The Forum Fascination

We're continually seeing many "forum" type sites asking for opinions on value here, and I'd like to know what your thoughts are.

Knowing what we do about the "ad-blindness" principle (that is well documented), do you believe this should be a significant factor when considering the net worth of a site?
I'm just a little surprised that so many are assuming that their mammoth daily traffic and numbers of posts is going to make somebody rich.

Lets say the same (or somewhat similar) amount of traffic is being generated from a group of static pages on a domain- by what percentage should we de-value the same numbers coming to a forum only arrangement?

In other words-
"John" says he gets 8,000 uniques a day to his forum with 175,000 members and a posting a minute or better taking place.

"Mary", on the other hand gets 5,000 uniques a day to a specialized niche page (or Blog).

Where do we draw the distinction in valuing a site?

 

Value it based on a multiple of its monthly profits.

 

If there is no current advertising?

 

Then you're probably not going to get much for it when you sell. Especially if it's a teen forum.

 

It is very sad becouse all sites gets their value only by reavnu they get. Since adsense came out everything is about traffic and ads optimization. All sites lost their value based on time and work that is put intoo them. I sow some junk sites making xxx$ per month becouse of good incomeing links and good adsense placement and from the other hand I sow some rally good designed sites with good content selling for couple of hunderd $. It is sad but I guess this is cruel word.

 

So there is a thought process out there that says websites MUST currently have ads on them to be worth anything?
Hmmm....I'll have to disagree with that, but quietly...LOL
So a guy has a site that has worked its way up in the SERPS for a few years, has a nice combination of regular visitors and uniques.

So if the guy has no ads on it, I (or you) can low-ball him and get it for a steal?
(While pointing out the fact to him that the absense of ads makes it worthless)
If this is the case, there must be all kinds of "ambulance chaser" types out there just looking to pounce?

 

Forums are worht a lot in my opinion because they are unique and dynamic. Some forums can make very good money but most tend to just eat bandwith.

 

i agree..btw,did u get my pm anoldsmobile?...sorry to b off topic

 

Why is this thread in buy sell trade? It's simply those who are not familiar with the market forces venting.

 

Well, that's right actually. Unless you know how to make money with them the just eat bandwidth. How that makes them worth very much, I'd like to see you explain? Something that's a drain on your time and money and produce nothing for revenues, why would someone pay a lot for it?

 

That's the answer I was looking for as well.....though I assume some have been successful?

 

Need more info. "Lots of traffic" just doesn't cut it. For example, how many uniques are there? I've seen very active forums that probably have a couple hundred users that post a lot. There is money to be made, but no one is going to get rich off of it.

There are other forums that have tens of thousands of users, hundreds of new users registering every day, and are for targetted topics that involve lots of money. A forum like that can make tens of thousands of dollars on a simple re-skin.

Everyone buys stuff, be it adults, teens, business owners, or college students.

 

Absolutely. A forum that's draining you might turn into a moneymaker for someone else. But, if you want to maximize your selling potential, turn it into a moneymaker prior to selling.

 

I'm with you there Peter, but what about sites that don't currently utilize advertising?
I think there is something to be said for the fact that "ad blindness" hasn't taken affect, and a buyer could potentially have one heck of an initial week with ads.

There is a great article about this in the blog linked in my sig.

 

Do you mean 'how do you make money on a forum site without selling ads'? I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say "what about sites that don't currently utilize advertisng?" You can easily add advertising onto a forum.

 

Sorry- what I meant was if we were looking at a site for possible purchase.
Have you ever noticed that there are some GIANT froum sites out there that use no advertising whatsoever?
Granted, it can be because of personal ethics and such- but I've often wondered what some of them would consider a fair price.

 

The ones that don't run ads are the ones that probably wouldn't ever sell anyway.

 

Personally, I think a lot of it depends on where your traffic comes from. As an example, I'll give:

- A blog that doesn't have name recognition but gets 20,000 unique visitors a month from search engine referrals.
- A forum that gets 20,000 unique visitors a month. 1,500 of those are registered members and 18,500 are from search engine referrals.

In that case, I'd value the forum much higher than the blog. What happens if search engine traffic falls off? Unless you make a major mistake, you can bet the forum will keep going even if it falls off of the search engines. You have those 1,500 loyal visitors who will continue to return to the site.

I think with forums, you can be a little more creative with your advertising. Of course, you can use AdSense but since you know your users, you can sell sponsorships, have premium memberships, etc.