Due Diligence when buying a website...

I have been buying websites off at flippa for sometime now but every now and then thers a scam to watch out for..So i find different ways to do my DD...but its not my strong suit...so wt better place to ask than DP..so here s my question..

WHAT DD PROCESS YOU WOULD GO THRU WHEN BUYING A WEBSITE ?? AND WHAT KIND OF TOOLS/WEBSITES YOU USE ???


I know a lot of people will be answering so thank you all in advance for sparing time for us...

 

Good question.

Well, what do you do? That might kick off some good discussion.

 

Here are some ideas:

For sites set up to monetize with google ads:
Is their content stolen or original? Stolen content is a liability.
What is their traffic, can you verify that using the standard tools?
How do they get their traffic? Was it all purchased, or all organic, or some mixture of that?

For sites set up to sell products.
How do they get their traffic? Organic is worth more than purchased, but if they have a consistent
way to purchase traffic and make a profit, that can also work well.
Where does the product come from, is it rapidly becoming obsolete?
If the product has to be purchased from someone allied to the present owner, this could be trouble.

Da ya ken?

wiz

 

When buying a site, first check out the profit it makes, then ask for screenshot, and suspect it closely if it's not fake, then if you ready to invest, just buy it.

Don't fall for astonishing designs and logos, logos won't make you money.

Check out the earnings the seller claim, then suspect the screenshot closely, if possible, ask the seller to make a video showing you while loging into his account.

 

I think this is where most fake money accounts filter out...they start finding reasons not to show video like i dont have software and i dont know how..stuff like tht..

 

my bad...mcfox

If the website is established and getting over 3-4000 UV's...i start by manually checking the site rankings in google...if it ranks on first page or not... then how long the owner had the website...sometime they just buy domains in auctions with PR 1-2 and say they are established...check domain history..thn check backlinks and what sites are they from...as in they are related or not...thn how many search engines they rank for...i kno yahoo and bing are small but i think it matters...if all these check out then i look at the earnings to see if they prove out..

 

I haven't bought any websites but I have sold some The people who purchase my old sites off of me always ask the same questions:

1-How much traffic. I need to verify my traffic with screen shots as well. These need to be detailed screen shots about where my traffic is coming from (google, social networking sites, blogs, other relevant sites), and how my visitors interact with my website. Other stats such as how much time they spend on my website, and my bounce rate is something that should always be included.
2-How much money is my site earning, again with screen shots for proof. If I am using google adsense I need to post information about that, any affiliate marketing I do on my site needs proof from my network about sales etc.
3-My conversion rates/call to action conversion rates. Whether my website is subscription based, or if I am selling a product I need to show how affective my website is for getting it's main goals done.
4-I also normally show information on how manageable my website is- ie how many hours I invest per week to keep my website working at full capacity. Whatever it takes to get my website running smoothly I normally give detailed information on it.

Every website you buy/sell is different. I think it all boils down to what the focus of the website is and how much time/effort is needed to keep a site up and running.

Hope this helps a little bit...

 

If everything else checks out...how do we put a price tag on the website...is it some kind of multiple of monthly profit or how much authority does the website have ??

 

Hi,

I wrote an article on the most common scams and tricks to look out for.

It's too long to post here but here's the link

Website Buying and Selling Scams - Article on Flipfilter

Hope this helps.

Justin

 

I usually nuke these sorts of posts as link spam but this one is actually pretty good.

 

Thts an awesome website you have up there...very nice info..thnx..

 

check out the estimated traffic stats on compete.com and where the traffic's coming from on alexa.com. Both are often highnly inaccurate though. Compete less so.

 

Here's some free advice: don't buy a website unless you plan on using escrow.

 

Yeah, that's good advice.

If I know the person selling the site or have dealt with them before I don't usually go that route. Similarly, if it isn't more than a couple of hundred and assuming everything else checks out I don't.