Links to domains anyone can register

What the registry tells us

For every destination, Link Signals asks the domain’s registry about the registrable domain behind it, for example example.co.uk for www.example.co.uk. The answer says whether the domain is registered at all, when it was registered, when it expires and what state it is in.

Why it is urgent

Of everything a scan can report about a dead link, this is the one with a clock on it. People who look for lapsed domains that established sites still link to will register one the moment it is free. See expired domain links for how that is used.

Where the data comes from

Registry records are read through RDAP, the public lookup that replaces WHOIS. Answers are kept for a few hours for unregistered domains, a day for expired ones and a week for stable ones. Not every extension offers a public lookup (.de does not, for example). Where there is no answer, nothing is flagged on registration grounds.

What to do

1. Treat it as urgentOpen the page in Found on and look at the anchor text in the finding.
2. Replace or remove the linkLink to the source’s new address, or to an archived copy, or remove the link.
3. Consider registering it yourselfOnly if the domain was yours or a partner’s and you want to hold it. Otherwise removing the link is the safe choice.
4. Let monitoring watchOn a monitored site these findings are checked again on every check, not reused.

How it happens

• A partner or project closed and its owner stopped renewing the domain.
• A company rebranded and let the old domain go.
• A typo in the address in the first place, which points at a name nobody has registered, or that someone may register later.

The link may have been fine for years. Nothing on your site changed; the domain behind it did.

Why it is a priority

In the default action plan, Not registered comes second, after parked domains and before out-of-context links. An expired or lapsing domain is placed in the same group, since it is about to be released. The reason is timing: other findings can wait a day, but a domain that can be registered by anyone can change hands in minutes.

Expired and lapsing

A registry may show a domain as expired, on hold, in redemption or pending delete. These are the final stages before release. They are reported with an Expired badge, as Needs review, even if the page still loads. That gives you time to replace the link before the domain is released. An expiry date in the past is not enough on its own: registries keep a domain active through a renewal grace period, and many record a renewal late. A domain past its date but still listed as active is not flagged. It is listed with the domains about to expire. If it is still listed as active more than about three months after its date, that is longer than a grace period normally lasts and it is treated as expired.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the link because “it is only one link”. A single followed link to a taken-over domain still sends visitors there.
• Marking it nofollow and leaving it in place. That limits what it passes but not who your readers reach.
• Registering the domain yourself without a reason to hold it. Unless the domain was yours, removing the link is simpler.
• Expecting a result for every extension. Where a registry has no public lookup, nothing is flagged on registration grounds.

How to confirm it is fixed

Run a re-check from the report’s Overview tab after the fix. It reads only the pages your flagged links are on, so it takes a minute or two. Marking a finding as reviewed does not close it: the next scan reads the page again and calls the finding resolved only when the link is gone or no longer flagged. On a monitored site, later checks keep watching for it to come back.

In your report

Links to unregistered and expired domains are counted on the Not registered or expired card on the Overview tab. By default it carries a red Priority 2 chip, after parked domains and before out-of-context links.

With findings, the card advises replacing or removing the links today, because anyone can register those domains, and its Review these links button opens the Findings tab on its Not registered tab. With no findings but some domains expiring, the card drops to a grey Worth a look chip, says nothing is wrong yet, and the button becomes See the domains, which opens the Inventory tab. The small button beside it, labelled “What not registered and expired mean”, opens this page in a new tab, so the report stays where it is.

When a passed date counts as expired

An expiry date in the past does not by itself mean a domain has been lost. Registries usually keep a domain active for a renewal grace period after the date, and many record a renewal late. The report therefore separates three cases.

The expiring domains list on the Inventory tab

The Overview’s Linked domains expiring tile and the card’s See the domains button open the Inventory tab. The panel there is headed “Linked domains expiring within 90 days” with an amber count, and holds one chip for each domain, such as example.org · in 12 days, soonest first. A chip turns amber at 30 days or fewer. Past-due domains read “today”. The panel names the ten soonest domains, while the count is the total.

The panel adds that a domain which is not renewed can be registered by anyone, and your link would send visitors to them. If you are signed in as the owner of the report, it can also offer to monitor the site, so that an email arrives the moment a link could be taken over.

What an unregistered or expired row shows in Findings

• Priority: a 2 Not registered chip. Expired links share this priority.
• Signals: a red Not registered chip, which appears only when the link also failed to load, or a red Expired chip. A link already flagged for another reason, such as unsafe, keeps its verdict and gains the chip.
• Detail panel: “The domain isn’t registered. Anyone can register it and put their own content where this link points, and your page would keep linking to it”, or “The domain’s registration has expired or is lapsing. Once it is released, anyone can register it”.

What to do next

1. Replace or remove each flagged link on the page named in Found on, starting with the Not registered ones.
2. For a domain in the expiring list, check that the link still points where you mean it to. If the owner is a partner, ask whether the renewal is in hand.
3. Choose Mark reviewed, then Re-check from the Overview tab to confirm the fix.

How this counts in your LinkSignal

A link to a domain that is not registered, or has expired, is counted in the links to unregistered or expired domains row of your site’s external LinkSignal. Domains that are still registered but due to expire within 30 days have their own row, linked domains expiring within 30 days. See how the score is worked out for the points and the LinkSignal overview for the other rows. LinkSignal is Link Signals’ own metric, worked out only from what this tool finds, and it is not connected to any search engine or third-party score.