Adding value to your website before you sell it is something you just can’t forego. Ask yourself, how much money do you want for your website? Would your valuation make sense to a buyer? Well it would, but only if you do your part unwaveringly. Don’t fret about instant profits; think, and dream about huge profits – you’ll need that going forward.
What is my website worth?
As a start point when you want to sell your website, you need to understand how it is valued. By value, we’re talking about the monetary equivalent a buyer would pay to acquire the “asset”. The most common approach for this is by using the earnings multiple methods. Your site sells for 1-3x its annual profits, or 12-36 times the monthly revenue. The truth is, you’ll be lucky to get that maximal 3x multiple valuations – but you still can optimize for that kind of luck.
Here’s a list of 6 things you should get right to add value to your website:
1. Original content
If you haven’t already, then it’s time to begin adding loads of “legacy” content that will pull in the traffic . Determine what keywords you need to target, and focus all your effort on becoming an authority resource in that field. All that sounds familiar, uh? Yes it does, but it’s for the simple reason that original content on your website is an asset you own exclusively. When a buyer comes along later, they’ll be looking at some real value in your website.
2. Traffic
Unless, you build a sustainable amount of traffic, your website will never monetize. Think of traffic as customers – the more you have, the more you can make. That means that from the start, your goal must always be attracting people to your site, and that can only be achieved if you have anything of value to offer them – content, downloads, service etc. Hire a team of writers to develop content if you have to, do some serious networking in the social media space and run a link building campaign to get you ranked well in the search engines.
3. Email list and brand
With the traffic building up, you’ll be looking at the different ways to monetize your site. You should start building an email list and offer RSS subscriptions. With that in place, you can build brand equity as you develop more loyalty or trust among your readers. Over time, you should be able to monetize with this list. Run other branding campaigns and promotional strategies that will get your visitors hooked, and you’ll sure have a real asset in your hands.
4. Revenue models
Have you thought about all of the following revenue models?
Banner/link Advertising
In-text link advertising
Premium content subscription
Affiliate marketing
Lead generation
We’re not getting into the details of each now, but I’m sure you at least have a clue about each one of those revenue models. What you should keep in mind is that what works for you isn’t necessarily what works for another webmaster. Based on traffic and the niche you’re in, you should try out all the income models that apply to your site and leave out those that don’t. For instance, Google AdSense may not be viable for your site if you do not have sufficient inbound traffic.
5. Maintaining cash flow
How well does your site convert? Can the earnings be maintained over time? Website buyers won’t rush in to snap up your website just because you have revenue models in place. To maintain and grow cash flow, you must not only focus on growing traffic, but also maximizing conversion rates. Improve copy and call-to-actions if you have to. Optimize ad placement. Market more, and try to cut business operation costs.
6. Using a Content Management System
If you are not using one of the popular content management systems (WordPress, Drupal or Joomla) then it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for the buyer to master it. Most sites that have sold on website marketplaces are built on WordPress and that should tell you something. Check out this post on the best-selling platforms on Flippa. Go with any of these 3 CMSs from the start, and you won’t also have a hard time optimizing for search engines. If your site is properly built, what in the world go wrong?
Tom writes for valuator– they can help find hidden profit centers in your business.