Guidance Pls

Hi Guys,

I have a site I'm considering selling. Revenue is around $1.5K+ per month (adsense & affils) and climbing, and isn't on G's radar yet (sandboxed for want of a better term).

My questions to those of you who regularly buy and sell sites:

I would typically price a business against a 12 mth projection, but not too sure about websites.. any ideas ?

Also - contracts of sale. Is there a standard, or is this negotiated peicemeal.

Anyhow, if you're experienced at this, your feedback would be most welcome.

I'm not in a hurry.. (the site requires nil maintenance, the primary KW sees around 50,000 searches a day, and it ranks #1&2 (MSN) for it and seven relateds) it's only going to keep improving

PS: - I know there are other sites out there designed exclusively for this purpose (selling sites).. I am instead interested in unbiased feedback from those here who've been at it for a while.

Cheers,

JL

 

can you PM me the URL - I may myself be intersted

 

I have a post about business valuation here on Soft Alien. A website with a proven revenue model can be a quite strong business. Not many variables involved, low maintenance, low returning costs and overheads.

Especially with the growth potential of Google rankings, I'd sell it for 18 months projected revenue at least.

 

Tops30,

That was a good (and to the point) read. Thanks.

ukmp3 I'll PM you.

Cheers,

JL

 

I think another big factor that I consider when purchasing a site is the age of it. Fantastic that you rank 1&2 for msn but I tend to discount search engine rankings unless it has been held for awhile. Too many fluxes in my opinion.

When I buy sites, I tend to shoot for 10x net revenue unless there has been a long track record of success then it can go up to 24x.

 

PM me the url as well please ...... as a rough guide established sites generally sell for around 12 months revenue, often 8/12 months revenue, rarely more than 12.

 

I think the multiple used for valuation is going to increase as more people become comfortable with web based income. I think that in five years we will look back and remember sites we could have bought for 12-15 times montly net and be really sorry we didn't buy.

 

I don't agree mhdoc. Sites used to sell for more than they do today (normally 1x annual earnings for established, stabilized traffic). I think this is due to the fact that people understand traffic is dependent on too many variables. Unless you can show a track record of unique visitors/page views over a number of years that does not change much (unlikely) it would be tough (IMO) to get more than one year's income for a site (based on proven history). With that said, we have all seen cases of things selling for more than they are worth on the internet or elsewhere, so it is not to say that it won't or can't happen. I just don't see it being the norm.