Finding websites for sale is not an easy task. Several factors contribute to it being a daunting task. First, according to Internet Live Stats, there are over 1.8 billion websites online right now. Each of these websites is unique in terms of domain authority, the number of unique monthly visitors, and the revenue it can generate through ads, affiliate links, and online sales.
How do you find which websites out of almost 2 billion of them are up for sale? The situation forces you to spend countless hours researching online to find the sites for sale; then, you need to assess them, narrow down your options, and finally make a purchase. The fact that there is no centralized marketplace for these websites makes things even harder.
Here at FindBusinesses4Sale, we decided to help you do it all seamlessly. We have recently added a section to our website where you can effortlessly browse our listings to find that perfect website to invest in. However, having access to update and accurate listings is just the tip of the iceberg. Here is everything you need to know about purchasing a website before making your entrepreneurship dream come true.
How to Find a Good Websites for Sale
Every website purchase game starts with a search. But where to find good websites for sale? You have several options at your disposal. Some are more efficient than others. The most obvious way is to start your search on one of the major search engines. A “websites for sale” query will return thousands of results.
You will have to check every result manually while placing your trust in listings generated by 3rd parties. You will most often find just the website’s price and web address, which is less info than we ideally strive to find. The problem is that you need to extend your search to find out the details regarding other specifics. Tools used for this type of research are often fee-based, and they require some technical knowledge before you can put them to action.
You can also visit the major advertising platforms and see if there are any ads for websites. The bottom line – finding a website to purchase is easy, but finding a good website worth investing in is not that easy.
This is where FindBusinesses4Sale comes in with a solution. We take the process of purchasing a website rather seriously. After every website is an online business because it can generate profits through ad placement or online sales, this is why you will find our listings to be all-encompassing. You can utilize our search to easily find what you are looking for, discover various details about the websites listed on our platform, and do it so conveniently on your desktop computer or mobile device.
Things You Need to Know When Looking for Websites for Sale
Purchasing an online business is a rather complicated matter due to the fact that there are many things you need to check. Here is a list of things you should know when looking for websites for sale.
Website Platform and Technology
You should definitely check if the website is built on a content management system (CMS) platform or not. The most commonly used CMSs include WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal. These websites are not demanding when it comes to maintenance. Since they are built on a CMS platform, you can benefit from having access to ready-to-use design templates, plugins, and extensions.
Website builders are growing in popularity too. These include Wix, Weebly, HubSpot, and Squarespace. Websites built by website builders are easy to customize, and you will have access to the extension marketplace to help you customize the website.
Finally, there is a third group of websites built from the ground up by professionals. They use HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other programming languages to build these websites. Knowing which website platform and technology was used will help you assess the following:
- Whether you will need to hire experts
- Design and optimization flexibility
- Upfront/ongoing costs
When you know this, you can quickly determine whether a particular website aligns with your goals and plans. More importantly, you will be able to know whether your budget can sustain the ongoing costs.
Domain History
Domain history tells you the story behind the website you want to purchase. It can make or break your online business, and it’s considered one of the most important factors to consider when looking for websites for sale.
The first thing that should be checked is the age of the domain. Well-aged domains are easier to monetize because the search engines take this factor as a strong SEO signal. Older websites are often more expensive than those that have been launched recently.
Search engine penalties should interest you too. Search engines mainly impose penalties because the website owners use black hat SEO tactics to get ahead of the competition. Improving a penalized website reputation with search engines is a tedious task, and you might consider skipping them altogether.
While we’re talking about black hat SEO tactics, you should also look at changes in traffic, ranking, and conversion rates. A steady growth implies a long-term SEO strategy is in place. Huge spikes in traffic, ranking, or conversion patterns indicate that the owner did something to boost the price of the website. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a black hat SEO move. Paid ads can also boost traffic, but it is a short-term solution.
Website Design and Update History
Website design best practices reflect the latest user experience trends. The success of a website depends on how visually appealing and intuitive it is. As its future owner, it is in your interest to check when its design was updated the last time.
