Eager to dive into a new side hustle? How about site flipping? It goes like this: you buy underperforming websites, make some smart adjustments and then sell them for a profit. Do you want to know the best part? You don’t need a hefty sum of money to get started! Today we’ll explore the ABCs of this exciting gig and why it can be more profitable than building a site from scratch. We’ll also walk you through each step, beginning with finding your first site and up to making the final sale. Ready to test out those technical and marketing skills of yours? Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science! Let’s go!
Introduction to Website Flipping
Essentially, the website flip is a digital cousin of house flipping. You might have encountered this concept on popular TV shows like “Flip or Flop”. The idea is pretty much the same: you buy something that clearly needs improvement, give it a makeover and sell it at a higher value.
The only difference is that here you don’t have to deal with houses and properties, in the digital space – it’s all about websites.
Moreover, compared to real estate, site flipping has a very low barrier to entry and requires minimal investment. This makes it particularly attractive, right? No need to worry about astronomical loans and physical renovations, getting elbow-deep in wall paint. Instead of all this fuss, you can start with a modest budget and focus on digitally improving your asset: tweak website design, optimise content for SEO, increase traffic and so on.
The whole process is no sweat, anyone can handle it, even with basic digital skills. Plus, the turnaround time can be much shorter than in real estate, which means you’ll see returns on your investment way earlier.
What is Website Flipping?
As you likely gathered from the previous section, flipping websites means to acquire promising sites, make strategic improvements (like a Fairy Godmother, haha) and resell them for a better price. But you might wonder, why not just keep the website once you are done with the makeover?
Well, the main reason is good old stability and security. It’s much safer to receive a one-time lump payment for a flawless website instead of relying on its fluctuating monthly profits. Running a website is an unpredictable journey as your income can vary from month to month. That’s why it will be wiser to sell it before it turns into a pumpkin at midnight and lock your profit this way.
Besides, you can immediately reinvest that money into other websites or ventures. As they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so don’t risk losing a good gain for uncertain future profits.
What’s more, you don’t have to tie up your resources in one project anymore. You can work on multiple websites instead and explore their potential for growth and profitability. Such a nice way to diversify your investments! It’s a good move in terms of spreading the risk, but what’s even better – it opens up opportunities for higher returns. Smart financial management, baby!
Why Consider Website Flipping?
Flipping websites for profit is undoubtedly a better alternative to building ones from scratch. Did you know that it might take up to 18 months for a new site to gain traction, attract traffic and bring decent money? That's a long time to wait, especially if you're expecting to see faster returns on your investment.
When you buy an up-and-running website, it already has some groundwork done which lets you skip initial phases. Instead of creating and developing from zero to hero, you can jump straight into optimisation and value growth.
If you have a knack for identifying potential, shine at problem-solving and simply enjoy digital marketing – you found your calling. As for financial benefits, depending on the niche and improvements you make, we are talking about X10 or more from your initial investment. Cool, huh? Some flippers even make a full-time job out of it and earn big with this buy-improve-sell sequence. So what is website flipping? If you ask me, it’s definitely a goldmine!
How to Start a Website Flipping Business
How exactly do I buy and sell websites for profit? Where to start? If you ask yourself these and other questions – don’t you worry, we’ve got you covered! Surely, this whole idea might seem daunting. But trust us, with the right approach, you can turn it into a rewarding business. Just breathe in, breathe out and then follow a series of strategic steps that we’ve prepared for you.
Step 1 – Finding Your First Website to Flip
It goes without saying that, first and foremost, you need to find the right website to purchase. That’s how your journey begins. So where can you discover websites for sale that make money? There are special marketplaces out there, here is the list:
Flippa. One of the most popular platforms for buying and selling a website, domain or app. It provides owners and investors with tools and expertise to sell their digital assets.
Empire Flippers. Known for vetting listings thoroughly, making it a reliable place to find quality websites. It is an INC 500 company and the #1 curated marketplace for buying and selling established and profitable online businesses.
FE International. Specialises in high-value websites and provides extensive due diligence reports. It is an award-winning strategic advisor for technology businesses, facilitating mergers and acquisitions.
