Domain hijacking is a phrase that can evoke connotations of hacking, shady dealings, and the gray zone of online activity. In reality, however, it's a completely legal endeavor and, moreover, highly beneficial from an SEO perspective . It can significantly increase a website's online visibility in a short time, although to achieve this, you need to choose the domains you want to hijack wisely. We'll explain exactly what domain hijacking means and why it's done in the following article.
- A captured domain can have a positive impact on the process website positioning.
- Before using a hijacked domain, you should carefully check its history.
- Domain hijacking can be used not only to create the main website on them, but also, for example, good SEO support for major portals.
Let's start by explaining what a domain itself is. This term encompasses the most important element of an internet address, containing the website name and its extension, or suffix. Let's illustrate this with a specific example. In the address https://verseo.pl/, the domain name is the fragment verseo.pl, where "verseo" is the website name and ".pl" is the extension.
Buying domains – what is it all about?
If we want to run any website online, we first need to purchase a domain name – this way, we gain a unique address where users can find our content. Then, we need to pay for the domain regularly, because if we don't, it reverts to the secondary market and can be taken by someone else. Buying domains that haven't been repaid and have expired is called domain hijacking.
Domain hijacking – why do it?
The question naturally arises: why hijack a domain when you can buy a completely new one that hasn't hosted a website before? This process is beneficial for various reasons. In some cases, it may turn out that your preferred domain name is already taken, and the only way to acquire it is to wait for it to be released. You can also hijack domains with a name very similar to yours if customers confuse and end up on someone else's website (e.g., if the only difference is the .com -> .pl extension). Then, you can create a permanent redirect to your website on the hijacked domain to avoid user confusion. However, most often, domain hijacking is for SEO purposes.
(The rest of the article can be found below the form)
Caught domains and SEO
hijacked domains and SEOSo, the question remains: why is it worth using "reclaimed" domains to optimize your website ? Older domains already have a certain reputation in search engine algorithms. Web crawlers have already scanned a given domain, sometimes for years, so by purchasing it, we can benefit from what someone else has achieved in terms of SEO. How? First of all, we can create our own website on the reclaimed domain. Then, we don't start building a reputation from scratch, but rather leverage the power of the previous website. Of course, this works best when the page on the expiring domain was thematically related to the one we intend to manage.
Another way to utilize hijacked domains is to treat them as back-end pages. If we create a portal on an expired domain with a similar theme to the one that dominated the old site, there's a chance that traffic will remain at a similar level. Of course, maintaining this level requires a lot of patience and effort. We should create SEO-optimized content and regularly maintain the site to ensure its Google ranking doesn't drop after the hijack. However, if we manage to maintain traffic, we have a great back-end page. We can place an article on it with a link to our main page—the one we want to rank for —this way, we provide the site with a valuable external link.
It's worth remembering, however, that hijacked domains should be used wisely. Just a few years ago, they were used to place dozens, even hundreds, of links to ensure SEO-ready sites had the most extensive link profile possible. Today, such practices are no longer effective and can even harm a site. Therefore, it's much more profitable to place a single, high-quality link than to clutter your back-end pages with links, as their value quickly diminishes.
Domain Capture – Is It Worth It?
Caught domains can therefore transfer some of their power to the website being ranked . But do they always perform so well? Unfortunately, things aren't always rosy. First and foremost, the websites may not have had as much traffic as we thought. Therefore, before caught domains, it's worth checking them using SEO tools like Semstorm, Senuto, or Ahrefs. This way, we can ensure that the domain is indeed highly visible online, has satisfactory traffic, and has a link profile strong enough for search engine algorithms to deem it valuable. Another thing that requires checking is the history of the domain. You can check it using the Wayback Machine, which saves and stores screenshots of websites from various periods. This allows you to check what was on the website in the past.
One of our potential clients learned the importance of verifying a website's previous content. He came to us with a significant problem – despite extensive SEO efforts, his site was virtually invisible in search results. After we reviewed the site, we discovered that it had been hosted on a domain that previously hosted pornographic content. As a result, the site was banned by Google's algorithm, and even though the new content was completely different, the domain's reputation was so poor that SEO efforts were ineffective.
