Forum Moderators: phranque
700,000 unique visitors and 3 million page-views per month. 5 Years-old.
Any website or service i can use to value my website?
Ok, you can say my rankings can drop, but google is not the unique referer. 25% of my visitors are repeat visitors!
And... what about this proposal:
Pay now: $100,000
And if site ranking is the same after the fist (or second) year, pay another $50,000
Any type of guarantee for my possible buyer(s)...?
If however the majority of your traffic comes from places other than search engines, such as partnerships for example, then that might be a different story. In fact, if you're completely independent of search traffic, then you might be able to command 24-36 times monthly. Search traffic is very deterring for an investor because it is highly volatile and completely without guarantee.
I can:
+ Prove my last 2 years with google adsense.
+ Prove my last 5 years in google rankings.
+ Add a guarantee (pay more if rankings continue after 2 years).
+ Prove my 700,000 unique visitors (and 3 million page-views).
+ Prove my 70,000 registered members.
And things like that... ok.
The only way you're going to get a good idea of what you're going to fetch in the real market is by meeting with a business broker and having them analyze your business. They'll ask all of the question that potential buyers are going to ask.
Some people don't like business brokers, mostly because they take 10-15% in commission (less if you're a very high priced sale). But, only very well connected and dedicated people have what it takes to sell a business without a broker. And, generally the entrepreneur's time is better spent on continuing expansion of the business, because finding a buyer takes months (expect to be waiting at least 6 months before you find a buyer, and another 2 months or so for the sale to finalize).
Get a business broker, meet with them, and agree on a commission percentage. They'll ask for all your financials, then ask all the questions. Then they'll give you a reasonable asking price with which to go to market. Then they'll go through the nightmare of finding a buyer for your company. Once they qualify a prospective, they'll put you in touch with them. In the meantime, your focus would be to continue expanding the business by adding new content, or whatever it is that you do to build your website.
Do NOT expect an unconditional cash settlement. Be willing to accept an earn-out style agreement. A very high percentage of business acquisitions fail due to greed. If a prospective has been qualified by your broker and has flown in to see you, then they are most probably sincere about acquiring your website, so be sincere with them, and fair.
The points you mention above do serve to increase your asking price, since having 7,000 subscribers has potential for income - but only if the website in question could actually sell items within a particular industry. If on the other hand you have a massive category of varying topics for example, then targetting anyone on the list would be almost impossible, thus that list wouldn't actually add value.
Now, what are you going to do on Tuesday, after the holiday? Look up the best business brokers in your area and call themall to arrange a meeting! go with the best one (you'll likely only be able to select one since most have an exclusivity clause).
- Darrin Ward
No no no... Sale for $150K, if rankings drop, refund $50K...
Better yet: Ask for $200K, get the word out to the topic industry, take the best offer, forget about the idea of a ranking gaurntee. :)
that your site is an authority commands a premium; that your site gets the majority of its revenue from adsense commands a discount; that your site gets 75% traffic from search engines commands a discount... you have to factor all of these things into the final value.
That warrant usually came in the form of an earn-out agreement. If the site made $x in 12 months (for example), you'd have your payment in 12 months (a lump sum downpayment followed by 12 installments). If search traffic decreased after month 6, for example, then it would take longer for you to earn that last 6 months of earn-out payments.
Of course, it was more complicated than that and certain criteria were specified, like if too many changes were made or black hat techniques were involved, then the seller wasn't held accountable and was entitled to full compensation. But the wording of such an agreement is very complicated, and specific.
For the most part the sellers wanted the buyers to remain on board for a least 3 months as a consultant to make the transition as smooth as possible, and thus avoid negative things which would impeed on loosing earn-out payments.
Of course, this was for Adsense websites with the vast majority of visitors coming from AdSense. No sale of a real website (ie. one that sells items) that I have been involved in was subject to anything other than a regular sale.
My final note on this topic that you don't have to settle on an earn-out style agreement, but if the buyer asks for one, that's their way of testing your confidence in things they know nothing about (SEO). If they think that you're trying to offload it because you know it's on its way out - they'll ask for an earn-out... which you don't have to accept, but it might be the only way to sell an adsense site.
[edited by: trillianjedi at 9:48 am (utc) on May 30, 2006]
[edit reason] Typo confused word filter ;) [/edit]
Personally, I'd want to get paid a minimum of 12 months, probably more like 18 months, of what I think I could make with the site as it is. If your adsense profits are, on average, going up every month, I'd include that. I came close to selling my site last year for around what I had gotten in the past 18 months. Deal fell through, and shortly afterword my site jumped in earnings again. Site started at making a couple hundred a month, couple years later and it's 1-2K or more, who knows what next year will bring? I am very glad I didn't sell it now.
Signing up for adsense and implementing it is the only way to check the "value" of your website."
Tosh, the value of a website is whatever someone is prepared to buy it for...
The point about Adsense is that it makes a site worth at least that, your right it is what someone is willing to pay.....
I think $75.000 is more realistic value as the website is in S#*$!h,there are much less webmasters that can keep it runing than if it was in English.
That's not true.
1. The website is already earning $6.000 / month
2. The website is 5 years old and 2 years with adsense.
3. The spanish is one of the most growthing languages on the internet. So the website will growth more than an English one (talking about growth, not total audience).
The potential is there.
4. The website is valuable for spanish speakers, not for english of course. So i don't sell the site to english speakers.
One of my sites is generating $3,800 / month
I can prove $6.000/month during the last 6 months. That's a guarantee.
Anyway i am not looking for a buyer, i already have interested buyers.
I am trying to learn how to sell a website, how to value it, what guarantees offer to the investor, and things like that.
Thanks.
It is not your job to make sure they dont screw up rankings over the next few years by getting greedy and using black hat methods.
start out at 36 Months ..hell they've already started out at well over 12 months ...
Signing up for adsense and implementing it is the only way to check the "value" of your website.
One rule of thumb is the monthly net x 18 months.
To be honest, you can ask what people might be willing to pay on these forums 'till the cows come home, but that means nothing.
The only way you're going to get a good idea of what you're going to fetch in the real market is by meeting with a business broker
I'd love to find a sure-fire way of valueing a website
I can prove $6.000/month during the last 6 months
Better yet: Ask for $200K
Second: I want to know how to value a website. Nothing interesting here by the moment.
Third: In the Spanish forums, i read better suggestions.
Thanks anyway for trying it.
I suspect you are somewhere in between the situation above. Obviously the first situation would be much more desirable than the second.
I do know that many non-internet based businesses will sell for about 1 year's earnings. That is actual earnings, not projected from a few good months. You may do better or worse given your situation and how much your buyer wants your site.
Moosetick put it well and answered my rhetorical question. It's not the average over the last six months or six years that matters, it's what the buyer can reasonably expect to make in the future. The past earnings are only a basis on which he calculates his potential return and he uses that figure together with other signals, some business savvy and a dollop of risk.
One thing you haven't said is the time/cost you put into the site.
