Interested in earning money buying and selling websites? As small businesses keep digitalizing, demand for quality websites differentiates top brands. This creates reliable opportunities for website flippers taking non-optimized sites and reselling updated versions for profit. This comprehensive guide covers building a business flipping websites as an online entrepreneur.
Understand Website Flipping ROI Basics
Flipping websites at its core relies on 5 foundational pillars to generate solid returns:
- Acquire properties with potential – Sites either undervalued or attractively positioned for enhancements.
- Invest in renovations elevating the site – Backlink building, design, content, feature upgrades etc.
- Fill revenue channels with advertisers – Recruit affiliates or Adsense.
- Enhance appeal through search rankings – Optimize technically and editorially for traffic boosts.
- Resell at a premium – List optimized site now worth more post-improvements at a mark-up.
This process gives previous owners more value for their brand while new buyers acquire a business growth vehicle saving time. Just like house flippers, we create win-wins via targeted upgrades.
Research Marketplaces to Buy and Sell Sites
A wide selection of online marketplaces actively facilitates buying and selling websites. Research and create accounts across leading exchanges best suited to target niches like:
Mainstream Websites
- Flippa, BizBuySell, BrandBucket – Best for generic blogs, news sites, small business eCommerce sites, and turnkey generic domains/templates. Highly liquid and competitive.
Premium Domains
- Sedo, GoDaddy Auctions – Top venues specifically for short, brandable domains .com resales primed for web ventures. Discover domain gems.
SaaS Websites & Apps
- FE International, Empire Flippers, MicroAcquire – Specialize in brokering sales of software businesses and technology companies. More involved vetting and valuations for serious tech acquisitions.
Check previous completed auction listings to scope pricing and demand for types and sizes of ventures listed in your focus areas before pursuing any deals as an entrepreneur.
Learn Website Assessment and Valuation Models
Ultimately revenue and profit potential dictate resale value. But several key site attributes guide estimate valuations when scouting acquisition targets. Assess each across:
SEO Factors
- Current organic traffic
- Search engine index share.
- Keyword difficulty and opportunity
Monetization Benchmarks
- Revenue sources active – Ads, affiliates, subscriptions, eCommerce
- RPM and conversion rates per channel
- Traffic valued at different CPMs by industry.
Site Infrastructure
- Site speed, usability and responsiveness
- Written content volume and quality
- Backlink profile reach
Industry Trends
- Historic traffic and revenue growth rates in the niche
- Advertiser demand forecasts in the space
- Related search trends and seasonality
Viable flips depend on discovering fixable gaps where reasonable investments raise the profit potential significantly. Use online valuation tools as a starting point then manually review to identify clear enhancement paths adding 50-100% in eventual resale value.
Improve Sites Strategically Pre-Listing
A successful flip relies on sufficiently improving site infrastructure and traffic to tangibly demonstrate greater earning power in its niche. Common enhancements include:
Increasing Organic Reach
- More relevant content generation
- Backlinks from quality websites
- Steady link velocity month to month
Converting Traffic into Revenue
- Higher impact Ads.txt and header bidding
- New display ad sizes and placements
- Affiliate partnership expansion.
Streamlining User Experience
- Faster load speeds
- Simplified navigation menus
- Mobile responsiveness checks
Document progress monthly capturing traffic, revenue and technical metric improvements during your holding period to quantify your value contributed to eventual sales listings and make evaluating offers simpler.
List Flipped Websites for Maximum Profit
Now comes one of the most pivotal pieces – effectively positioning sites for sale to generate top dollar:
Tell an ROI Story
Emphasize enhancements made, observable traffic and earnings trajectory, further untapped potential and actual work required for new owners between your period acquiring versus preparing to sell. Paint an appealing risk/reward scenario.
Time Listings Strategically
For steady niches, aim for 60–90-day listing durations allowing legitimate buyers time to vet. Refresh stale listings with new details driving incremental bidding wars.
Monitor Auctions Actively
Keep potential buyers engaged by promptly answering diligence questions, reasoning total deal sizes and reminding groups of competitive bid dynamics to inspire action.
Leverage Reserves Initially
Use hidden reserves priced 20%+ above target sales minimums accounting for best offers likely below list prices. Unveil to accelerate late stage bids as momentum builds.
Patience securing quality deals and dedicated improvement sprints allows for lucrative payout days when closing coveted sales.
Expand Website Flipping Business
As successes accumulate, double down reinvesting:
Hire Specialized Assistance
Leverage remote teams cost effectively assisting with content writing, link building and ad campaign management at scale critical for larger deals.
Pursue Multiple Niches
Diversify into adjacent evergreen niches or cyclical seasonal categories allowing you to stagger deal pipelines year-round.
Explore International Markets
Evaluate expanding beyond domestic sites into both purchasing and selling global websites across borders opening additional avenues.
Automate Systems
Standardize research processes, due diligence templates and listing promotion flows using tools like Trello, Air table and Buffer improving productivity.
Moving thoughtfully from solo entrepreneur flipping single sites to leading a digital team managing a diversified portfolio introduces exciting growth possibilities if approach prudently managing both upside potential and cash flow judiciously.