Knowing where your domain name has been is very important when constructing a search engine placement campaign. Most people are pretty sure they know what they have done with their domain name but what most people don’t consider is the fact they may not be the first owners of that name. Often webmasters find themselves locked out of major search engines for no reason whatsoever. Sometimes the reason their site doesn’t get into the databases is that the domain name has been banned outright for past improper practices. Now, there is a method of checking who, if anyone, previously owned a domain name you might be interested in acquiring. The American company, Name Intelligence, through its WHOIS records, can tell you who owned domain names going back to 2002. This information may prove important when you discover that a domain name such as “claybrick2000.com” was once owned by a porn-distributer or a search engine spammer. If your domain or IP address is on a banned list, the onus is on you to prove to the search engines that your business and website do not break laws or search engine rules.

Another method of researching the history of your domain name is to use the wonderful tool, the WayBack Machine. This handy historical tool keeps copies of all websites on the Internet and will allow you to see what was posted at your domain all the way back to 1996.

Knowing what someone else did with a name that once belonged to them but may now belong to you can be critically important when deciding whether to purchase the domain or not.