Important Tips When Buying a Website

A quick way to establish a profitable internet business is to purchase an existing website. Read four tips when buying a website.

Traffic Sources

One of the first questions you should ask before purchasing a website is how much traffic the website receives. It's also important to identify the traffic source. Organic and referral traffic is much more valuable compared to paid traffic.

Established Revenue

Website valuation includes established traffic, returning customers and most importantly revenue. The established monthly revenue will attract buyers and raise the value of the website.

Most website valuations are based on twelve months of projected income. If a website is generating $1000 per month in revenue, there will be buyers willing to pay $12,000 for the website based on established revenue.

Why is existing revenue important? It proves a particular business model can be monetized. You can also use existing revenue as a basis to speculate on improvements to the website to increase future revenue.

Maintenance

When you're buying an established website it's important to have a thorough understanding of the maintenance involved. You'll want to know the rate of site updates, estimated time of maintenance and any special skills required to update the website.

If there are specific skills required for maintenance, PHP programming for instance, you'll want to calculate the cost of outsourcing if you aren't an experienced programmer.

Support From Previous Owner

It's not required by the seller, but it's always an added bonus if they're offering technical support for thirty to sixty days after the purchase.

You'll have a knowledgeable resource in the previous owner should you have unexpected questions or problems.