Expired domains
Grey hat. Not banned outright, but easy to tip into spam. Use with care. White, grey and black hat SEO compared
What are expired domains?
An expired domain is a domain name whose registration lapsed and was not renewed, so it became available to register or buy at auction. Many expired domains still have backlinks from their previous life, which is why SEOs buy them. Using one is grey hat: legitimate in some cases, spam in others.
In March 2024 Google added an expired domain abuse policy to its spam policies. It describes buying an expired domain and repurposing it primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users, with examples such as affiliate content on a site that used to belong to a government agency or casino content on a former school site. See expired domain abuse.
Why expired domains matter for SEO
Where the line falls: buying an expired domain because the name suits your new business, or relaunching a related site with genuinely useful content, is fine. It tips into spam when the main reason for the purchase is the old domain’s links and reputation: filling it with unrelated or low-value content, using it as part of a private blog network, or 301-redirecting batches of expired domains to your site to funnel their links. Those uses are link schemes, and buying a domain for its links is effectively buying paid links in bulk.
Google has also said for years that it can recognise when a domain changes hands and may not carry old signals over. Even when it is not penalised, an expired domain’s link value is far from guaranteed.
Risks of expired domains
- Breaking Google’s expired domain abuse policy, which can lead to a manual action or the site being demoted or removed from results.
- Google resetting or ignoring the old domain’s link signals once it changes hands, so the purchase brings no ranking benefit.
- Inheriting a bad history, such as an old manual action or spam links.
- Redirects from many expired domains to your site being treated as a link scheme.
How to check an expired domain before buying
- Look at its history in a web archive to see what the site used to be.
- Check its backlinks and anchors for signs of spam, foreign-language link farms or past PBN use.
- Ask whether your planned use is related to its past purpose and genuinely useful to visitors.
- After buying, add it to Search Console and check for any existing manual action.
- Do not buy domains just to redirect them for links.
Expired domains FAQ
Is buying an expired domain against Google’s rules?
No, buying one is not. Repurposing it mainly to manipulate rankings with low-value content is expired domain abuse under Google’s spam policies.
Do expired domains keep their backlinks?
The links may still exist, but Google can reset or ignore old signals when a domain changes owner and purpose, so there is no guarantee they count.
Can I 301 redirect an expired domain to my site?
It is technically possible, but doing it to capture another site’s links is a link scheme. It only makes sense when the old site was genuinely merged into yours.
Related SEO terms
Expired domain abuseBlack hat
Expired domain abuse is buying a lapsed domain and using its old reputation to rank low-value or unrelated content, against Google’s spam policies.
Private blog network (PBN)Black hat
A private blog network (PBN) is a group of sites, often on expired domains, built only to link to a money site and boost its rankings.
Link schemesBlack hat
A link scheme is any attempt to create links mainly to manipulate rankings, such as buying, swapping or automating links, which is Google’s link spam.
Paid linksBlack hat
Paid links are links bought to pass ranking credit, without rel="sponsored" or nofollow, which breaks Google’s link spam policy.
A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another and tells Google the new URL should be indexed.
Grey hat SEOGrey hat
Grey hat SEO covers tactics that are not banned outright but sit close to Google’s spam policies and can become spam when overdone.