Now that you know where to search, it’s time to decide what to look for. Let’s start with a niche (or a micro niche, if you wish). We can’t leave you without a list of some profitable ones but you can ignore it if it doesn’t resonate with you. What’s important is that you really need to like it and, of course, have some knowledge in the field. So always choose what suits you best:
Health and Wellness. Evergreen content with a wide audience appeal.
Finance. High potential for affiliate marketing and ad revenue.
Tech and Gadgets. Rapidly evolving industry with a dedicated following.
Personal Development. Popular among readers looking for self-improvement.
The next thing here is website evaluation – you need to identify weak spots which will increase the value of your purchase after having been improved. These are the things to consider:
Design and UX. A modern, user-friendly design plays a huge role in a website’s appeal.
Content Quality. High-quality, engaging content attracts more visitors and improves search rankings.
SEO Optimization. Smart on-page SEO (keywords, meta descriptions, alt texts, etc.) drives more organic traffic.
Monetization Strategies. After evaluating existing revenue streams, consider adding new ones (affiliate marketing, display ads, e-commerce and so on).
Step 2 – Acquiring the Website
Okay, you’ve got your promising website. Now what? The next step is acquisition. This is where it gets trickier as you need to legally protect yourself and make sure you are not buying a cat in the sack.
Here is a checklist to help you conduct thorough due diligence and avoid any potential pitfalls:
Verify Traffic Quality. It should be organic, without being artificially inflated (e.g. sudden traffic peaks can signalise black hat SEO techniques). Tools like Google Analytics can help you check all the traffic sources of your chosen website and how legit and worthy they are.
Confirm Revenue Claims. Profit streams should be consistent, preferably without any noticeable declines. It wouldn’t hurt to also review financial statements and payment histories of your website to reveal possible underlying problems.
Analyse SEO Performance. Websites must be checked for penalties to guarantee they haven’t been involved in any unethical SEO tactics, otherwise it can harm their ranking.
Ensure Originality and Quality. All website content should be original, without traces of plagiarism as low-quality or duplicate content can jeopardise SEO and overall user engagement.
Check Legal Compliance. You need to see if your future-to-flip website complies with legal requirements such as GDPR and does not infringe on copyrights or trademarks. Poor reputation and negative reviews can be difficult to overcome.
Ready to move forward with the purchase? The main thing here is to be completely sure that you buy the entire website. Because it’s more than just a facade that you scroll through, it’s all the content, the domain and other intellectual property. To do so, you need to negotiate the terms with the seller (what’s included in the sale, purchase price, payment terms, etc.) and draft a contract outlining all these details. It’s also a good idea to have a lawyer review the contract before you sign it to confirm that you are good to go.
Step 3 – Transferring Ownership
Once the payment is finalised (consider using an escrow service to handle it), it’s important to transfer all related assets and get the necessary access for effective management.
The assets include:
Content and media (images, videos, texts);
Domain registration (domain name transfer to your registrar account);
Hosting accounts (website files and databases transfer to your hosting provider);
Email accounts (ones associated with the domain);
Third-party services (email marketing, analytics, etc.)
The last technicalities here are to obtain all login credentials for the website's backend, hosting accounts and third-party services and check if you have administrative access to make changes to the website.
You also need to implement the following security measures in order to protect your new asset:
Change Passwords. Immediately change all passwords so that only you have access from now on.
Update Contact Information. All contact information associated with the domain and hosting accounts must be updated to reflect your ownership.
Backup Data. Create backups of the website's data before and after the transfer to prevent any loss of information.
Step 4 – Improving the Website
Congrats, you have a website with potential, now it’s time to polish this diamond in the rough.
