If you are considering buying or selling a website, do not let today’s bad economy slow you down. Internet business is booming! If you look at most of the problems that failing businesses are having, you may find that they do not always apply to the online business you have or are considering to buy. The car manufacturers, for instance, have too much money invested in benefits for both current and retired employees. They are maintaining offices and paying big bucks in bonuses to CEO’s with little regard to performance. The real economy boosters are small business owners who are supplying services and goods.
If you have a website to sell, make sure you have it listed at a reputable online website marketplace. Make your advertisement appealing and show the potential buyer all the possibilities for growth your website can offer. Be prepared to answer questions about the site, such as the sources of traffic, and how much traffic your site is generating. Is it consistent or is this a temporary burst of traffic? What types of links are on the website? How many incoming links and how many outgoing links are on the website? How much profit do the links normally generate? How much money does the website itself generate? How much of those earnings are profit? What do you consider the website assets to be? For instance, what type of technology was used to build the site and what software was used? Is the site ready to go or is it going to need to be updated? Was the website designed by a professional? What is the present market position? Is there anything which makes this website unique? While you may not want to give away all of your secrets, certainly you want to be as honest and as helpful to your buyer as possible.
There are many good reasons to purchase a website instead of starting from scratch. A working site will already have many of the start up problems solved, such as problems with links and page flow. It will also already be established with search engines and directories, and have contacts with customers. There is already a good foundation; all you have to do is to continue to build.
Some great advice here about selling websites. You raise all the questions that a buyer could ask. These questions will help people wishing to buy or sell a website evaluate what the website is worth.