I don’t need my website any more – what can I do with it?

The internet is a vast resource. In many respects, it’s become too big.

It’s impossible to quantify exactly how many websites exist on the Surface Web, though one recent estimate suggests there are 1.12 billion websites in existence right now.

Over 250,000 new sites are created every day, yet the number of currently active websites (200 million or thereabouts) hasn’t changed since 2021.

The rest are classified as inactive – meaning their domains have been parked (retained but not used), they haven’t been launched yet, or they’re simply not visible to the public.

It’s fair to assume many of the 200 million live sites are also in a state of dormancy, having not been updated for some considerable time.

Entering their address into a web browser address bar still loads their content, yet obsolete websites offer decreasing value over time.

Their information will become outdated, hyperlinks gradually cease to work and search engine indexing penalises sites without recent content, pushing them further down the rankings.

But why do websites fall into disrepair and disuse? And what can be done when a site becomes surplus to requirements?

No use for a (domain) name

Websites are typically created in a blaze of optimism which is often extinguished by a combination of subsequent events.

Business websites may wither in parallel with a firm’s declining fortunes, or be abandoned after a rebranding/takeover/merger without being immediately taken offline.

A hobbyist might lose interest in a site created to showcase a pet passion, while websites devoted to a particular event tend to become obsolete very quickly.

Companies often launch spin-off sites to test the water, preview forthcoming changes or drive web traffic to other domains. None of these are likely to be long-term priorities.

For these and other reasons, obsolete websites might remain available to view while receiving no updates, attracting a dwindling volume of traffic and becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Disposing of obsolete websites

The first step when disposing of obsolete websites might sound obvious, yet it’s often missed – remembering which websites you own the domain name rights to.

The more domains your register, the easier it is for one (or more) to end up surplus to requirements, yet the harder it is to keep tabs on which sites are worth retaining.

Check when each registered domain name is due to expire. It’s usually renewed on a rolling annual basis without you needing to manually authorise anything.

If you’re happy for the domain to lapse, one option is to simply cancel the renewal and ignore the legally mandated series of warnings and grace periods from the hosting company.

It’s advisable to delete content before the domain lapses, so the site doesn’t continue receiving unwanted traffic from search engines or historic inbound links.

If the domain name is unusual, long-held, concise or potentially desirable to other people, selling it becomes a viable option, particularly if it has a premium top level domain.

Domain name sales could raise some welcome revenue, especially if a buyer is able to maintain the site and benefit from your SEO and domain authority work.

(If a site is offline for more than a week, much of its SEO value is wiped out and it effectively has to start from scratch in terms of gaining credibility and authority).

Long-standing website domains tend to rank more highly in search results than newly registered ones, giving a welcome boost to any new owner’s ranking aspirations.

They might also use your domain to redirect traffic to another site, as often happens when a company rebrands and retains its old URLs with automatic links to a newer domain.

Be aware that domain name selling requires a fair amount of technical knowledge and understanding of industry jargon – it may not appeal to the fainthearted.

Nonetheless, it’s often a more cost-effective alternative than simply allowing a domain to lapse and then relaunch at a later date under new management.