On the other hand, domains with long and excellent track records can often be found on the secondary market for next to nothing, allowing us to quickly strengthen our own website. So, the answer to the question posed in the headline is that domain hogging can be worthwhile, but it's important to thoroughly investigate them before purchasing.
How to capture domains?
Manually tracking domains that have been released or are about to expire is impossible, so companies have emerged that specialize in snatching domains and reselling them to other users. These companies have special scripts that search for such domains and purchase them within a fraction of a second of their release. Therefore, it's best to use them to buy high-quality "used" domains. On these companies' websites, you can browse a list of available domains and a list of those that are about to expire and are available for sale. An example of a website that operates a so-called domain exchange is aftermerket.pl.
How much does domain catching cost?
The domain catching service itself isn't expensive – it usually costs a few dozen zlotys. However, the situation is different when you want to buy a domain that's already been caught. These are put up for auction, and the price depends on both the attractiveness of the domain itself and user interest. Some addresses can be obtained for as little as one zloty, while others can cost hundreds or even thousands of zlotys. The most attractive domains (such as startup.pl) can cost as much as tens of thousands of euros. As is often the case, the answer to the price question is "it depends." Primarily, it depends on whether anyone else is interested in acquiring the domain. However, if you're hunting for particularly tasty morsels, you should expect to participate in fierce bidding.
The largest domain capture platforms
Aftermarket.pl
This is one of the largest platforms for purchasing salvage domains, typically offering a wide range of options across a variety of industries. It's used by both individuals and some SEO agencies. It offers domain capture and auctions, as well as hosting services in a variety of packages.
Addhost.pl
This company offers a variety of services, including domain transfers, hosting, and SSL certificates. You can also order a domain capture service from them, and the price includes hosting for the first year.
Jsdb.pl
This platform doesn't run an exchange, but rather provides a list of compromised domains with good track records. Potential buyers can choose from the list and purchase domains that meet their needs.
Domain Capturing FAQs
This is the process of instant registration of an expired Internet domain at the exact moment when its previous owner has not paid for the renewal and the name returns to the publicly available pool (it is released by a registry, e.g. NASK).
A previously used domain already has a certain authority in the eyes of the Google search engine. Its main advantage is its age and the established backlink profile that leads to it from other websites. Starting SEO on such a domain allows you to achieve high search results much faster than building the authority of a new, completely "clean" domain from scratch.
In the case of valuable and popular names, this is practically impossible. Competition in the market is fierce, and domain releases occur in a fraction of a second. Therefore, specialized services and scripts (domain catchers, such as Aftermarket or CatchDrop) are used for catching domains, automatically sending queries to the registry with millisecond precision.
The lifecycle of a domain (e.g., one ending in .pl) follows strict rules. After the subscription period expires, the domain ceases to function, but it is not immediately available. It enters a so-called quarantine period (usually 30 days). During this time, the current subscriber still has the right to pay for the domain. Only after the quarantine period expires does the domain permanently revert to the free pool and can be reclaimed.
Before investing in an expired domain, you should conduct a thorough audit of its history (e.g., using Web Archive and Ahrefs/Majestic). You should ensure that:
- The link profile is not artificial or toxic (spam).
- The domain has no manual penalties (bans / filters) imposed by Google.
- In the past, it did not contain any prohibited or illegal content.
- The domain name does not infringe upon the registered trademarks of other companies.
Costs vary. If you're the only person to have a domain name captured on a specific service, you pay a pre-determined amount (usually from a few dozen to several hundred zlotys). However, if multiple bidders are interested in the same domain, once it's successfully captured, it goes to a closed auction, where the highest bidder wins. For very attractive names, the amounts can reach thousands of zlotys.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Domain hijacking is the legal purchase of expired domains used to create a website, redirect traffic, or as a back-end with links supporting SEO positioning.
- Before purchasing, be sure to check the domain history through the Wayback Machine and SEO tools to avoid banned sites.