Complex designs call for more regular maintenance, which adds to ongoing costs. If it wasn’t redesigned recently, maybe you will have to invest in the redesign to remain competitive. If it was built on one of the CMSs platforms and features customized looks and functionality, you should also consider how much it will cost you to update these features along with the design.
Website’s Target Audience
Every website has its target audience. Rebranding a website and attracting a new audience is extremely hard, especially if it is an older domain. You should keep this in mind if you have specific business goals that don’t align with the website’s target audience.
The common mistake is to invest in a website with many unique monthly visitors interested in one thing and expected to leverage high traffic to start selling something entirely irrelevant for the visitors’ original interests.
Why Choose a Website Business
There are many reasons why people go for a website business. To keep things short and sweet, we will outline the most noteworthy benefits of owning an online business.
Unparalleled Scalability
If your business starts to grow, you don’t need to invest in new offices, buy new furniture, or expand your other operational capacities. The same applies to a scenario of a business slowing down. Online businesses deliver unparalleled scalability, which makes a huge difference.
If you notice there is more traffic and the bandwidth, you can move to a better hosting plan or downscale to an affordable plan if the business slows down. You can enhance customer support with live chat or a self-service help center. The options are limitless whether you want to upscale or downscale to support your business growth or accommodate website expenses in case business slows down.
24/7 Availability
Brick and mortar shops have business hours. In fact, if you run a business in any industry, your doors will remain closed for at least a couple of hours a day. With an online business, you have an opportunity to offer your products and services around the clock throughout the year.
A website and its features don’t care if it is a weekend or holiday. It will continue to serve your customers no matter what and help you capture more profit.
Streamlined Market Penetration
With a website business, you can penetrate virtually any market around the globe as long as you have to offer relevant services, products, or content to the target audience. There are no boundaries whatsoever.
A subtle change in your SEO strategy will help your online business appear in searches of foreign customers. You can also achieve it via different marketing strategies, which we will tackle in the following section.
Great Advertising Opportunities
A traditional business depends on traditional marketing methodologies. Online businesses, on the other hand, can utilize both traditional and digital marketing strategies. Digital marketing strategies being more indicative here given the nature of online business.
Online businesses can pursue long-term strategies such as SEO or leverage paid ads on search engines and social media platforms. They can also build social media following to build lasting and meaningful relationships with clients.
Great Work/Life Balance
Finally, the online business model can offer you a great work/life balance. You don’t need to plan your life around your business, but the other way around. Also, You will be able to sort your business affairs on a laptop while enjoying a cup of coffee.
You can complete your tasks on the go as long as you have an internet connection. Website businesses are quite popular today mainly because they provide their owners more freedom than any other type of business out there.
Buying and Selling a Website
Buying and selling a website is no longer a hassle, thanks to FindBusinesses4Sale. We made listing and selling a website via our platform easy. All you have to do is register and complete the form to list your online business for sale.
Buying a website at FindBusinesses4Sale is as streamlined as it gets. Our listings are both browsable and searchable. Every website listed on our site features a rich portfolio. You will be able to find every important piece of information in a matter of seconds.
In our efforts to provide you only the actionable information, we regularly update our listings and make sure that every piece of information is accurate.
Pros and Cons of a Website Business
Knowing the pros and cons of a certain business model can help you finalize your decision. The following pros and cons will help you decide whether you want to invest in a website business or not.
Pros
- Significantly lower costs than running a brick and mortar business
- Endless opportunities to improve customer experience
- Easily collect customer data to understand the target market
- Virtually unlimited reach
- Flexibility allows fast adaptation to changes in the market
Cons
- Some markets are oversaturated
- Harsh competition
- The lack of face-to-face interaction with customers presents some customer service challenges
- It can take some time to build trust
We’ve covered everything you need to know before you go on a hunt for websites for sale. If you find online businesses an exciting investment idea, you need a reliable partner to help streamline your research. Register your account at FindBusinesses4Sale, and start your search today!
