Best way to benefit from expired domain names?

How do I take advantage of a domain's existing inbound links?

[gfujioka]

First let me apologize that I was unable to find the thread that no doubt exists addressing this issue.

I have a site www.widgets.com. I purchased expired domain name www.steelwidgets.com hoping to benefit from that domain's existing 200+ inbound links.

What is the best way for me to implement that? I am now simply forwarding it to my site. Am I missing some obvious webmaster kung-fu?

Thanks very much.

[tedster]

Hello, and welcome to the forums.

Use a 301 [Permanent] redirect from the newly purchased domain to your established domain -- no other form of "forwarding" (not a precise technical term) will pass on PR, link context influence and so on.

You might also develop unique content on the recently purchased domain and pass backlink influence through links to your established domain, but the 301 is the safest route unless you have a strong business reason for developing content on the other domain.

[cabbie]

There are expired domains and there are 'expired domains'.
If what you got is a expired domain that went through the pending delete cycle, then I have to disagree with Tedster about a 301 being your best option.
Google is aware of most expired domains dropping and being reregistered.These domains usually get attached with a 12 month indexing penalty.A 301 from such a domain will have little benefit and may even cause problems for your existing site.
On the other hand if the domain never ever actually dropped into the expired pool but was retained by the original registrar, then there is a good chance that google doesnot see this domain as an expired domain and thus has no penalty.
This domain then if used properly can pass on benefits to your existing site.
I would still counsel against a 301 though as google sems reluctant to treat all 301's from one site to another on face value.I recommend you host the site with a different host than your existing site and inundate the pages with links to its home page and also to its inner pages.
In summing up I would go with that option in both 'types' of expired domains.Just my 2 cents.

[tedster]

Thanks, cabbie. Some important points that I was not clear about. No counter-argument from me. The way a 301 "should" work and what is currently the case are not always the same.

[gfujioka]

Very, very helpful. Thank you both. So I understand, to best see the benefit of existing inbound links the recommendation is to create a new site www.steelwidgets.com and link generously to www.widgets.com and it's content?

My current site (widgets.com) has a PR of 4 - do I create a vortex of Google grief if I attempt to link from widgets.com to steelwidgets.com?

Thanks again very much.

[tedster]

The most important document I can think of to study before using a newly acquired domain is this Google Patent: Information retrieval based on historical data [appft1.uspto.gov]. There's a lot of information in "that there" patent, and it's not certain which parts are currently folded into Google's analysis. My guess is a lot of it either is -- or soon will be -- in play.

In terms of recprocal links -- if Google has not already identified the "relatedness" of the two domains, then a bunch of new links pointing in both directions would probably do exactly that. Those links would most likely have their power devalued a good bit at that point. So I personally would not suggest placing any new links on the established domain pointing back to the recently purchased domain.

Cabbie, do you see this any differently?

[cabbie]

Actually Reading Tedsters link to Google's patent makes me think maybe google is treating 301's properly but in cases of permanent 301 redirects from untrusted domains to another domain, there maybe a time delay factor before the PR and backlinks are credited.
It makes sense that google is wary of such redirects and treats them like they treat new links from untrusted sites.That is, there is a time delay before any benefit is accrued.And I for one have just been too impatient for the 301 to be recognised.
So maybe you are right all along Tedster and a 301 maybe less work and more effective.:)
I doubt I am brave enough or patient enough to test this theory though, and would probably go for the other option.
But I would not link back to the expired domain.