secrets to buying established websites for profit

The BIG OpportunityIn Buying Websites

By Matt Mickiewicz

The BIG Opportunity In Buying Websites

Why Websites? Where to Buy Websites Evaluating Websites for Sale Case Studies Further Resources

Why Websites?

Revenue Yield

Capital Growth

Traffic Generation

Search Engine Optimization

Why Websites?

Revenue Yield An Existing Business Range of Monetization Models Attractive Multiples: <2x net revenue Outperforms Domains

Why Websites?

Capital Growth Sellers miss opportunity to take website to the

next level Buyers often fix basic SEO, monetization,

marketing and margins Organic growth boosts value

Why Websites?

Traffic Generation Buying website = buying audience $2K on Google can = 10,000 clicks @ 20c $2K on Website can = 10,000 uniques

Why Websites?

Search Engine Optimization Purchase organic keyword rank Build one-way links to your main property Do 301-redirects to monetize traffic Get reusable keyword rich content

Why Websites?

Why Aren’t More People Buying Websites Awareness: Many people don’t know you can Due Diligence: Reducing investment risk Knowledge: Basic understanding technology &

business models

Where to Buy Websites?

Go to Websites Owners

Go to Website Brokers

Go to Website Marketplaces


Go to Websites Owners Look at DMOZ.org in categories to find sites that

are not being updated Search for sites with old copyright footer that

match your keyword Contact owners via site or whois - can be labor

intensive


Go to Website Brokers Professionals who manually connect buyers and

sellers Typically six-figure properties Examples - QuietLightBrokerage.com,

WeSellYourSite.com, WebsiteProperties.com


Go to Marketplaces Dedicated Marketplaces - Flippa.com,

WebsiteBroker.com General Marketplaces - eBay.com, BizBuySell.com,

BusinessesForSale.com, BizQuest.com Webmaster Forums – DNForum.com, Wjunction.com,

forums.DigitalPoint.com

Evaluating Websites for Sale

Third Party Tools

Website Due Diligence

Seller Due Diligence


Third Party Tools Whois SEOMoz SEM Rush Majestic SEO

Copyscape Wayback machine Google (PR/Search) Alexa

Case Study: Due Diligence on Backlinks


Website Due Diligence Verified Google Analytics Check robots.txt file Walk through site’s revenue systems Understand revenue/traffic drivers and costs –

especially on potential revenue claims

Case Study: Due Diligence on Analytics


Seller Due Diligence Chat on Skype Get Proof of Identity Google Seller’s Real Name Check Seller Feedback Know why they are selling

Case Studies

PDFking.com

CityOfMafia.com

HealtyNews.com

archiCentral.com

PDFking.com PDF document library 1.2 million page views, 600K uniques, $1,500 monthly revenue Sold for $11,000 – 2c per monthly unique

CityofMafia.com Multi-User Online Role Play Game 2 million page views from 7,000 subscribed players Sold for $16,000 – less than 4 month’s profit

HealtyNews.com Health/Lifestyle Website 145,000 page views from 129,000 uniques Sold for $2,000 – less than 2 cents per unique

4GTuner.com Mitsubishi Motoring Enthusiast Community 160,000 page views from 20,000 unique users Sold for $3,400 – 16 cents per unique

archiCentral.com Popular Architecture Blog 200,000 page views from 100,000 unique users Sold for $15,000 – PageRank 5 with over 200 quality backlinks

Further Resources

Register with Flippa and Download Flippa Pro Buyers Guide (first 50 using code ‘AffiliateSum’ get $10 in credits)

Check out the Flippa Keyword Toolflippa.com/high-ranking-websites/

Subscribe to A-List Premium Website Newsletter if you’re interested in websites over $10,000flippa.com/a-list

Contact Me: [email protected]/@sitepointmatt