The Business of Selling Websites

Summary: Are you a Web site developer or an owner wanting to sell a Web site? Or perhaps somebody wanting to act as broker for people looking to sell Web sites. If you are looking for some tips on how to auction Web sites, then you have landed on the right page.

Read on and learn how you can make a business selling Web sites.

With online commerce on the boom, a website could be – in the traditional business sense -- like a store or a shop or a piece of land in a commercial area. And just like a real real estate, it could be bought and sold or sold and bought. It sounds like a virtual game, but it is true. Many web developers and Web masters are now generating income through selling websites. One can sell web sites in two ways: by developing one of your own, from scratch, until it is income-generating; and by selling websites that other people develop -- or in simple terms -- brokering other web sites.

Developing Web Sites for Sale

As said, you can either develop a Website from scratch until it generates substantial traffic and income. Or, you can buy other websites that you think you can develop and improve and eventually sell. Tips on how to spot websites with potential, and how to buy and develop them are an entire discussion in itself. So is how to do the actual transaction to avoid fraudsters.

website development requires a lot of investment, especially time investment in building the content and database, writing the software, designing graphics, and marketing, but eventually this can pay off. Premium websites sell at an average of $20,000, and they can go at $300,000 and higher. Which brings us to an important topic: website valuation.

As this business has not been around for centuries, there is yet no definite formula on which both buyers and sellers agree regarding how to value a website. But most often, a website is valued by the amount of traffic and income it generates, including earnings from affiliate and merchant accounts. Some would factor in the cost of the hardware and software and the value of content. One tool to use in analyzing activity in your website is Google Analytics. There are other factors that can increase the value of websites, like the length of time it has been existing.

Brokering Web Sites

Or alternatively, you can put up a website where other website sellers can auction their sites to buyers. These sellers could also be those who developed websites for sale, or people who have successfully run a website for some time and wanted to exit for lack of advanced capabilities in supporting its continued existence. You normally don’t charge for postings, but get a commission for every successful transaction.