By Alex Drew, CEO and Co-Founder of ODYS Global

The age, history, and authority of a domain have the power to create success that would otherwise take years to build. Aged domains, as opposed to new domains, offer an enormous competitive advantage that anyone can tap into, but are often overlooked by startup founders. 

For example, think about how much value we associate with the authority of long-time and well-known entrepreneurs. We read their books, follow them on social media, and trust their advice to help guide our companies. Their influence is impossible to ignore and was created through the years they’ve spent investing in their businesses and establishing their presence. 

To many, a domain is just a website name and an extension, and because of that new startup founders often opt for purchasing a new domain. Investing in an aged domain, however, could be the key to helping new startups find earlier success.

A digital asset that buys founders time

Digital presence requires resources to get traction. From capital to employee hours, ads, and research, consistent ranking takes continual investment. When vetted and researched, purchasing an aftermarket domain can create search engine authority that results in visits from potential customers. 

Even though aged domains are more expensive than new domains, they also reduce the overall long-term cost. The acquisition of links that come with a premium aged domain far exceeds the cost of the domain itself, on top of having to invest years of work to secure them.

Those just starting out with SEO often hope that purchasing links over time can create longevity. The reality is that by the time they have invested several years or a decade into a domain, their competition has long surpassed them. And in the SEO world, it all comes down to ranking better and being faster than the competition. 

Links from high authority websites propel companies farther toward success, compared to the years of link building and outreach can create.

When search engines meet aged domains

As companies become increasingly invested in building content and are using more and more complex tools, it’s imperative that anyone who wants to survive adapts accordingly.  But achieving a high ranking with a brand new domain in Google isn’t as easy as posting content that answers questions and satisfies a query. 

Search engines require strong authority brands to deliver the best content that users engage with and want to share. Domains need to build a reputation over time and can help startups become leaders in their field, assisting visitors as they search for the most up-to-date and accurate information. Unfortunately, that’s bad news for founders building on a new domain as it can take years of enormous intellectual, temporal, and human capital to grow a site to a level that is competitive. 

Aged domains provide the trust signals search engines look for in every website. This competitive edge creates a formidable opponent that is hard to contend with. Founders that deploy aged domains in their marketing strategy are able to surpass their competition and increase conversions through visibility that is otherwise unavailable to them when starting out with a new domain. 

Investing in an aged domain

Premium aftermarket domains are the not-so-mainstream asset that startups can leverage to get ahead and improve their visibility. Probably the only downside of this strategy is that entrepreneurs need to choose their brand name based on the most suitable domains that are available on the market. 

While the industry has changed over time and now offers a wide array of products and services that help investors and entrepreneurs sort through the overwhelming amount of domains, finding the right brandable aged domain to invest in can still feel like the wild west. 

From investigating SEO metrics like existing authority, domain value, and potential penalties, purchasing domains can take valuable time that most busy entrepreneurs cannot spare. Not to mention the myriad of marketplaces and auctions that each share in the millions of available aftermarket domains. Around 500K expire every day so it can become increasingly difficult to keep up. 

But the main risk is not just the time sunk into the cost of discovering the right one. There is potential for trademark infringement, spam, and bad PR that can create heaps of trouble for companies over time.

Each day, our team at ODYS Global attends auctions to source the most suitable aged domains for our platform. It takes us sufficient resources and research to do that. We vet every single domain in our inventory to make sure it hasn’t been abused in the past in any way, including Google penalties, historical abuse, and low-quality backlinks. Our guarantee is that all our domains are indexed and healthy. We even offer our clients the ability to register a trademark for the domain they acquired, immediately after the acquisition.

As experienced domainers, we provide a curated list of brandable aged domains. Instead of doing the gritty work themselves, founders can instead search within their niche and pick a domain based on comprehensive analyses.