Step-by-Step Instructions to Check Domain History

One alternative way to start an online business is to use an existing site or domain. However, not all domains have a good reputation in the eyes of search engines. For this reason, it is necessary to check the domain history so that your brand name is not tarnished by the bad image of the website or domain used.

As a website owner or manager, checking domain traces on search engines is an important thing to do. With this guide, you can find out what you need to know about a domain’s history and how to check it. Here's more information.

What is Domain History?

Domain history is the record of a domain's ownership and activity from the time it was first registered until now. Its record document stores domain owner data such as addresses, contact information, and other information.

A domain’s history is one of Google's ranking factors because the domain usage data from the previous owner will still be used by search engines to determine the quality of a website.

How Important is Domain History?

You don't need to worry about a domain's history if it has never been used before. However, if you buy an aged domain or accidentally get a used domain, its history should be your concern.

Aged domains may have been used for different purposes throughout their lifetime. If the domain has been used on a high-authority website, then your website will get high authority too.

However, if the used domain was discovered to be engaging in black-hat SEO or even breaking the law, your website will suffer as well.

That's why you should pay attention to the history of the domain before it is reused. Some of the information you need to know when checking it is:

• Domain sales history.
• List of previous domain owners
• The date the domain was first registered.
• Track record of domain activity or usage.
• There is illegal activity carried out on the domain.
• There is a trademark infringement related to the domain.

Does Domain History Affect Ranking?

The impact of aged domains with a negative history on SERP ranking can range from moderate to severe. One of the toughest problems is if the domain ever receives a manual action from Google's human reviewer.

Manual action is a penalty that is given manually to websites when violations of the Google Webmaster Quality Guidelines are found. As a result, the website will experience a decrease in ranking or even be deleted from the index. Manual action will not be lost as long as the violation still exists and is not re-examined by a human reviewer.

Even so, you don't need to worry about the domain’s negative history if it's not subject to manual action. As a result, these issues can resolve themselves over time. Unless the domain has a negative history dating back more than ten years, repairs will be more difficult.

How to Check Domain History

Now that you realize how important a domain’s history is to website performance, you might want to know how to check it. For that, you can follow the following guide to get information about the owner's track record and past use of the domain:

Conduct Research Through Google Searches

The first method for checking a domain’s history is to conduct a Google search. Use the keyword "site:domainname.com" to check whether the domain has been indexed by Google or not.

Domains that have been used but don't appear in search results can be a bad sign. You have to find out why the domain is not indexed by Google and make sure that the reason is not something negative.

Investigate Domain Reputation

For domains that are old enough and have been used by large websites, you can try to investigate their reputation on the internet. Find out what people are saying about websites that used that domain before.

You can find out what products or services they sold before, how people commented on the domain, whether any illegal practices were being carried out, and so on.

You can trace digital traces related to the activity of the domain you want to use through search engines or social media. Both platforms can provide the information needed during the domain history check process.

Contact Website Owners Directly

If you bought an aged domain directly from a previous website owner, ask for information about how they used the domain. Also try to request data and information from Google Search Console, such as organic traffic performance, indexed pages, and manual action issues.

Pay attention to whether the data provided shows negative signals such as a significant decrease in traffic at certain times, a large number of pages that are not indexed, or even manual action issue warnings. If so, you should avoid using the domain.

Use WHOIS

WHOIS lookup is a system to find out information about a domain, such as its owner, registrar, server, date of first registration, due date, and other additional information. There are two types of WHOIS lookups, namely basic and historical.

The basic type only returns the current domain owner's information. Whereas if you select "History," you will get information about the previous domain owner. There are many other tools that you can choose from on the internet.

Check Website’s Backlinks

Another way to check a domain’s history is to look at the backlinks that the domain has gotten. See what websites link to you and whether there are reviews from these websites regarding your domain. Also find out if the domain has ever engaged in negative link-building practices such as spamming.

Check the Appearance of the Previous Version of the Website

You can also check how the website looked in previous versions. You can check the appearance of the site's previous versions using the Wayback Machine and Archive.org.

These two tools capture the appearance of every website on the internet in the form of an image and save it. By looking at the appearance of the old version of the website on the domain you are going to use, you can identify negative activity on that domain.

Thus, we have come to the end of the guide about domain history, starting from its definition, its influence on SEO, and how to check it. Hopefully, with this guide, you can be wiser in choosing and using aged domains so that you are not negatively affected by previous usage.

If you are interested in developing an SEO strategy and growing sales through your website, SEO services can be a solution to grow your business.