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5 Easy Ways to Check Domain History

You may have zeroed on a very innovative domain name, but have you checked whether it has any history? Yes, if online, everything has a history of its own. Don’t overlook this step if you’re in the longer run to establish your brand. Always check the domain history to avoid unnecessary problems in the future.
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easy ways to check domain history

In this digital age, the domain name also plays a pivotal role in business. The name you choose will later become a brand. Even if people forget the keywords to reach you, the name will always lead them to you.

Buying a new domain and ranking it in the search engine in a short time is impossible.

It always will take time.

But, who wants to wait? No one, right?

That’s the reason why most are showing attention towards the old domain name with a good domain history.

Will that do the trick for my business?

Seriously, it will, because the old domain will carry a reputation and a loyal audience which could be a great resource for business. 

However, before buying a domain name, you must assess certain things, and that’s what this blog is about.

In this blog, you will know the 5 easy ways to investigate the past of the domain before purchasing it. Please keep reading to learn it!

Table of Contents

Important things to know before purchasing a domain

Most people fail to notice the crucial details in the progress of purchasing an existing domain name.

Later, where all their efforts get sucked like a leech for nothing.

Here is the most important thing to know before purchasing a domain that most forgets.

  • Black hat optimization
  • Rough history
  • Filtering blocklist

So, these are the three major species you have to check before your domain registration at a cheaper rate.

Most SEO specialists don’t like to use the famous trick – Black Hat Optimization.

This optimization technique will manipulate the search engines ranking with many low-quality backlinks and schemes in a short span.

The worst part of using this technique is – it’s illegal. This may look sweet and easy in the initial days, but it may penalize the domain when the search engine finds it. That’s the reason why most people don’t use it!

Next comes the big hectic one – rough history.

If the domain owner has used the site for publishing adult content or casino, you should think twice before purchasing that domain as it might hamper you in the long run.

The site’s past activities might still bring traffic to your new site, but the audience will be looking for content that is different from your business, and in turn, it will increase your site’s bounce rate.

Let’s keep it simple – you have to fight with the negative reputation of the domain name (if you’re buying it)

Here comes the effort sucker – filtering blocklist!

If the domain has been blocked, it might take a huge time to be removed, and without it, all your efforts to rank the site will be of no use.

How to Check History of a Domain

By now, you will be sure about the risk that you will face without considering the domain’s past.

But, do you know how to check the history of a domain?

Examining the past story of a domain is like investigating a used vehicle.

Even though its appearance seems eye-catching, do some research before making a purchase, isn’t it?

You have to delve deeper and analyse from all angles before domain name investing or buying a used car.

A mechanic can help you assess the condition of the used vehicle; likewise, some external resources will help you scrutinize the domain’s history.

However, it will restrict you from clinching a negative deal and make your way easy ahead.

You can’t always be sure about anything blindly; you have to do some extensive research.

Here are the top 5 easy ways you can use the tools and examine history.

Searching Internet Database

Internet archive is a non-profitable library that holds an efficient record of over 531 billion web pages.

As the site is a cookie storehouse, you can investigate the site’s historical changes.

The process is really simple – visit archive.org and enter the domain URL that you wish to buy, and select the date and time.

It will take you to the previous version of the site to visit the older version and check its content.

Apart from that, you can know the owner of a specific domain for free of cost.

Visit Wayback Machine

Identify The Site’s Status

who.is checker to check history of domain

If you’re looking for a reliable source for free to check the domain, then your solution stands in Who.is!

This tool will aid you with a lot of information that you want regarding the domain name.

Important details like the previous owner and the current owner, website statistics, Host internet protocol (IP), and name servers can be drawn from the site.

It even has a mail alert. If there is any revamp on the information or any new information available regarding the domain you wish to buy, you will be alerted with a mail.

Moreover, to correct or fill in your site’s incomplete details, you can use Who.is and request the registrar to complete the preliminary information.

Visit Who.is

Know The Site's Online Health

Hosterstats to check domain history

To check the DNS details of your domain name, you may also consult HosterStats. 

It’s free to use and their domain database is quite expansive.

What’s super cool about this tool is that you can check all detailed information about the owner and DNS records from the year 2000. 

Yep, it might sound old now, so just imagine how many details this site holds!

Visit HosterStats

Analyze The Security Protocol

Norton Safeweb

Norton safe web is a creation of Norton security.

Its dual role is to examine and restrict sites with and  type of malware, malicious codes, and other harm.

Perhaps, it will be a savior to avoid purchasing blacklisted or penalized sites due to malware.

And even help you identify the domain name that won’t bring you any good via SEO ranking.

It’s an alert to you about the history for free of cost.

Visit Norton SafeWeb

Find All Details From the Search Engine

Checking domain history on Google

Can Google tell us the domain history?

Absolutely yes!

Enter your domain URL like this – Site:domain name

This will leave you with all the google indexed pages on the domain name. You can get to know every indexed page and the content of those pages.

If there are no pages indexed, then you have to investigate it with the owner.

After that, search like this – “domain name.com”.

It will reveal to you all the reference details of the domain name.

It can be a news story about the domain name website or lawsuits, scam stories, etc. You have to analyze all the significant details with care before purchasing it.

That's It!

There are more than 300 million domain names registered till now, and it’s still counting.

Every domain has registered and started for a specific reason and is into auction or sale for some specific reason. You have to examine it and decide.

If you’re going after an old domain name, it is always advisable to check the history, indexed page, domain authority and page authority.

Use MOZ to examine the authority score and to know the backlink count.

For those who don’t know how to check the history of a domain, the above given 5 ways will be a great support.

With the above-given five-way, you can easily and effectively collect all the details you want, and you can choose a wise domain.

There are a lot of domains available with a good track record and good authority. It’s always good to have various options, to pick the best one to reach success.

Taking risk is always good because there is nothing without risk. But it must be calculative.

Think, choose, and earn.

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Shashi kant Pandidhar

Shashi kant Pandidhar

I’ve been helping businesses to be online for over 15 years. Today my team and I, focus on helping real businesses to overcome real-life challenges and analyse data in a way that can help businesses grow in the right direction of this digital age.

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