Domain Buying Due-Diligence Checklist

Use this checklist after a domain reaches your shortlist. The goal is not to produce a perfect score; it is to make sure the purchase thesis survives contact with the evidence.

Identity

Confirm spelling, TLD, current status, intended use, registrar or marketplace, renewal pricing and obvious business or trademark conflicts.

History

Review several archived dates, record topic changes, look for spam or hacked content, and note long inactive or parked periods.

Backlinks

Inspect strongest referring pages, anchors, target URLs, topical relevance, sitewide patterns and whether important links still exist.

Search signals

Check indexation context, historical visibility and traffic estimates while remembering that third-party values are not guarantees.

Acquisition

Read auction/backorder rules, include fees, set a maximum price, and write down the reason the domain is worth that amount to your project.

Decision

Choose buy, investigate further or walk away. Record unresolved risks so urgency does not erase them.