Buying a website: how does it work and why?

Introduction

Building a new website takes a lot of time, money and energy. Moreover, it takes a long time before your site ranks well in online search results and you can start making real money from it. That makes it tempting not to build a site yourself, but to buy an existing website. From there you can build on and that way you don't have to start from scratch. What's involved in buying a website?

Why buy a website?

Many business owners buy an existing website because they are looking for an additional source of income. Buying a website that has already made a name for itself and is making money then has many advantages. There is no more need to build a site and create basic content, but you can get started on increasing revenue right away. Ideal if you are looking to increase passive income, for example through affiliate sales. Buying a well-run affiliate site offers many opportunities, as these sites are already set up with the intention of making money.

It's not always about money

Money, by the way, does not always have to be the main reason to buy an existing Web site: sometimes the domain name can be valuable to your business, or you want to use the site to direct visitors to another Web site with which you are already making money. It could also be that your competitor is selling their site and you want to take over their domain name and content. Also read more about selling a domain name.

Buying a website: start at the beginning

Before having a Web site created or purchased, it is important to think carefully about what you want the site to do and what requirements it must meet. Do you want the site to generate a certain amount of sales already? Should it rank especially high in the search engines? How much money should the website cost? If you have your requirements clearly outlined, then you can better assess which websites match them. This will prevent you from making a wrong purchase. Consider carefully whether it would not be better to have a new website built after all. Then you can create the site you want right from the start and you won't have to deal with the legacy of another owner with different ideas.

Where do you buy a website?

There are several websites where other sites are offered for sale. For example, check out:

• Sitedeals.com
• Websitetekoop.com
• Webshopovername.nl
• Flippa.com
• Marketplace.com

It is also advisable to look for websites yourself that seem interesting to you. Then you can talk directly to the owner, without any other potential buyers involved. By the way, it does not necessarily have to be a website that is already for sale. You never know what the owner's situation is and whether you might be able to change his or her mind.

What should you look for when buying a website?

• The number of visitors. If the site has at least 10,000 unique visitors per month, that offers potential for revenue models.
• SEO position. Half of the number of visitors should come from search engines, so it is clear that the SEO of the website is good enough. Feel free to ask for proof of this: you can ask the site owner for access to Google Analytics, so you can investigate for yourself how the website is doing. Also, don't forget to check the backlinks: is the website frequently referenced by other relevant sites? And is the site fast enough, or are there other technical problems?
• The age of the site: it should be at least a year old, so it has built up authority in Google.
• The future: will the site's topic still be of interest to the target audience five years from now?
• The CMS system. Which Content Management System is being used? Make sure it's one you can get started with yourself right away, such as WordPress.
• Potential revenue models. Do you see opportunities to start earning more from the Web site, such as through advertising or affiliate links?
• The content. Are the articles and photos on the website unique, good content and valuable? Or do you still have a lot of work to do to improve the quality? Also check that the images used are royalty-free, so you don't get into legal trouble.
• Webshop reviews. If you want to buy a site with a webshop, look at the reviews. If the webshop has a bad reputation, the site will be worth a lot less.
• The seller. Find out if the site owner is a reliable partner.
• The extras. It can be very valuable if the Web site has a large Facebook group, or an extensive mailing list. That gives you opportunities to drive additional traffic to your site and thus generate additional revenue.

Stay critical!

Extra warning: always remain critical. Many websites are for sale because they did not score as well as before, in Google, in terms of visitor numbers or sales. That tide can be hard to turn. So examine very carefully whether the site really has potential and meets your requirements.

How much is a website worth?

The price of a Web site depends on a number of things, including the number of visitors and revenue. But it does not mean that a site with large visitor numbers is always worth more than a smaller site. A site with a thousand visitors a month, half of whom make a purchase each month, may be worth more than a site with ten thousand visitors who don't buy anything. Therefore, look first at net profit of a Web site per year. Most Web sites sell for 1 to 3 times that amount.

Several factors are important

But net profit alone is not the most important thing in determining the price of a Web site. How valuable is the content? How much work do you have to put in to improve the site? How big is the mailing list? How big are the associated social media channels? How much potential does the site have to become even more profitable? All these factors together determine the final sales price. And so it remains difficult to make a ready-made calculation for this in advance.