Sorry to be an sEO nerd but...

[SEOconsultant]

how many of you, when buying domain names (expired or aged) do link analysis before doing so...

I don't with .com.au (shame on me)

but this is the deal, you can find a domain name like

PeterPapershop.com.au (stupid example)
that is worth = $0 ... but it used to rank in top position for Paper shop...
or a potential domain name that used to be PR 4 ... etc

Anyone doing this?

 

[DavidL]

Absolutely ... very important IMO.

Not as simple as banging up a site & you're immediately where the old site used to rank but it can really give you a headstart. Plus possibly immediate traffic via those still existing links

 

[djuqa]

Plus link analysis can help find out if name was previously blacklisted.

 

[marketingweb]

I think this is only of minimal value - it really depends how long ago it was. I have read stuff saying that Google devalues links before a transfer if the domain goes "dead" for long enough for it to be deindexed.

BUT - not sure how much I actually believe of that! A lot of things are said about clever stuff Google apparently does that aren't always true.

 

[Lorenzo]

I do.