Does Your Domain Have Skeletons In Its Closet?

This is actually a post I did in October of 2006, but it is a useful tool that many of us often forget to use or don’t know exists.

While catching up on some good blogging info at MomGadget, I came across a post by Katelyn. It was about Wayback Machine and checking domains for skeletons in their closets.

The Wayback Machine is actually a very cool tool. You enter a domain name and you can go back through its archives and see what the site looked like in 1996, 1997, and every year thereafter. Archive.org also has tools for finding old music, videos and other media too.

Katelyn was lamenting her difficulty in getting a certain site of hers indexed on Google. She did everything right, from what she could tell, but still no success. She checked her site on Wayback Machine and suddenly it all made sense! The entity that had the domain before her was in a totally different market from her and let’s just say, the content wasn’t rated G, PG, or even R.

In the event that something like this happens to you, you can contact Google directly and plead your case, but I doubt there are any guarantees you’ll be able to convince them.

Tip of the Day – Check Wayback Machine before you buy your domain! You might uncover some skeletons.