Webwork - 1:54 pm on Jul 13, 2011 (gmt 0)

I'd consider the strength of the cash flow in fixing a value.

Multiples of income work best where there is certainty about the inputs and income.

Certainty of income, when it comes to the WWW, is far more predictable when a website has a vast array on inbound links - especially from quality sites - as that tends to a) offset traffic loss due to finicky search engine love; and, b) tends to be an insurance policy against such finickly love since a search engine that doesn't get why your site is so loved is one that is not likely to last.

Look at what an annuity would cost that throws off $X. How much will that cost?

How close is your website and its income stream to an annuity? The closer it gets the better the analogy when it comes to setting a value.

IMHO, the "multiple of income" model is a lazy-easy model. Are humans lazy-easy? Sure, more than a few. Therefore the model is popular.

Website value - once you are speaking of truly valuable resources - is not such a simple matter. However, the VAST majority of websites are far simpler to evaluate.

Look at the "pinned" thread (up top [webmasterworld.com...] ) for a few lengthy discussions about valuing websites and domains.