Buying Websites

[TooManyDomains]

I've seen a lot of advice on buying domains but what about buying websites?

If someone advertises their site makes $1000/year how do you know their traffic and/or page rank is not going to go away as soon as you buy it.

I'm talking about basic sites with ads and content, no forums or actual businesses selling products and services.

This seems like a much trickier area then buying domains.

 

[KaneCo]

I would only buy sites I know I could make better. Google can drop your ranking in a second and take away all the revenue the site was making. You really just have to take into account everything. Any devolved sites I have sold the new owner drove it into the ground and basically just wasted money.

 

[TooManyDomains]

Great advice!

 

[NetworkMsia]

You gotta do research on it.
Like.. where the backlinks come from ? Digg, stumble upon, or real backlinks from real sites.
How many years in the business ? .. what sort of company advertise on his site ?
Then check up on the owner himself.. his reputation, TR and etc.
Lots of research mate

 

[TooManyDomains]

Ok thought it was pretty involved! These are the things I wasn't aware of! Good stuff! Not to be taken lightly!

 

[HuntingMoon]

the biggest element lately is reputation. no risk, no reward though -- there is no surefire formula to protect yourself. screwing up helps to teach what not to do too lol.

 

[nameadvertising.com]

Buying sites with a member base is safer than buying sites based on Google rank alone. Just my 2 cents.

 

[WebsiteTraders.Com]

watch out the bounce rate in the analytics....the lesser the better

 

[fab]

Yep, this has been exactly what's been bothering me, although domain traffic itself can be doctored, or be old links, instead of type in as well.

 

[Biggie]

i use marketleap and archive.org to check website links and site history

 

[hittjw]

If someone advertises their site makes $1000/year how do you know their traffic and/or page rank is not going to go away as soon as you buy it.

You are right, buying a website is like buying a business, it's a lot trickier than buying an undeveloped domain. I've looked at buying out a few competitive sites or places my prospects already visit.

In some cases the revenue numbers were very short term (annualized based on a few months) and others were plain incorrect. You'll also find a number of unprofitable sites available boasting strong gross revenues, with little left for the owner.

If you're going to buy fully developed sites, you'll need to make sure you'll create a significant increase before you either sell it again, or run the cash flow. Be careful, you'll often pay more for less flexibility.

Best,

Justin

 

[Melly]

Also PR doesn't always mean anything. I see people buying a pr domain cheap and throwing a site up on it that isn't worth anything.

- Make sure they actually own the site (no stolen or copyrighted material)
- Always ask for proof of traffic & revenue and verify it
- try to stick with buying sites you know how to run or have some knowledge about
- try to stick with sites that are unique and not something that 1000 other people already have
- purchase sites that have a history not completely new
- do your homework before purchasing
- don't buy a site you don't have time for

 

[WebsiteTraders.Com]

check out wat professionals say about buying businesses at http://richdad.com & http://trumpuniversity.com

 

[metrisoft]

I agree with previous comments about PR: it's just not worth that much. Focus on backlinks that contain your keywords and that come from quality sources. If the site has many such backlinks, it's probably going to retain its search engine ranking.

 

[Ervin]

Also PR doesn't always mean anything. I see people buying a pr domain cheap and throwing a site up on it that isn't worth anything.

- Make sure they actually own the site (no stolen or copyrighted material)
- Always ask for proof of traffic & revenue and verify it
- try to stick with buying sites you know how to run or have some knowledge about
- try to stick with sites that are unique and not something that 1000 other people already have
- purchase sites that have a history not completely new
- do your homework before purchasing
- don't buy a site you don't have time for

I am agree with your points.