Does anybody know of a cheat sheet or checklist that details items of interest one should be cognizent of when purchasing an existing website or blog? If you have ever purchased a website or blog, can you relate some of the things that one should look out for?
Revenue (I would ask with the earliest history he has it too, its good to have) Visitors Statistics ofc, just ask to view the analytics, Any decent site should use analytics, if the site has a script etc, make sure your getting that, logos etc ask for PSD's if you need them, unless your revamping, licenses for a forum for example.
Before buying determine website activity and the real revenue and not just what the seller would like you to believe; determine a proven cost of the website... do not overpay.
Based on my experience,the website buyer want the site that have high traffic and returning visitor. And if your site have PR then it would be added advantage.
There is never a 100% checklist, what you need to check varies widely depending on the type of website you're buying. However, there a detailed guide on doing "due diligence" here.
I would check several things. Alexa rank. is it high? Google analytics. is the traffic real? where is it coming from? How is the site monitized? Can the seller prove the revenues coming in?
Traffic doesn't matter, if the website in question has already established a userbase. For example, if you wanted to buy a vbulletin-powered site. You pay attention to stats more than traffic. The higher memberbase, and the higher postcount the board has....the better. You can mass-e-mail them.
Some things you need to look at are traffic, revenue, and net income (revenue - advertising expenses.) Traffic valuation can be a little tricky, as it ultimately depends on how targeted and responsive that traffic is. It can be rather difficult to determine how targeted that traffic is, especially if the site is not monetized properly (and thus we have no real way of determining whether this traffic will truly convert.)
Check every aspect of website that would be beneficial for you like traffic,PR, alexa ranking & backlinks etc.