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still a good idea in 2023?

Site Surveying: Still a Good Idea in 2023?

The site takeover has had some success in SEO. And it could grow, thanks to a more structured offer.

There’s more to acquiring links quickly than just buying links. There is also acquiring sites. This technique includes full site takeover and domain name takeover. The acquisition of a complete site allows you to benefit directly from the contents, from direct visibility or from an ongoing business.

Buying the domain name from his side offers backlinks history, credibility via the “domain authority”. For example, it is possible to set the site on the theme you want.

On the price side, buying sites involves paying very variable sums. «Depending on the registrar, the platform that allows you to register the domain name and hosting in general, the prices vary according to the suffix, for example in .fr or .com», says Fanny Innocenti, SEO consultant at Noiise. “To give you an idea, the .com ranges from around 7 to fifteen euros”. There are also a large number of variables to take into consideration when choosing a domain name, such as its rarity, the number and quality of backlinks or keyword rankings.

If this practice is not necessarily well seen by Google, as recently confirmed by John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst of the American company during a hangout, is buying a site still a good idea in 2023? We asked various SEOs for information.

PBN, site galaxy and SERP occupancy

According to Fanny Innocenti, buying a complete site or an expired domain name represents three main interests. First, be able to network with a PBN (Private Blog Network) strategy. “Broadly speaking, it consists of repurchasing a domain name that has generally expired. We recover the history and age of the domain. In this way, the additional site will connect to the money site”. According to her, “the goal is to have link juice on a unique link transmitted by this site. Competitors won’t have this link, you manage it. You have control over the type of link and the overall netlinking strategy.”

Acquired sites can also help occupy the SERPs. “There are techniques for buying sites. We will rank it on the same strategic keyword as another of our results. As a result, the site goes up in white label. It is positioned, in addition to the money site, in the first results. This exists above all on competitive themes in the SERPs, such as credit, insurance or other.”

Site capture can also be used to capture a galaxy of websites. “Behind it, it allows link exchanges, partnerships or link sales.”

Are these strategies penalized by Google? “Yes, as part of building PBN (for Private Blog Network),” admits Fanny Innocenti. “Because this is equivalent to manipulating the algorithm by artificially creating links, if these sites are intended for linking. Here we are clearly on a black hat SEO practice. On the other hand, in the case of acquiring a site used for the occupation of the SERP or building a network of sites, I don’t see any problem, if it’s done right.”

SEOs are looking for an interesting platform

With the proliferation of site sales platforms in recent years, the trend towards site acquisition seems to have strengthened in France. However, major pitfalls remain in the quality of the services offered. Explains David Chelly, website editor and administrator of the SEO CAMP association: “The difficulty in buying sites is the absence of a platform that brings together supply and demand. A situation contrary to that of buying links, where there are several hundreds of platforms, only in French, but on site buyback, DotMarket for example, is limited to sites of significant value, VIPSEO has a small catalog, Flippa is in my opinion overrated, and the other platforms don’t have much interest.”

Even Fanny Innocenti, for her part, regrets the absence of offers worthy of the name. “For 2 or 3 years there have been platforms to buy expired domain names. Some, like NextLevel or VIPSEO, offer to recover a site with its history. But it is true that there are no real centralized platforms. It’s a shame, because it would make it more efficient.”

A promising future for site acquisition?

This state of affairs doesn’t necessarily seem to scare SEOs. Some do not hesitate to use artisanal methods to find the desired site. It is also up to the SEO to look for these kinds of opportunities,” says Fanny Innocenti. “A few years ago, for example, I often went to PBN Premium to try to discover expired domain names.

Even the Penguin filter or highlighting the EAT, for “Expertise, authority, trustworthiness” (expertise, authority, credibility), doesn’t necessarily discourage SEOs from using site auditing. Remember that acquired sites rarely have a reputation for quality, which goes against the criteria of the EAT, for example.

However, in Fanny Innocenti’s eyes, the technique still has a bright future ahead of it. “The ransom part still works for me. You just have to get it right and apply it at the right time, knowing it takes time, to avoid triggering a penalty from Google. You just need to have the right methods to network well. For as for EAT, with PBN, the sites are there to broadcast juice and not direct traffic, so it’s harder to get penalized.”

David Chelly, meanwhile, also sees great potential in acquiring the site. “I think it’s extremely lucrative for SEO-savvy people,” he explains.

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