Best Practices for Selling Your Business Website
Best Practices for Selling Your Online Business or Website
Building an online business or website that attracts a strong following and generates revenue is difficult to achieve. If you want to know how to sell your website, you can learn about several strategies to find interested buyers.
This article explains how to improve your website before you look for a buyer. You’ll read about how websites are valued, and the methods you can use to sell a website. Finally, you’ll learn how the experts at Raincatcher can help you make an informed decision about a website sale.
If you’ve said to yourself: “I want to sell my online business or website”, start the process by making changes to enhance the value of the asset.
Optimize website performance
If you can increase website traffic, and motivate viewers to stay on the website for longer periods, you can increase revenue from the site. Take these steps to optimize your website before looking for a buyer.
Content strategy
What information is most helpful for your audience? To find out, analyze competing websites and review the blog posts, videos and other content that they post. Use this information to consistently post information that solves a problem for your audience.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Moz defines SEO as the practice of increasing the quantity and quantity of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. Organic traffic is not paid website traffic, and is a key metric that indicates your website’s value. You can use keywords, and website article design strategies to increase SEO.
Promotion of social media, paid advertising
Many sites promote their content on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms. You may post content with the goal of increasing organic website traffic, or pay for ads on social media platforms.
Email list
One of the most valuable tools to promote your products and services is an email list. Consider offering free resources to website visitors, in exchange for an email address. You can send targeted messages to email subscribers to sell products and services.
Mobile-friendly
A growing percentage of website traffic comes from mobile devices. Work with a programmer to ensure that your site is easy to view and navigate on mobile. If you use WordPress, you can review website templates and see how they look on a mobile device.
Take these steps to optimize your website, and wait a few months until you can see the improved traffic statistics on Google Analytics. Better traffic statistics indicate that your business is more valuable.
Next, consider the factors that make a website valuable to a potential buyer.
How websites are valued
These factors impact how much a buyer is willing to pay for your website:
Niche
Health and wellness, along with money and personal finance, are two niches that drive a large amount of website traffic. If your website operates in a popular niche, the site is more valuable.
Income sources
Revenue and profits are important, but a website that drives revenue from multiple sources is even more valuable. A site that generates revenue from Google ads, product sales, and podcast subscriptions offers more potential for growth.
Repeat visitors, time on site
If viewers return to your site, and spend an increasing amount of time on your pages, they are more likely to purchase a product or service. Both of these metrics are measured using Google Analytics.
Finally, a buyer needs to know the costs you incur to manage the site, and how much time is required to maintain the website. A successful site will pay website developers (and possibly writers) to maintain the site and to add content. A high-traffic site with low costs and a minimal time investment may sell at a high price.
Once you’ve done your homework and improved your site’s performance, find the right method to sell your website online, or through other methods.
Where to sell your online business or website?
The method you use to sell your website depends on the amount of revenue your site produces each month. Here are the most common ways to sell a website:
Marketplace
Larger online businesses or websites that generate higher revenue are often sold on larger platforms, including BizBuySell. You’ll see both online businesses and traditional companies for sale on this site.
Business broker
The largest online businesses and websites are complex businesses, and you’ll need a business broker to work as your trusted advisor throughout the sale process. Raincatcher has the experience and buyers to help you sell your business.
When you find an interested buyer, you can start the due diligence process.
How to provide due diligence information
A buyer is interested in an online business and website that has a track record of success, and the potential for growth. Buyers want a site that drives repeat viewers, and a place where visitors stay longer and consume content.
Keep these points in mind as you enter the due diligence process. The buyer is looking for evidence that explains why your website is attractive. The due diligence process will vary, depending on the size and complexity of your website operation.
Provide Google Analytics and other third-party reports that explain your website’s traffic, how long people stay, and the conversion rate for landing pages. If you have a landing page where you sell a product or service, a buyer will want to know the percentage of visitors who clicked through and made a purchase.
Provide documents that explain your website’s influence on social media. This might include Twitter followers, or the members of a Facebook group. If another site links to content on your site, are those backlinks purchased or organic links? A buyer will want to know.
A buyer may ask you about the traits of the people who use your website, and how the purchaser can grow the audience.
If the buyer makes an offer for your business, reach out to a broker or have an attorney review the business sale agreement. You need to understand exactly what assets are being sold (website, email addresses, etc.), the sale price, and how the proceeds will be paid.
You’ve worked hard to create an engaging website that generates sales and profits. Before you start looking for a buyer, have a conversation with the experts at Raincather.
Work with a trusted advisor
At Raincatcher, we focus on the seller’s needs-not our own. We focus on providing the best advice about the market, industry, and whether the business is ready to sell.
Our objective is to educate the seller about their options. If it makes sense to work on the business, we will recommend affiliates that we partner with to help the owner maximize the value of their business.
We understand how hard our small business owners work to grow their companies, and we do not take that lightly. Work with Raincatcher to make a more informed decision about a business sale, and to maximize the sale price received for your business.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE OTHER “ONLINE + DIGITAL" RESOURCES
How to Sell Your Online Business
How to Sell Your Shopify Business
How to Sell Your Affiliate Website
How to Sell a Remote Learning Company
How to Sell an Education Technology Business
How to Value and Sell a Subscription Business
How to Value and Sell Your Marketing Agency
