A while back I learned of  a neat trick. Rather than try to create your own content you could get a list of domain names that were about to expire and find one amongst them that actually used to be something. There are all kinds of ways to do some checking on other domain names but basically I just look for names that have a lot of backlinks connected to them.

When I first learned of the expired domain trick, I used to go to a site called snapcheck.com. This used to be a free site but has since started charging $50 per month for the service. Another site that I have heard of that is supposed to be quite poular is freshdrop.net and they only charge $40 per month. I have checked them both out and definately prefer snapcheck.com they had a much easier and understandable navigation that I really enjoyed.

As I mentioned, the reason I would subscribe to these sites is to find a domain name that is about to become available that used to have traffic. In all I think that I may have purchased 3 or 4 domain names from these services. I purchased 1 winner that consistantly nets $20 to $30 per month in ad revenue, 1 with mediocre results (maybe $4 or $5) per month, and a couple of duds (this domain name was one of them) that never really produced much of anything.

My feelings about the whole experience is that I truly do enjoy finding a nice little gem every once in a while, but I have never made as much off of any of these domains as I have from my own personal names that I started myself and applies some good SEO to the site.

My ultimate goal would be to purchase a quality domain that already has traffic and start an actual blog with new fresh content, that would probably pay the best. The problem with choosing an expiring domain is that you can’t really choose the niche so you end up with a domain name focussed on a weird subject that you don’t have any interest in. Good luck adding frsh content to these sites in the future.