the pagerank. but then again when google update pagerank they both dropped to pr0. i was disappointed and i think we need to build more links if we buy old domain names..
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Old domains offer an opportunity to buy a way into the SERPs without all the manual labor. Your explanation of laying out the numbers to the client is an example of how people need to take the time to crunch the numbers that are know – do they make sense? Then take action.
Yeah I agree with the rest of you guys. Buying an old domain does void a lot of the work, plus it’s already established.
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@Mike – it can help avoid the sandbox, if nothing else.
I agree with you completely. Wonderful article on the link. Thanks!
I am planning to buy an old domain.
‘BRILLIANT!!! I love it when someone breaks it down and does the math!!!!The saying “Pound wise and penny foolish” definitely applies here.Just goes to show, when someone says they can’t “afford” something, it’s really just another way of saying, “Tell me more!”‘
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
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