Midascode | Buy & Sell Websites

So you are looking to purchase a website, but you don’t want to be ripped off, you have worked hard for your money, and you want to ensure that you make a good investment.

This is the case for ANY site buyer, but it is not always easy to get a good value purchase.

Today I am going to share a secret that will help you ensure that you get value for money when you buy a website.

The Site Buying Secret by Midascode.co.uk

When you are buying a website your ultimate goal is to make a lot of money. Anyone who says any different is insane or a liar! So you need to be able to squeeze as much value as possible from the site.

Most websites earn money from the following methods:

*Adsense
*Affiliate adverts
*Donations
*Selling text links
*Selling other ads

This is known as revenue, and is the single most important factor in the value of a website.

Put simply, a site earning $100,000 per year is almost always going to sell for more than a site that makes $1,000 per year.

However, there is a way of increasing the value of the sites revenue, and the great thing is that the site seller DOESN’T know what this is, so he will not increase the sale price.

So what is the secret to get good value from buying a website?

BUYING A WEBSITE IN THE SAME NICHE AS YOUR OTHER SITE(S)

It sounds simple, but this is a trick that not only makes perfect business sense, but it also helps you make more money.

Let’s do an example, and I will show you just how powerful this technique is:

Let’s presume that Joe is buying a website, and he already owns three websites.

We will call these three sites: SITE A, SITE B, and SITE C – All 3 sites are in the online clothing industry, and all 3 sites make $1,000 per month profit.

Joe is looking to invest some of his profits from these 3 sites, so he purchases an arcade website. The arcade costs $10,000 and makes $1,000 per month.

One year later Joe has made $12,000 from his new arcade website, plus he has also made $1,000 per month from his three existing sites. So in total he has made $48,000 from the four sites.

TOTAL = $48,000 profit

Now let’s change the example, and instead of purchasing an arcade site Joe purchase an online clothing store (the same niche as the other 3 sites).

The site he buys is also making $1,000 per month, however, when he purchases the site he also links to it from his other 3 sites, he mentions the site on his other newsletters, and posts about it on his forum. From the new site, he does the same thing… he promotes the other 3 sites via text links and other promotions.

Due to all this inter-promotion Joe manages to increase pagerank, search engine rankings, traffic, brand awareness and revenue to all 4 sites. He manages to get the profits for all 4 sites up to $1500 per month.

So at the end of the first year he has $1500 x 4 sites = $6,000 multiplied by 12 months = $72,000

So that is $72,000 profit for Joes network of websites, but buying a non relevant site would have been a profit of $48,000. The difference in profit is $24,000

So as you can see, this secret has made a difference of $24,000 per year.

Bearing in mind that the site cost $12,000 to purchase, Joe got his full return on his investment within 6 months.

There are not many investment or money making opportunities on the planet that can do this.

If you would like to know more about buying and selling websites, and the hidden secrets to make your investment more profitable, then contact me today.

We have shared with you our advice and tips for buying and selling websites. But now we want to hear……..

YOUR STORIES

Have you ever bought a website, blog or forum?

We would love to hear about your experiences. Did you feel that you got a bargain? Where did you buy your site from? Did you get over charged?

Please use the comment system to leave your story. We will include a backlink to your site as well.

Midascode

This morning I got a strange email from a so called expert who decided he was going to teach me about buying and selling websites.

He has never bought a site in his life, so needless to say his advice was pretty awful.

But here at Midascode we love to dispell myths, so I thought I would share this amusing piece of advice with you…..

“Dean,

I just wanted to let you know what nobody ever sells a website that is making money. Instead, you will just have to start from scratch”

Wow, the amazing thing is that this guy is supposed to be an expert. Yikes!

There is no doubt that sites making $1000+ per month are harder to find, but that is purely due to law of averages.

If you look hard and know where to look you will find sites for sale earning as much as $100,000 per month.

Infact, if you own a website that is making $1000 or more per month, and would like to cash in whilst the market is red hot, I will personally try and sell it for you.

And in the interest of fair play, if you are looking for a website with a lot of revenue, then I will look for a mega deal for you.

I am a busy man, so if you want to take advantage of this you will need to contact Midascode directly at : barry@midascode.co.uk

Buying and selling websites is becoming more and more popular. But what are the pros and cons of buying a website?

The PROS of website buying

* Existing traffic – Ah, good old traffic. Where would we be as webmasters without traffic? probably homeless, so traffic is good m’kay. If you can purchase a site with a large amount of traffic, then you can monetise that traffic and make profits. Profits are also very good

* Members – There is nothing quite like a nice large juicy member (she said) – base. A memberbase of loyal users can be used and abused in numerous ways. You can sell things more easily to them, you can spread viral messages more easily, you can obtain vital market research info for free etc….

