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How to check your outbound links for expired domains

Learn to spot links on your pages that now lead to an expired or repurposed domain, check a domain's registration, and decide what to do with each link.

By Dean Cruddace · 1 hour to do · Updated · Last reviewed

What an expired-domain link is

Every website address is rented. If the owner stops renewing it, the domain name expires and, eventually, someone else can register it. Your page still links to that address, but the content behind it may now be something different.

Google's spam policies describe expired domain abuse as an expired domain name being bought and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users. Its examples include affiliate content on a site once used by a government agency, medical products sold on a former charity site, and casino content on a former elementary school site.

Why links to expired domains matter

That policy describes what the new owner does. The documentation I read does not say that a site linking to such a domain is penalised, so this guide makes no such claim. The practical reason to check is that you published the link. A reader who clicks a citation and lands somewhere unrelated has been let down by your page. Google's guidance says linking out can help establish trustworthiness, for example by citing your sources, so the destinations should still deserve that. See Google's spam policies and its link best practices.

What you need to check your outbound links for expired domains

  • A list of the pages you want to review, with the oldest or most important first
  • A web browser
  • A spreadsheet or document to record what you find
  • Access to edit the pages that carry the links

Check your outbound links for expired domains, step by step

  1. 1

    List the outside domains you link to

    For each page, note every link that leads to another website and write down the domain (the part after https:// up to the first slash). Group the links by domain, so a domain you link to many times appears once with a count. This grouping is a practical shortcut, not a Google requirement.

    You will know it worked when You have a list of distinct domains, each with the pages that link to it.

  2. 2

    Visit each destination and compare it to the link

    Open each domain's linked page. Ask whether it still matches what your page said it would be. Google's expired domain examples show the pattern to watch for: content that has nothing to do with the site's original purpose. Also note pages that show a placeholder, a for-sale message, or that no longer load.

    You will know it worked when Each domain is marked as matches, different content, or does not load.

  3. 3

    Look up the registration record

    For domains that look wrong, use a registration lookup such as the ICANN Lookup tool, which describes itself as a way to look up current registration data for domain names. Such lookups use RDAP, the Registration Data Access Protocol, which RFC 7480 describes as the successor to the older WHOIS protocol. Note the registration and expiry details it shows.

    You will know it worked when You have recorded what the lookup returned for each doubtful domain, or that it returned nothing.

  4. 4

    Treat missing data as unknown

    A lookup that returns nothing is not proof that a domain is gone. The documentation I read does not say which domain endings a given lookup covers, so do not rely on one signal. Combine the lookup with what you saw in step 2: does the page load, and what does it show?

    You will know it worked when No domain is marked abandoned on the strength of a single signal.

  5. 5

    Decide what to do with each link

    For each link that no longer fits, choose one. Replace it with a current source for the same point. Remove the link if the sentence no longer needs support. If you must keep a link you would rather not be associated with, Google says nofollow is for links where you would rather Google not associate your site with the linked page. See Google's qualifying guide. Replacing and removing are ordinary editing choices, not something Google's documentation prescribes.

    You will know it worked when Each flagged link has a recorded decision: replace, remove or nofollow.

  6. 6

    Make the change and record the date

    Edit the pages, then open each one and click the changed link to confirm it goes to the new destination. Record the domain, the decision and today's date. Google's documentation gives no schedule for rechecking links, so choose your own interval, checking your most important pages more often.

    You will know it worked when The changed links lead to the right place and your record shows when you reviewed them.

Common mistakes when you check your outbound links for expired domains

  • Looking only for links that return an error. A repurposed domain can load a normal page that no longer belongs.
  • Deciding a domain is gone from one empty lookup result.
  • Using Google's disavow tool. Google's disavow help is about links pointing to your site, and outbound links are edited on your own pages.
  • Adding nofollow instead of fixing a link that no longer belongs on the page.
  • Checking once and never again. Domains can lapse at any time after you publish.

Terms used when you check your outbound links for expired domains

Expired domain
A domain name whose owner has not renewed it, so it may become available for someone else to register.
Expired domain abuse
Google's term for buying an expired domain and repurposing it primarily to manipulate search rankings.
RDAP
The Registration Data Access Protocol, the successor to WHOIS, used to look up domain registration data.
Outbound link
A link from your page to a page on another website.
Disavow
A Google tool for links pointing to your site that you cannot get removed. It does not apply to your outbound links.

Go deeper

Technical SEOExpired domains in your outbound links: an SEO risk that audits missEvery outbound link is a small promise that the destination is what you think it is. When the domain behind it lapses and is re-registered, the…Read the in-depth article → Content-led acquisitionContent built to be referenced, original research, and tools and resources: what Google says, and what it leaves out.See the service guide → Relationship-led outreachEditors, researchers and communities, relevant editorial links and resource opportunities: what Google says about links earned through outreach.See the service guide → Next in the pathHow to check your links against Google’s link spam policyLearn what Google counts as link spam, how to review the links to and from your site against that list, and how…Open the guide →
Old pages that link out to sites that may have changed hands?

Tell Dean roughly how many pages and how many outbound links you are dealing with. Link Signals can do the sweep; deciding what to do with each result is the conversation.

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