As I said above, expired domains have all been owned by someone in past. Many of these previous owners built Websites for these domains, advertised them, registered them with search engines, and even exchanged links with other sites. All translating into traffic to that domain name.

Now, why would someone who took time to do all that work let domain expire? It could be one of several reasons:

* author simply lost interest * an online venture ran out of funding * poor management of domain * they couldn't afford fees

Whatever reason, it happens. And you can reclaim some of wasted traffic and use it to your advantage. You can either point it to your existing site or use it to jumpstart and add value to a new site.

How do you know if an expired domain has traffic?

You have heard how Internet is like Old Wild West? You have not seen anything yet. The greatest Internet gold rush lottery will start June 25th, and probably no one told you. The prediction is that over 5 million new .BIZ and .INFO Domain Names will be registered within first few hours. Like old days when settlers lined up for a Free Land Grab, a select group of "in know" businesses and entrepreneurs are now quietly lining up by pre-registering before opening day of land rush lottery. For first time "little guy" can join them in game and get a million-dollar name for $20 to $40. In fact you could get several Domain treasures by pre-registering.

These new ICANN approved Domain extensions, first in over 10 years, will quickly become dot extensions of choice for Internet, next to Big Chief .COM.

1. .COM 2. .BIZ 3. .INFO

In past developers and squatters had several years head start on good .COM Domain Names. This was also true with .CC, .TV, .WS and all other dot extensions. The really good Domain Names were pulled by promoters before names were offered to general public. This time you have same chance to get those million dollar Domain Names as wheelers and dealers.

The only exception is that trademark owners can register their Domain trademark names now for a filing fee of $199.75 (includes five years registration). The Trademark Owners advantage ends June 24th.

The Starting Gun Will Fire June 25th. On this date .BIZ registration Land Rush lottery will open, followed by opening of .INFO public lottery on July 25th.

All Domain Names pre-registered at that time (not registered by Trademark owners) will go into "hopper." The new Domain database holders, NeuLevel (.BIZ ) and Afilias (.INFO), will then select Domain Names at random from each of different Domain Name registrars, round-robin fashion. Yes, it will be a real lottery.

The random lottery drawings will continue until August 22nd for .INFO Domains and September 29th for .BIZ Domains. At that time remaining Domain Names will be sold by standard registration methods.

How To Win Those Million-Dollar Domain Names

The Secrets...

1. Most Important Pre-Register Now! You want to be among those put into "hopper" first. You should pre-register before starting day. After that whole world will know about Land Rush.

2. You can vastly increase your odds by pre-registering same .INFO names with several Domain Name registration companies.

3. You can now buy several "tickets for same .BIZ Domain Name from same registration company.

Like lottery, you are simply buying more tickets but with different companies each having their "own" drawings from same pot. You don't care which registrar gets that great Domain Name for you, just so it is registered to you.

How Much Does It Cost For A Pre-Register Lottery Ticket For A New .BIZ Or .INFO Domain? >From FREE to $27,250.00 per name.

1. FREE Pre-Registrations. http://newdomains.networksolutions.com Network Solutions (Internic) has been collecting .BIZ and .INFO Domain Names for pre registration for months. They probably have over a million new .info and .biz names pre-registered. The good news is you can add your selection to this list for FREE.

By all means, pre-register your .BIZ and/or .INFO Domain desires with Internic. If you actually get that great new Domain Name you will only have to pay Internic (about $70.00) for first two years.

Our suggestion is to register every great new Domain Name you can afford to pay for into Internic que. (I pre-registered about 40 .BIZ and .INFO names with Internic myself.) Of course, just because you have a great new Domain pre-registered with one registration company, it does not mean you will get name. If your Domain choice is pre-registered by someone with another registration company whose list is filed first, they will get Domain. But try to pre-register names you desire. As expression goes, "It is hard to beat FREE!" Late Breaking .BIZ Information...

NeuLevel (BIZ master database holder) received OK from ICANN to charge fee for every .BIZ Domain pre-registered until end of Land Rush Lottery period. This non-refundable fee is $10.00 per pre-registered .BIZ Domain. Some registrars like Domain Name Vault are discounting this fee to $6.00 and down to $4.50 depending on volume. Many registrars are still offering free .BIZ Domain pre-registrations but free pre-registration does not include in Round-Robin lottery. Your actual free .BIZ registration may not be submitted until after lottery.

More Late Breaking .BIZ Information... Now like lottery... You can buy as many pre-register "tickets" as you desire for a specific .BIZ Domain Name.

2. Paid Pre Registrations. Due to large numbers of Internic free pre-registered .BIZ and .INFO Domains, your odds for getting a hit are low. The odds increase when you go to a Domain Name registration company whose que has smaller numbers, i.e. a paid pre-register. Because Domain Names are fed into database at random from each registrar, smaller registrars should get their list of Domains registered first (as it is a smaller number).

$1.00 Per Name Pre-Registration. Domain Name Vault will pre-register your choice for $1 per name, minimum of twenty names. The money is non-refundable. Any new Domain Names you actually obtain, you will pay discounted Domain price of $19.95 per year, two year minimum. http://DomainNameVault.com