* Pagerank – ah, our good friend Mr Pagerank. Google pagerank is nowhere near as important as the general public seem to think, but there are many advantages of buying a site with a decent pagerank, such as selling text links, link trading with authority sites, selling ad space etc…

* Profits – Did I mention that profits are good? well they are, infact, they are probably the single biggest factor when purchasing a website. Many site buyers even use monthly profit multiples to gauge the value of the site. Buying a site with a large monthly profit is a great way to get your investment back quickly, it also shows that the site is working correctly.

* Brand – A wise man once told me that a site with a weak brand is destined for mediocracy. Actually, it wasn’t a wise man that told me that, I just invented it, but either way, it is true. if you purchase a site with a good brand image then rewards yee shall get.

The CONS of website buying

* Cost – Many pop singers say the best things in life are free. But when was the last time you saw Michael Jackson bidding for a PR5 proxy site? I rest my case. If you want to buy a good site then be prepared to hand over you well earned cash.

* Deceiptful sellers – My mother once told me that I should not trust anything that moves, but she was drunk at the time, so I am not sure if she was in the correct mental state to be divulging such pearls of wisdom. Either way, you need to be careful when buying websites. Believe it or not, the seller does NOT have your best interests at heart, infact, he/she just wants your hard earned money. So buying sites can often be like walking through a mine field.

* Losing the main asset - Many sites are popular due to one person. This is particularly true with blogs. Be aware that when you buy a site you will have to replace the previous owner. Sometimes this can be impossible to do.

* Brand - Wait a minute, branding can’t be in the Pros and Cons at the same time, can it? Yes it can, stop complaining and listen carefully, “for I shall say zis only once.” A sites brand is basically it’s reputation, for example, if Michael Jackson came to my house 15 years ago to watch some Disney DVDs, I am sure my parents would have been more than happy for him to have some quiet one on one time with me, but now they would probably chase him away with a burning crucifix. Websites also have reputations, and this can be both a plus and negative thing. If the previous owner was a little dodgy, then you may have just bought a dud.

Now you know the pros and cons of website buying, congratulations.

Dean

Being a site buyer can be tough, there are many site owners who lie, trick and deceive to try and get more money for their website. But now there is another factor that IMO is the cancer of the site buying and selling industry.

Domain and website appraisals

A domain or site appraisal site is a site that will attempt to guess the valuation of your website.

The important word here is GUESS, they don’t actually know the value of your site, so they use basic algorithms to make a very vague guess.

The sneaky trick

These sites exist for only one reason, they want you to give them links. So what better way of tricking you into doing this than telling you your site is worth a LOT more than it really is. Hell, if my site was worth $100k then I would tell the world.

Basically they over value your site by as much as x100 the actual value of the site. They then hope that you are dumb enough to believe that this is accurate.

Why are they a cancer?

Dealing with site owners can often be tricky. There are many good honest owners, but a lot of site sellers will tell you anything to raise the valuation. Now we have to deal with fake appraisals that are tricking site owners into heavily over-valuing their websites.

On many occasions I see people put this in their listings: “My domain has been valued at $25,000″. This can make things very awkward when the actual value of the entire site is $300.

What to do?

People are being tricked into linking to site appraisal websites, and these companies are playing on peoples stupidity to trick them. But these sites do not care about damaging an entire industry, they just want links and free publicity.

Buying blogs via sites like Sitepoint.com is a technique that is becoming more and more popular. I personally have purchased over 10 blogs in the past 12 months. However, there are certain rules you need to follow if you want to make good money from buying blogs.

Content is most definitely king!

Any marketing or SEO expert will tell you that content is king, but with blogs content becomes King, President, Queen and everything inbetween. I cannot stress how important the content is for a blog.

So when you are considering buying a blog please pay a lot of attention to the quality of the posts.

Link love

Buying a site with a lot of backlinks is very nice, with blogs it is vital! If you want your content to rank well in the search engines, then links are the key. When buying a blog pay a lot of attention to how many links the site has. If the blog has lots of content but not many links then this may be an indicator that the content is poor.

Non Adsense Revenue

Bloggers love Adsense! Adsense is the main source of revenue for blog owners, but any blog that relies solely on Adsense is more vunerable. It is well known that sites get banned from Adsense for reasons out of their control, so it is always good to have a backup plan. I am always willing to pay a little extra for sites that have other revenue streams.

