I see a growing trend, an expired domain with Google Pagerank is bought, a quick wordpress blog is then put on the site and some content (which is usually stolen or copied directly from article directories) is then put on the site.

The site then puts up a for sale sign and begins pitching “high PR” links.

Stay away from link schemes like this. These links provide no SEO benefit to your site whatsoever. You don’t even know the history of the domain, the previous owner could have been running porn on that domain. I raised these concerns on a DigitalPoint thread and I was surprised at some of the responses I go:t

“if that person has started seo work rapidly than there is no chances of lost pr in next update. i mean to say is just do more link exchange for that domain and raise your back links u can maintain the pr ever though domain age is only 2-3 months.”

I kept wondering why it seemed like I was the only sane person on the thread and then it hit me……People are still addicted to toolbar Pagerank. It seems to be the first and only thing they consider when doing any SEO.

• Check the whois information for the age of the domain, and check to see if there are any entries in the internet archive. If the site has been around for more than a year, you should be able to see history of the site.
• Check the link profile of the domain. Check its incoming and outgoing links.
• Check if the page is currently indexed and/or practicing any illegal SEO techniques

These are some simple tips that will hopefully keep someone from wasting valuable time and money. And remember, PR and Alexa rank should not be the first and only thing to consider when purchasing links.