Improve Your Internet Marketing

In Website flipping part 1 we considered some basic do’s & don’ts, and in part 2 we talked about building a site with the end objective in mind. Now that we’ve built our site, tracked our stats, and generated some sales and traffic, it’s time to sell.

There are a lot of places to sell a website, but some are definitely better than others. While my biggest sales was through an ad on Craigslist, that was for a “business” that had been profitable for over 6 months, rather than a site built specificlly for flipping. For flipping, I find Sitepoint Marketplace to be the best venue; Digital Point is also very good. While the sheer volume of site flipping on Ebay is very high, it is not the place to get your best offers.

It’s been said that writing a listing for your site is similar to writing a sales letter in IM, however there are other considerations to keep in mind. Professional site buyers aren’t sold on a traditional “features & benefits” pitch. Generally speaking, this type of approach suggests the seller is an amateur, sale isis my venue of choice, and many of them will simply skip over sales-heavy listings.

With so many sites being listed, your listing headline is extremely important. Statements like “Huge opportunity!” or “Huge potential” are counter-productive. A serious buyer will most likely skip right over this kind of hyperbole. Serious buyers are looking for revenue, traffic, and unique content. This is what you want to get across in your headline. Don’t exaggerate, but give buyers a reason to read your listing. Listings such as “Profitable Niche Membership Site” or “Niche Site Selling Unique Product” will get a lot of clicks.

Once a buyer is reading your listing, you want to be brief and to the point. It’s imperative to provide traffic and revenue screenshots. Be sure to spell out everything, including any negatives. Buyers will find out anyway, and skirting negatives will hurt your credibility. If your sales or traffic were the result of PPC advertising, be sure to list how much was spent.

leaving out important details forces a buyer to move on, or post a question and maybe not return.

Pricing your site too high will is a common mistake. It is natural to think your site is worth more than it actually is, so it’s important to use some basic guidelines. The most common way to price a site is by using a multiple of earnings. The ‘usual’ formula is 10-12 times monthly earnings, but of course there are mitigating factors.

New sites and, those with very short histories, generally won’t command the same multiple as a site with a longer track record, however a newer site has the benefit of showing a much sharper trend upwards.

A good rule-of-thumb for sites newer than 90 days old is 6 times monthly earnings. In an auction format such as Sitepoint, you can list a ‘buy it now’ price, but you are better off simply setting a ‘reserve’. Your particular site or niche may be just what a particular buyer happens to be looking for, and this will help you avoid leaving money on the table.

To summarize: Website flipping can be extremely lucrative. Create a site, generate some sales & traffic, and you have a valuable asset you can sell. Create your site with a buyer in mind. Build it on it’s own domain. Install Google Analytics immediately. Write down all your expenses.  Make the site as “independant” as you can. Revenue, traffic, and unique content are what sells; focus on at least two of these. Avoid hyperbole in your sale listing, include all pertinent information including negatives, but be brief and to the point. Include ‘proof’ of traffic and sales.