New or Used Domain?
You already know from our blog what a domain is. For those who haven’t read it yet, let me explain briefly: without a domain, you can’t set up an internet website. It’s just the name of your website, e.g. “stronainternetowacena.pl” – if we hadn’t bought that under it, our site would look like this instead – 89.101.123.221 – doesn’t make sense, right?
No, a domain is used to translate an IP address into a user-friendly name.
However, there are two approaches to buying domains, and “used” has a completely opposite meaning here compared to buying used cars. A used domain can be even 100 times more expensive than a new one (in this article, I’ll explain why and how you can benefit from it).
New Domain
A new domain is simply a domain that no one has ever registered before. It doesn’t have any link profiles, hasn’t been seen or promoted in the internet yet – it’s like having a blank page.
Pros of buying a new domain include:
* You start with a clean slate and can build up your site’s authority from scratch.
* You have full control over linking strategy and SEO campaigns to avoid Google penalties (new domains are more prone to quick action by Google because they lack history and come with limited trust).
Cons of buying a new domain include:
* It requires significant efforts to promote it.
* New domains are highly susceptible to sudden actions from Google due to their lack of history and limited trust.
Used Domain
There’s a whole industry out there that focuses on “catching” valuable expired domains. These are sites where the previous owner failed to renew them, often due to circumstances such as forgetfulness, hospitalization, or death – no one else is aware of the expiration date.
These domains usually have a long history of advertising, linking, and organic traffic. They’re attractive to large corporations that use automated tools to detect and capture these valuable sites. These domains are either sold at auctions for tens of thousands of zlotys or used by companies like Zeropark or Redirect to redirect high-targeted traffic to their clients’ sites – all for a hefty fee.
Pros of buying an old domain include:
* You may get a significant amount of organic traffic from the moment you start using it (but this also depends on your business niche).
* A long history of linking and SEO efforts means Google trusts the site more, allowing you to more easily increase traffic with SEO campaigns – much cheaper than building one from scratch.
Cons of buying an old domain include:
* If you buy the wrong domain with a poor history and link profile, it’s essentially worthless.
* Even valuable domains can be very expensive (but this is still an investment).
How to Find Expired Domains?
There are specialized tools available for professionals in this field. For us small business owners, there are simpler solutions like aftermarket.pl or even online auctions on Godaddy.
The rule of thumb is: look for expired domains that match your target market and niche – buying a valuable domain with history will be worth the investment and give you real benefits.
