Buying Websites – The cost of living is increasing around the world, and it seems like everyone is looking at ways to make a bit of extra moola. And Ireland is no exception. Cliqued Media, Ireland’s leading website design company, has seen an increase in the number of people wanting to buy existing websites and URLs as a way of making a passive income.
There are a million ways to make a passive income, but it makes sense to try and do this within a business environment where there is growth and more potential for success. The world of e commerce and website marketing is growing exponentially across the globe, and so surely online is the place to be, if you want to make an extra buck or two.
WHAT IS MY STARTING POINT?
Like all good business strategies, your business website must have a plan behind it. It is no use buying websites that are irrelevant to potential customers. At the very least you should start by:
- Developing a vision for the site and what it must achieve
- Deciding on what product or service categories you want to be involved in
- Identifying a target market that is economically viable and that can be reached online
- Finding out if there is a realistic level of need for the product or service
- Sourcing potential business websites that fit the bill in terms of relevance, quality, and future potential
- Deciding on the level of performance you desire from the site and what it will cost you to get it to the required standard
- Making sure that you have the knowledge and wherewithal to manage and maintain the site
- Ensuring that you have the budget to maintain and populate your site
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?
The main challenges to buying business websites for passive income revolve around your personal abilities, your ongoing commitment levels and as always, affordability. Doing it half-heartedly is a no-go.
Having a website is great but remember that if it disappoints visitors in terms of speed, navigation, and all-round quality of experience, then you are on the road to nowhere. The point here is that, if you are not committed to delivering a high quality of performance and content, then you should not even consider starting off.
Then there is the small matter of your online competitors, all of whom are vying for a slice of the same pie. There is quite simply, a massive amount of competition out there. As of 2021 there were approximately 1.86 billion websites online, with 547 200 new ones being created every day. Finally, less than 400 million of these sites are actually active.
So, if you do not have the ability and experience to manage the site, are bothered by competition, or lack the focus and motivation to grind through the daily basics, then this is not for you.
Alternatively, if you are really committed, but not personally able, then you could consider hiring professional website design and maintenance agencies like Cliqued Media, Ireland to manage the sites. You may be surprised by just how affordable this can be.
HOW DO I IDENTIFY THE RIGHT BUYING WEBSITES ?
Buying the right website can be a great investment. First off however, there are a few important things that you need to review about any potential choice of website, before making a final decision. These include:
Domain Authority
Domain Authority of a website is a measurement that defines how well the site ranks in search engine results. It helps to gauge how successful a website is in the search process, based on the search engine algorithms.
This is an important indicator, because a website ranks well in organic search results only if its overall quality of content and performance is good.
Keyword Ranking
If a business website ranks well for relevant and correctly targeted keywords, then it should do well in attracting the right target audience and achieving sales conversion. However, websites can rank well for the wrong keywords and still drive a lot of traffic but won’t achieve any sales conversion.
Ensure that you analyse Google analytics to determine the effectiveness of any landing and other important pages.
Website Design
Any website that is poorly designed has a negative effect on people’s perceptions of the company or brand. It also leads to negative user experiences. This will directly affect the success of the website and will lead to the need for additional investment on design improvements.
Social Media Standing
Much of a website’s traffic is driven there by social media. If a website features high quality and relevant content, this will be shared on social media and visitor numbers will grow.
You’ll need to analyse what drives people to the site and to consider whether the overall content quality can be improved on, in order to drive further growth in visitor numbers.
User demographics
The user demographics of visitors to the site are an important indicator of whether or not the website is reaching its target market. If not, you can shout from the rooftops, but the right audience will not hear the message. Google Analytics will assist you to identify exactly who is visiting the site.
HOW DO I ACTUALLY BUYING WEBSITES ?
Buying a website is surprisingly easy and there are various ways that you can go about it. It depends on your individual needs and of course budget. A cursory search will reveal a selection of specialists who buy and sell websites.
Website Brokers
There are digital listing platforms who specialize in selling websites. They use website brokers, who are very much like estate agents and from them you can get a full analysis and true value of any site that you may be interested in. Some of the best examples of website brokerages include Flippa, Empire Flippers and BizBroker24.com.
Buy Privately
Identify a few websites that appeal to you, do the research, ask around and then approach them to see if they have thought of selling. If you get lucky you may save money that would otherwise go to agent’s commission. Obviously, you need to know what you are doing here and have a good idea of the real value of the site.
Buy a Domain Name
You can buy a domain name from a domain registrar or hosting provider, but then you’ll have to develop the website yourself. Keep in mind that you will not own it in perpetuity but will have to renew on an annual basis.
Also, you’ll need to be aware of possible hidden domain costs, their expiry policy, what add-on services they offer and whether the domain name can be moved without reserve of some sort.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, buying a website or two can definitely be a source of passive income. And it does not have to take up all of your spare time. But remember that, as with all things “what you put in, is what you get out”.
‘Passive’ income is probably a misleading word to use because you will not be able to sit back and relax while your website makes you a fortune. Rather, you will need to approach the project with focus and a high degree of motivation. Identify the right site upfront, make the correct tweaks and anything is possible.
There is no guarantee that your new website will deliver on its promise. There are definitely risks involved, in that you do need to know what you are doing. If not, try using an agency like Cliqued Media website design company, Ireland to start you off.
Cliqued Media offer a range of affordable web development services for individuals and companies of all sizes. And then you can always decide to go on your own when you feel more competent.
