When you want to learn how to build a profitable site on an aged domain, Mushfiq Sarker is one of the go-to experts to listen to. Being the founder of The Website Flip, he’s been through dire straits and learned a great deal about solving some of the trickiest problems associated with search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and website flipping, naturally. As always, Mushfiq selected 4 premium aged domains in the Odys Marketplace and devised a growth blueprint for each of them – you can see them below.
Also, before you continue reading Mushfiq’s, we wanted to let you know that this month one more expert joined Odys Global’s Expert Picks initiative – Shawna Newman of Skipblast. Check them out!
StarterLeague.com
The education niche, specifically these days programming, is growing and lucrative. There are high-paying affiliate programs through Udemy, DataCamp, LinkedIn Learning, and much more. The commissions on some of these range from 30% to 50%.
Bonus: The domain is indexed in Google and according to AHREFs, still ranking for keywords. That is a plus point.
Here’s what I would do:
- Recreate the home page as being an educational platform that teaches people how to program
- Recreate specific pages to be silos, e.g., /webdev, /adhtmlcss, /behtmlcss
- Add content on the best courses, platforms, how to get started, etc.
Monetization can easily be done with display advertisements (high RPM niche) and course affiliates.
ServerAxis.com
Server hosting is a lucrative and competitive niche. Therefore, starting on an aged domain is most likely the only way to go to get any traction. This is a very well-branded domain and has quality links to get you started.
This is what I would do:
- Recreate the category pages such as “VPS”, “Infrastructure”, “Resources” as-is with long-form content
- Add more pages such as “Server Security”, “Dedicated Servers”, “Operating Systems”
- Recreate the inner pages that had backlinks. You can use AHREFs -> Best By Links report to find these pages.
- Add new content related to dedicated and VPS servers, tutorials on how to use different platforms (e.g., Cloudways, WPX), and informative guides (e.g., how to choose a provider, which features matter).
- Add affiliate content after the site gets traction (e.g., buying guides on the best servers)
Monetization in this niche should be primarily done via affiliate programs of the hosting companies. Server companies pay $50-$100 per sale (e.g., Cloudways pays $50). Diluting the site with display ads would not be ideal as you would just give clicks away. You want to focus the clicks on the affiliate programs.
HippoThinks.com
If you are planning to start an agency (ideally a content agency), this would be an excellent domain to acquire. While display ads and affiliates do generate passive cash flow, the agency model provides a significantly higher amount of revenue. However, not that with agencies it is more “work”.
The rebuild of this site would be very simple since it did not have a blog. Here is what I would do:
- Redirect to your existing content/PR agency as-is. Make sure a topical relevancy match exists.
- Rebuild the homepage, contact, about, and portfolio pages of the original site and perform 301 redirects. Match content as best as possible
Monetization in this niche can be done via affiliate marketing (commission to sell customer’s content packages from another provider), lead generation (sell customer leads to another agency), or providing your own services (build a real business).
CyclingPerspective.com
I like the cycling niche because it has a significant amount of low competition keywords that are both informational and commercial. Furthermore, the demographic is willing to spend money in this niche.
The benefit of this aged domain is that it was a blog at one point. Topically, the site discussed the various cycling competitions around the world. They also reviewed products.
Here is what I would do:
- Initially focus on writing dedicated articles about each cycling competition worldwide. Cover the ins and outs, travel details, history, etc. Interlink all of these together.
- Add categories on cycling gear, best bikes, etc over time
- Recreate the pages that have backlinks with similar content. You can use Archive.org to see what type of content was on the page.
Monetization in this niche can be easily done via display ads and then Amazon Associates, to begin with. As traffic ramps up, you should switch out Amazon Associates strategically for direct e-commerce brands that pay significantly more.
Success Comes with Quality Content
Every niche website must have a strong content strategy and quality content, even if it’s built on an aged domain. The thing about premium aged domains is that they provide you with props for growth unavailable in any other domain types: quality backlinks, SEO value, and clear history among other things. You can take blueprints described above and follow them as you build your sites on these domains. But you can also consider them as advice and direction for your own strategy.
Make sure to visit the Odys Marketplace and browse over 1,000 domains with untold opportunities for growth.
