How To Run a Domain Name Background Check

There are a variety of ways to go about purchasing a domain name, and one would be to purchase an established one. But have you ever considered the risks involved with such a purchase? Established domain names can be tricky, yet most webmasters prefer to buy a name with some history to it. Webmasters know that established names tend to be faster and easier to promote. Established names are either registered after the domain name expires or directly from the previous domain name owner.

While established domain names certainly have their benefits, they can also come with baggage. You don’t want to end up purchasing a domain name that turns into a secondhand nightmare. For example, you could easily pick up a domain name that has a bad reputation with Google. Perhaps the previous webmaster utilized the site for unethical marketing techniques. Right off the bat, this fact makes the site that much harder to index and it may even be blacklisted. To prevent yourself from diving into a bad secondhand domain name, you need to do a little research before you even consider bidding on the name.

• Review the Internet archive (Wayback Machine) to ensure the site’s content appears legitimate.
• Visit the site and click through the site's backlinks. Keep an eye out for patterns that may indicate excessive blogroll links, directory links, blog comment span, same anchor text abuse, etc… Essentially you want to ensure the webmaster is not taking part in reciprocal link schemes that will be associated with the domain name. Also keep in mind that while the site may not have accrued a penalty for shady practices, it still could in the future.
• Review the site’s Google cached date and the cached text only version.
• Lastly, find out how many times the webmaster switched its hosting services. This information can be found through the WHOIS directory. Various WHOIS domain tools can identify detailed information regarding the site. The longer a site sticks with the same host, the more stable it is.

Once you have taken the above steps, you can then make an informed decision, and a better investment, when registering a secondhand domain.