Reduce the Risk of Getting Burnt When You Buy a Used URL By Doing Your Research Beforehand

Search engine visibility relies heavily on two key ingredients - your Website's Google PageRank and the power and applicability and of your Website's domain name or URL.

To promote a boost in Website traffic, some companies will purchase used URLs that had previously belonged to other companies. These companies are hoping to garner search engine traffic and branding benefits by purchasing these used URLs.

This might seem like a sure-fire, easy strategy for a company to gain more traffic, however there is substantial risk involved when choosing to buy a used URL. Purchasing a used URL is similar to buying a used car or truck - you take on any problems associated with the URL just as you do with a used car or truck. If you buy a used car or truck and a week later it needs a new alternator, it's your responsibility to pay to get it fixed. In comparison, if you purchased a used URL that has marks against it - or even worse it's been blacklisted by Google for violating its policies - those negative marks are now your problem.

The best way to avoid getting burnt by buying a used URL is to do your research in advance. Used URLs don't come with CarFax, but there are several free tools available for you to check out a URL's history and to keep you from purchasing a lemon. Some very basic research you should do include the following:

First check the WHOIS database. Here you can verify the registration history of the URL to see its original creation date. URLs that are several years old generally gain favor with Google.
Once you've checked the WHOIS database, you'll next want to verify if any of the URLs pages have been cached by Google. Verifying cache is a very simple procedure. Simply type in "cache:yourwebsite.com" into the Google search and hit return. If the search query returns no results, that could be a red flag that Google has blacklisted the URL you're looking to buy.
Lastly, you'll want to see what type of websites have backlinks to the URL. Make sure that any backlinks are related to the URLs content and purpose and aren't spammy or of adult content. To check backlinks to the URL, go back to Google and type in "link:yourwebsite.com" and run a search query. If the search returns less than ideal results and the URL has backlinks that look spammy or unrelated, you should probably avoid that used URL.

When it comes to used URLs, there isn't a guaranteed way to know if you're purchasing a dud, but you can decrease the likelihood getting burnt by doing your research before you buy.

Chris J Everett is the Owner of the Webvolution Designs Atlanta Web Design & SEO Company. An SEO/PPC enthusiast, he leads the development of custom web development and internet marketing projects for small and medium sized businesses. For more information, he can be contacted via his company website at http://www.webvolutiondesigns.com/