A new kind of real estate developer has arrived in the last few years. These real estate developers specialize in online properties. The basic truth is that online real estate property developers have a lot in common with traditional real estate developers. The fundamentals are the same.
If you want to buy and sell websites online, then you need to work the following knowledge into your basic game plan from the beginning:
- Viable exit strategies
- Valuation variables
- Website revenue models
- The difference between profit and revenue
- Understanding of key metrics
- SEO and social media marketing strategies
- Judging ROI
- Current website development principles
This is what you need to think about at a bare minimum. I’m surprised at the number of Web entrepreneurs who think they can just build a website and sell it a year or two later without having even thought through any of these issues. And you have to think about them from the perspective of a potential buyer.
It’s nice that you built a website. I hope it has made you money. But why would someone else buy it? Is it easy to manage? Does it target a profitable niche? Can someone else take what you have built and make it better, or make the same level of profit from it that you have with the same amount of energy? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” then you likely will not find a buyer.
Selling websites isn’t easy. It’s a business model. If you want to get into that business, then learn how successful Web investors do it and follow their lead.
