Keep an eye out when buying a domain! Because if you think you're just going to get a domain that sounds good and suits your company, you could be in for a nasty surprise. The domain should not only be well chosen for the people who will visit the website, for example, it should be memorable and not too long. No, as a company you usually also want to be found via search engines. And if you get a so-called "burnt" domain due to ignorance and too little research, this is more than just annoying, because it will be difficult or impossible to achieve search engine rankings. All the great content, services and products will then be of no use.
When do we speak of a burned domain?
Burnt means: You can't do anything with this domain at the search engines anymore. Someone had already registered this domain once and made mischief with it. Mischief means for example spamming or also Link purchase. Mischief means, you have not followed the guidelines of the search engines, where Google here in Germany is the most significant. So-called "black hat" SEO was carried out for the domain, which refers to unauthorized SEO measures.
How do I know if a domain has been registered before?
To find out whether the domain is completely new and whether no one has registered it before, make a so-called Whois query. This will tell you, for example, who is technically responsible for the domain and who the domain owner is. Some Whois tools also tell you whether the domain has been registered before. This is possible, for example, with the tool whois.domaintools.com. Enter the desired domain name at the top of the search mask under "Wois Lookup" and you will receive information on this domain. Sometimes you want to register the domain name with other endings (.de and .com are often registered together, for example) to prevent competitors from booking them. In the Registration tab, you can see the domain name with other endings and their registration status.
How do I find out if a domain is possibly burned?
If the domain has never been registered before, then you're in luck. Otherwise, think about whether you absolutely have to have it. If yes, then it's time to research and research again. What exactly you need to consider Matt Cutts, the head of the Google Webspam team in a video on the subject.
Check whether the domain is registered with Google indexed is. If the domain is still used, then the pages should also be indexed be. The situation is different if the domain has not been online for some time, as Google may then remove the pages from the Index. Even with parked domains, i.e. those that are no longer used and are plastered with advertising to keep them from lying fallow, you may not find any pages in the search engine index.
If the domain is still in use and you are in contact with the seller, have the visitor statistics (if available) shown to you. A sharp drop in visitor numbers can be an indication that the domain has been penalized. You should be alert here and investigate. If you do not receive any statistics, then the data from larger SEO Tools more.
Enter the name of the domain without an extension in the Google search slot and see what can be found about it on the Internet. If the website has attracted positive or negative attention, then it has certainly been reported on. If someone has reported spam incidents in connection with this domain, then it is better to keep your hands off it.
The Internet forgets almost nothing. On archive.org you will find a website archive where almost every website is regularly archived. There you can see what the page used to look like (be careful, it is not always displayed correctly, but you can see the texts).
Accidentally bought a burnt domain after all?
What to do if it does happen? In this case, Google offers the option of submitting a so-called reconsideration request. The domain will then (hopefully) be checked by Google and the penalty lifted. A reconsideration request can be submitted via the Google Webmaster tools can be submitted. It makes sense to apply for reinstatement in the Index only after the problems have been corrected. Here it makes sense to get advice from a specialist.
As you can see, you have to be careful when buying a domain. Even if it seems to be a simple thing at first glance, it can go wrong and requires some experience.
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