Flipping Websites: A Quick Guide
A website with good weight and an influx of traffic is a business object that can be put up for sale. Resources in literally any business niche are sold, as well as information platforms. A website business for sale can be an online store, business card, corporate website, news portal, blog, and so on. Buying an already promoted resource is easier than starting promotion from scratch: you need to find suitable contractors, set a budget, which does not always pay off, there are risks of the site dropping in search results, and so on.
Websites are sold not only by webmasters, for whom this is the main form of income. The reason may be the closure of a business. Let's say an entrepreneur changes his field of activity. If the business is unprofitable, and quite a lot of effort and finances have been invested in the site, then website flipping is easier.
How to sell a domain and a website: what are the differences?
1. Selling the site
As a rule, a website is bought by entrepreneurs who want a ready-made, promoted resource. Ecommerce flippers choose a site based on the attractiveness of the design, ease of usability, as well as positions in search results for keywords relevant to their business. The more site pages in the TOP for high-frequency queries, the higher the price.
The site is always sold along with the domain, since all URLs have already built up link mass. The older the domain, the higher the cost of the site. The fact is that search engines take into account the “age” of a site when evaluating it. Of course, this is only one of many factors, but it also affects the final cost of the site.
But, according to experts, the site “lives” for three years. If investments in the project have been recouped and the resource brings a stable income, you can sell a website.
2. Selling domains
Entrepreneurs buy domains when the site itself has no value to them. If the domain is authoritative, its history is clean without prohibited content and sanctions from search engines, and the subject matter corresponds to the buyer’s business, then there is no point in overpaying.
They sell a domain if the promotion of the site was unsuccessful and the resource does not bring the expected profit to its owner. As a rule, the site publishes outdated or irrelevant content for the audience. Domains are often sold by auction.
Where you can sell a website: list of reputable sites
- Empire Flipper
This is a premium platform tailored for the Western market. Here you can find a high-quality online business for sale at above-average prices. Empire Flippers operates on an auction basis. Commission is approximately 15% or less.
Main advantages of the exchange:
* Income from websites averages $500 per month;
* Full control of transaction security by moderators and payment systems;
* You can sell websites in a variety of niches;
* Preliminary check of history, content and reference mass;
* The exchange calculates Net Profit (net profit margin);
* Technical support responds quickly to user questions and problems.
The site has a negative attitude towards PBN (Private Blog Network). This is a network of web resources on the same topic, which is created to increase the link mass for the main site. Therefore, if the optimizer has previously used this method of promotion, then selling the site will be difficult, if not completely unrealistic.
The exchange operates according to the Dutch auction system. Specializes in the sale of “average” sites in terms of cost and profit. The commission is 20%. The main advantage is the quick sale of sites.
The exchange hosts sites that generate income from $50 per month. Topic: white niches, mainly selling on Amazon. The exchange independently calculates Gross Revenue. - Motion Invest
The exchange operates according to the Dutch auction system. Specializes in the sale of “average” sites in terms of cost and profit. The commission is 20%. The main advantage is the quick sale of sites.
The exchange hosts sites that generate income from $50 per month. Topic: white niches, mainly selling on Amazon. The exchange independently calculates Gross Revenue. - Flippa
Flippa also has an auction model. Popular in the Western market. Here you can find a website for sale in different niches (including “stubs” for sale), domains, various applications and services.
There is a category of resources that are marked by the exchange as exclusive. They are recommended by the administration. The buyer is provided with the following information about the lots: data about the audience, traffic sources and geolocation.
Selling and buying on this site is akin to doing business in the Wild West. Firstly, there is no support here. Secondly, there is no verification of income from the site, so you can buy a pig in a poke. At the same time, the sales process is also not fast. - Fortune Brokers
The exchange is focused mainly on the European market. Small websites in a white niche (usually Amazon) are on sale. It works according to the Dutch auction system. The commission on the transaction is 20%. Fast sales are the main advantage of the site. The exchange calculates gross revenue. - Exchangemarketplace
This is the youngest resource where you can buy and sell a website. Unlike other exchanges, this is not an auction, but rather an online store. The buyer does not need to increase the price of the lot: he likes the product, negotiated with the seller and bought it. Therefore, the speed of sale here is perhaps the highest of all options. But there is also a significant disadvantage - the price of sites is sometimes too high, since the absence of an auction does not allow you to buy cheaper.
How to determine the cost of a website?
The cost of a website, in addition to the age of the domain, is influenced by the following factors:
● Attendance. The more people visit the site per day, the higher the price of the resource will be;
● Link mass. Some exchanges check the link mass before putting a resource up for sale. The more trusted sources link to a site, the more valuable it is for the buyer;
● Website visibility and position for niche-relevant keywords;
● Quality and usefulness of content;
● Website income. This is the difference between annual income and the cost of holding the resource.
It is difficult to estimate the cost of a website by eye. You can compare resources with competitors’ sites with similar metrics and niches that are offered for sale on the exchange where you want to trade. But you can also calculate the approximate price using an online calculator.
To estimate the cost of a resource, you need to insert its URL, and after checking, the system will give its approximate price. Empire Flippers also offers online valuation of your website.
In flip business, the following factors influence the assessment:
● source of income;
● trust;
● availability of PBN;
● uniqueness and relevance of the content;
● social networks, mailing lists;
● traffic indicators and income.
However, even if the assessment of the site that needs to be sold is unsatisfactory, it can still be improved and its value increased.
Conclusion
Flipping websites is a profitable business. To sell a website at a higher price, you need to increase the multiplier and the resulting profit. If the site is initially unprofitable, then you can always work on the quantity and quality of traffic, improve usability, content and link factors.
In buying online business the main thing is that the costs are covered. If the site is in a not very popular niche, then it may be worth selling the domain. Analyze your chances of selling profitably based on competitors who have posted resources on the site where you want to sell. The exchange itself, where the transaction will be concluded, will also affect the profit: commission, average price of lots, and so on.