Sean Markey explains why these domains sold for more than you’d expect.
It’s time again to look at the NameJet and SnapNames report from last month to see what sold, what it sold for and, specifically, why it sold for that much. For the purposes of this list: all of these names sold mostly because they had a strong SEO backlink profile.
Reminder: for this list, I’m using the metric “DR” (domain rating) to indicate the strength of a domain’s SEO authority. You can read more about this metric at Ahrefs.com, the tool I am getting these numbers from.
ReligiousTolerance.org – $9,805
DR 74, ranking for 2,200 keywords.
For me, when it comes to the value a domain has–specifically as it relates to SEO–nothing is more important than the number of keywords it is ranking for. This represents the real, actual amount of trust Google’s algorithm has for the domain. A domain with a high DR (meaning: it has a lot of strong backlinks) is fine, but there’s no guarantee it will rank, be it from a previous penalty, or just that the site did not do a good job of building trust by Google’s metrics.
So when a site has a high DR (many strong backlinks) AND ALSO is ranking for thousands of keywords, it’s a truly valuable domain.
That is the case with this domain. Given the subject matter, if one were to buy this site and build a high-quality religion-focused site on top of it, one would probably rank really well quickly for many keywords. That’s why names like this don’t go cheap at auction.
HandsonHealth-SC.org – $2,600
DR 28, ranking for 2,100 keywords.
Of course… a good brand name does increase the value of a name. The price of this name relative to the price of ReligiousTolerance.org is a pretty solid example of something being priced to what it’s worth.
Though they’re both .org domains, this domain name is much worse, much less general, and has a dash. It is also a DR 28 compared to a DR 74, and you can see this reflected in the price.
The play here, if you’re wondering what an SEO trying to build for the long-term (and not just trying a churn and burn play) is to build this site back out with content that will help support those 2,000+ keywords that Google is still ranking the site for, and then, once things are stable and rankings are looking good, 301 redirect the site to a BETTER brand to build your business on.
Afrigeneas.com – $6,350
DR 56
Ranking for a handful of keywords but nothing impressive. A site with a lot of age, you can see that the buyer restored what the site used to look like.
Nervanasys.com – $2,049
DR 62
A very strong tech-related backlink profile, with links from sites like Wikipedia, SquareSpace, TechCrunch, CNet, Fortune, Cico, and more.
As with most sites bought for SEO reasons, this one already has a site built on it (basically… they took the content from the old site and made it live again which is… you know, not super white hat…).
BuildWindows.com – $5,000
DR 68
Of course, right after I say that, this site has nothing on it yet. 🙂
This used to be the website for Microsoft’s conference (or, I guess, one of them). It has some amazing links from sites like Microsoft, Mozilla, TheGuardian, BBC, HuffPo, Time, Entrepreneur, Python.org… tons of great news, media, and biz links.
I’d like it better if it were ranking for some keywords, but $5k for these links is a pretty solid price.
Piqora.com –
DR 56
Used to be the website for a tool called “Tapshop.” It has a ton of great business-focused links from sites like BusinessInsider, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Amex, SE Journal, and many, many more.
If you visit the site now it looks to me like it’s being built to sell links to link-building agencies (which, no, those will not be valuable links worth having).
GLBTQ.com – $2,150
DR 55
Used to be: an LGBTQ-focused site with a lot of Wikipedia and .edu backlinks, which helps build a lot of trust with Google’s algorithm.
DragonInnovation.com – $2,249
DR 54
One of the best purchases on the list, in my opinion. Some really great backlinks (a TON of juice from Kickstarter), this is a really great entrepreneur/business-focused authority with a pretty strong brand name. I like it.
Site is rebuilt but contains some errors from the Archive.org-rebuild (I’m assuming).
AdvancedTissue.com – $2,306
DR 53
Another really great buy–this site has a lot of links from business and medical sites, which is a pretty rare niche to find in the expiring markets (of sites with SEO authority). Looks like the old site did something with creating wound-healing medical technology or something similar. A very ugly, incomplete buildout currently (I expect to see a better-looking site up in the next month or so–don’t want to let these great links go to waste).
That’s it for this month’s look at NameJet/SnapNames domains that sold with SEO authority.
Any questions? Leave a comment!
Post link: NameJet and SnapNames April monthly report: SEO Edition
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