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Researching the genre of a website seems like the obvious thing to do, especially if you have never run a site like the one you are thinking of buying. However, you'll be amazed how often this isnt done.
Those who dont do their homework can end up spending well over the odds. Those who do their homework might end up finding a bargain.
Researching Your Market
Researching your market is not an exact science - it could take days or it could take months, depending on what type of website it is. Here are some of the main things to look for :
- How easy is it to get traffic to the site? : Some types of sites get traffic very easily. For example, adult sites get high traffic quite easily.
- How easy is it to turn traffic into profit? : High traffic doesn't neccessarily mean high profit. Try and find out as much as you can about traffic/profit ratio's on the sites you are gonna buy.
- Is the market Saturated? : How many sites are out there trying to get the same people to their site that you are?
- Is the site time consuming to run? : This is very important. Remember, time is money and a site quicly loses its appeal if running it turns into a full time job.
- Is the site costly to run? : Bandwidth and webspace costs of certain sites have to be looked at. For example, desktopwallpaper sites etc.
Lets look at a Joke site for example.
Example : The Joke Site
The Joke site is a perfect example of how people can get ripped off for not researching their market. If you have a look round eBay or various webmaster forums on the web you'll no doubt always see a joke site for sale.
Now firstly, we're not saying Joke sites can't be profitable. Infact jokes sites can be very profitable if marketed well and the right ads are displayed.
Joke sites get very high traffic very quickly. However, it is a lot harder to make a profit with this kind of traffic than with other sites. A hosting directory with 50 uniques per day would easily make money than a joke site with say 1000 uniques per day simply because joke site visitors arent there to specifically buy anything.
This is where a lot of buyers fall. They dont realise that a joke site with say 300 uniques per day isn't that hard to get. All you need is a good joke script and some time on your hands.
The Moral of the Story
Researching your market is essential. The main things to look for are the time to run the site, how much it costs to run the site and most importantly how the site makes a profit. Do everything you can to ensure that you don't get ripped off.
| Lets move onto Where to Buy Websites |
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