A Base is Ace

Google is a great way of getting traffic, but it is also a very unstable method. Having thousands of loyal readers and subscribers who have subscribed to your feed is a nice solid base to build upon and a great way of guaranteeing that you are going to get solid traffic for months/years to come. I always am ready to pay extra for sites with a lot of subscribers/members.

Kickass Design

A nice design is always a plus for a blog. It is nowhere near as important as the other factors I have mentioned, but it certainly helps. Many people will judge your entire blog by its design, so be prepared to pay a little extra for a blog with a kickass design.

Dean

Welcome to part nine of the Midascode.co.uk site buying guide.

We recommend that you also read the other eight chapters:

* Everything changes
* Site buying multiples
* Industry importance
* Traffic relevance
* Traffic quantity
* Established Websites
* Time Is Money
* Content is king

What are the income sources?

Some sites rely on solely one income stream e.g Adsense sites, afiliate sites, sites that sell text links etc….

The problem with these sites is that there is a certain vunerability and risk factor involved. Many sites get banned from Adsense on a daily basis, often due to reasons out of their control. Affiliate programs close down on a daily basis, pagerank changes…. so when buying a website it is best to use the income sources as a factor for putting a value on a site.
If a site makes money from numerous sources then it is a much safer investment.

Midascode

Content Is King – Buying Websites Guide

Welcome to part eight of the Midascode.co.uk buying websites guide.

Today we are going to look at the quality of content, and how that affects the value of a website.

If you haven’t already done so, please read through the previous chapters.

* Everything changes
* Site buying multiples
* Industry importance
* Traffic relevance
* Traffic quantity
* Established Websites
* Time Is Money

Content Is King

You have probably already heard the phrase “Content is King”, but it is one that is especially important when buying websites.

There is a vast difference between a links directory and a content rich blog with hundreds of unique articles. Content can drive traffic and attract readers. It can also help create a brand.

Also beware when buying online stores. A lot of the content from online stores is often taken direct from the merchants feeds, and essentially you are just using the same content as thousands of other sites.

Summary: Quality content is a valuable asset to a website. Signs that a site has quality content are:

1) It ranks well in the search engines
2) Has a lot of comments
3) Has a lot of backlinks.

Midascode.

Time is Money – Buying Websites Guide

Welcome to part seven of our buying websites guide. Today we will discuss the importance of the time required to run a website, and how the amount of time needed should reflect the value.

We recommend you read through the previous chapters first:

* Everything changes
* Site buying multiples
* Industry importance
* Traffic relevance
* Traffic quantity
* Established Websites

When you run a website you will often be required to take over the daily tasks associated with running and maintaining the site. These can range from adding content, deleting spam, link building, finding new content etc…

All of these tasks require your time, and never forget that time is money!

So when you are looking at buying a site you should look at the amount of time required to maintain the site. For example, if you are buying a new forum that only has a few members, then the amount of time required is going to be huge. But if you are buying an established and automated site then the time required is much less.

Many site sellers will say things like “it only takes an hour a week to maintain”, but remember that there is a big difference between maintaining a site and creating a highly successful site.

MidasCode.co.uk

Welcome to part six of our buying websites guide.

Today we are going to discuss the importance of knowing whether a site is established or not. Before we continue I should remind you that there are five previous chapters:

* Everything changes
* Site buying multiples
* Industry importance
* Traffic relevance
* Traffic quantity

Is the site established?

Knowing whether a site is established or not is vital in knowing its value.

So what is an established site and how do we know if a site is established?

Authority websites have generally been online for a long time, they are also near the top of their industry. They will normally have things like advertisers, return traffic, and a good brand image within the industry.

Established vs Authority

It is important not to confuse established sites with authority sites. An established site will have all of the above features, but an authority site is truly at the top of its industry. It is the sort of site that people will think of when you tell them the industry:

Search engine = Google
Online Encyclopedia = Wikipedia
Site Buying Experts = Midascode.co.uk

If a site is an authority site then expect to look at yearly multiples instead of monthly ones. It is not un-common to pay more than 3 years revenue for an authority site, but rarely would an established site go for more than 18 months.

So when you are looking at a site, make sure you try and see if the site is established, and be prepared to pay a little extra.

The other side of the coin is authority sites. Authority sites have usually been around for a long time and are the top site in their industry. They usually have a list of current advertisers, returning traffic, good public relations, etc.. If a site is an authority, then the multiple goes way up. While widgets.com has been around for 2 years and has a steady base of return traffic, it’s not what I would call an authority site. Because widgets.com is “established” but not an “authority”, the multiple remains at 8.