Redirecting an Expired Domain: 301 Redirects Done Right

Redirecting an old domain to your own site can bring its visitors and some of its link value with it, but only when the two sites are genuinely related. Done carelessly, it does nothing or looks like spam.

When a redirect makes sense

You bought a competitor's or partner's old name in the same field.
The old site was about the same subject as a section of yours.
You are merging a brand or product into your main site.

When it does not

Redirecting unrelated names, or many expired names, to one site to pass on their links is the kind of use Google's spam policies target. Search engines tend to ignore such redirects, so the money is wasted.

How to do it well

Find the old pages. List the old site's pages and the ones with links, from the Internet Archive and a backlink tool.
Map page to page. Send each old page to the closest matching page on your site with a 301 redirect. Do not send everything to your home page; search engines usually treat that like a missing page.
Keep the redirects in place. Leave them running for at least a year, ideally for as long as you own the name.
Watch the results. Check that visitors and links arrive where you expect in your analytics and search console.

Or build on it

Often the better use is to build a real site on the old name. See building a site on an expired domain and are expired domains good for SEO?

More guides

Frequently asked questions

Does redirecting an expired domain pass link value?

It can when the old and new sites are closely related and each old page goes to a matching page. Unrelated redirects are usually ignored.

Should I redirect an expired domain to my home page?

No. Map old pages to the closest matching pages. Search engines often treat a blanket redirect to the home page like a missing page.

How long should I keep a 301 redirect?

At least a year, and ideally for as long as you own the name, so links and bookmarks keep working.