Nightmare Domain Name or What to Check Before Buying
Just in time for Halloween, when ghost stories and spooky legends are at their peak, it’s worth searching for hidden secrets in the digital world as well. Purchasing a domain is often an exciting step towards creating your own website, but what if that domain has a dark past? Some domains carry more than just their name – they come with a history full of spam, blacklisting, or even legal issues that could haunt the new website like invisible ghosts.
Bryan Braun bought the domain name musicbox.fun in mid-2022 for a side project, unaware that the domain had previously hosted pirated music content. The website had received thousands of complaints about copyright violations and was taken off the index by Google and other search engines before going offline in 2022.
The organic search traffic to the new domain practically dropped to zero. It quickly became clear that musicbox.fun would be anything but a 'fun project,' and an elaborate analysis began to determine whether the domain could still be salvaged. Bryan presents the details in his Blog - Before you buy a domain name, first check to see if it's haunted – we’ve summarized the key insights here.
What to Check Before Buying a Domain Name
Before purchasing a new domain name, there are several ways to check if it is haunted by “ghosts.”
-
Check Archived Content on archive.org:
Enter the domain name on web.archive.org to access archived web pages that may have existed in the past. Pay attention to the following:- Do previous contents indicate illegal or questionable topics (e.g., piracy, gambling)?
- Is the archived material conspicuously empty? If so, it may indicate that content was removed upon request.
-
Search DMCA Notifications:
DMCA stands for “Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” a U.S. law that allows copyright violations to be reported to search engine companies. These notifications are public and can be researched in various ways:- Check the Google Transparency Report for the domain to find any delistings.
- Search for copyright lawsuits related to the domain on lumendatabase.org.
If there are already several copyright lawsuits for the desired domain, especially recently filed ones, it is a clear warning sign.
- Check Historical SEO Data:
Advanced SEO tools like ahrefs.com provide detailed information about backlinks, ranking history, and estimates on traffic and domain authority (subscription required).
What Should I Do If I've Already Bought a “Haunted” Domain?
If the domain name is compromised, there are several steps that can help:
-
Use Search Engine Tools: Many search engines offer special tools for domain owners, such as Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Creating a profile and adding the domain can help reveal past issues and provide the opportunity to generate reports once these problems are resolved.
-
Invest More Effort in SEO:
To enhance SEO efforts, it’s important to follow best practices. This includes creating high-quality, well-structured, and accessible content on a fast-loading website.
Links to the website also play a central role in search engine algorithms, as they are viewed as indicators of relevance and trust. New inbound links can be particularly helpful in overcoming a negative reputation. Therefore, acquiring high-quality links from relevant sources can positively impact SEO.
- Wait and Sip Tea: Many testimonials indicate that trust scores can be influenced by DMCA lawsuits. The takeaway, however, is always the same: restoring a domain's reputation may simply take time.
It is best to avoid previously compromised domain names. However, if such a domain is purchased, it is not the end of the world but requires additional efforts to address potential issues and improve online reputation.
This article was also published on our German-language page: Alptraum-Domainname oder was man unbedingt vor dem Kauf prüfen sollte