How To Find Expired Domains With Ahrefs

Updated on:

May 8, 2026

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Use this interactive demo to learn how to uncover expired domains using your competitor's broken links.

Quick summary

This demo shows how to use Ahrefs Site Explorer to extract broken outbound links from a competitor's domain, filter for do-follow links, and then check those domains for availability using NameBright Bulk Search. It is a step-by-step workflow for finding expired domains with existing backlink authority that are ready to register.

Steps

Go to Ahrefs Site Explorer and enter your competitor's domain name.
In the left pane, navigate to Broken Links under Outgoing Links.
Filter the broken links list to show only Do-Follow links.
Export the filtered links into a CSV file and open it in Google Sheets or Excel.
Paste the links into the Extract URL to Domain tool on Website SEO Checker.
Enable the relevant filter toggles on the extraction tool.
Hit Filter to process the URLs.
Copy the extracted domain names from the results.
Go to NameBright.com and click on Bulk Search.
Paste the list of domains and click the Search button.
Wait for NameBright to process and return availability results.
Review the results to identify domains that are available for purchase.

📌 Why this matters

Finding expired domains with real backlink authority is one of the most effective strategies in SEO for quickly building domain rating and organic search visibility. This workflow uses Ahrefs Site Explorer's Broken Links report to surface competitor-linked domains that have already lapsed, meaning they carry pre-built link equity and are available to register at standard cost. By combining Ahrefs data with Website SEO Checker and NameBright Bulk Search, SEO professionals can systematically identify and acquire high-value expired domains without expensive domain broker fees. This approach is especially valuable for link building, domain flipping, and building authority sites in competitive niches.

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