Here is a list of typical improvements to make your website more appealing to future buyers:
Improvements | Examples |
Design | Make sure your website is mobile-friendly Improve navigation menus Update the colour scheme |
Content | Refresh existing content Add new blog posts Optimise materials for better ranking |
SEO | Use appropriate keywords Touch up meta tags Improve page load times Acquire high-quality backlinks |
Social Media | Embed social sharing buttons Create socials for your website Build a community around your site |
Email Marketing | Collect an email list Send engaging newsletters and promo emails Set up lead magnets (free ebooks, exclusive content, etc.) |
Monetisation | Add affiliate marketing links Incorporate display ads Explore e-commerce opportunities |
Depending on the website’s initial condition, it can take from a few weeks to several months to finalise all the improvements. It’s up to you to decide how deep the tweaks should be. However, remember that time is of the essence. The longer you hold onto the acquired website, the higher the risk that market trends may change, which can potentially affect its value. Besides, it’s all about “sell my website” business plan, so the quicker you make those adjustments and find a buyer, the faster you can realise your return on investment.
Step 5 – Selling the Website
Finally, the last juicy step that you’ve been waiting for all along – how to sell your website. So once it’s improved and ready, you need to go and list it on the market. Remember the platforms for finding websites that we mentioned earlier? Well, basically, you can just return there to sell one of your own now.
How to sell a website quickly and for a good price? The secret is to create a detailed (and compelling!) sale ad. Just follow this plan:
Catchy Title. It should be engaging and informative, with the main selling points of your website (e.g. “Profitable Wellness Blog with Organic Traffic and High Profit”)
Clear Description. Talk about your website in more detail, but keep it accessible and concise. It’s worth including the following details:
- Niche and target audience;
- Traffic (monthly stats, unique visitors, growth trends, etc.);
- Revenue (average monthly profit, monetisation methods);
- Improvements that you made since acquiring this website;
- Potential for growth.
Visuals and Proof. Add screenshots of traffic analytics, profit reports and other relevant metrics.
Reason for Selling. Briefly explain why you are selling a website (e.g. achieved improvement goals, planning to reinvest in other projects, etc.)
Contact Information. Interested buyers will be reaching out to you with questions or to negotiate, so make it easy for them to contact you. And be quick to respond to the incoming inquiries, promptness means a lot!
Common Challenges in Website Flipping
We are not gonna lie, every profitable business comes with its own set of challenges. Forewarned is forearmed, so here is the list of the obstacles you may face on your way to profits (with suggestions to overcome them!):
Finding Worthy Websites. It might be hard to find high-quality sites as some listings have exaggerated traffic and revenue stats. The answer to it is proper due diligence to verify every single figure in those reports and make sure you are buying a real catch.
Overestimating Improvement Potential. You can fall into a trap of your own unrealistic expectations about the profits you can achieve with polishing the website. So set reasonable goals and don’t overcommit resources to changes which may not bring high returns.
Technical Issues. If you are not technically skilled, ownership transfer and consequent management of all tech aspects can turn out to be a really complex issue. Don’t be afraid to delegate this part of the work and hire a professional to handle that.
Legal and Compliance Issues. Laws and regulations, intellectual property rights, GDPR compliance… Is it all Greek to you? Again, let a professional take care of that. This way you will be sure to comply with all legal regulations and avoid potential pitfalls.
Time Management. Website improvement is a time-consuming task, so we recommend writing a detailed plan with milestones and deadlines. Otherwise, it might take longer than expected to see the desired results. Also, when going through this plan, prioritise tasks that will potentially result in the highest return on investment.
Market Fluctuations. Market trends, search engine algorithm updates and overall industry dynamics can affect the value of your websites. That’s why it’s important to stay informed about these trends and be flexible with your strategies.
Competition. Buyers are fighting for high-quality websites out there, you can be sure of that. It won’t hurt to network with other website flippers and participate in online communities to build a good reputation as a reliable buyer and seller.
Now you know how to choose, improve and sell a website without a hitch. You have all the tips to navigate this process more effectively and increase your chances of success.
Conclusion
Hope today we gave you a comprehensive answer to your question “How to flip websites?” Now, with all the right moves and strategies in your to-do list, it doesn’t seem so difficult to turn tables for underperforming sites, does it? Besides, it comes with flexibility and creativity everyone is craving so much! Every step you take is a learning opportunity and each flip brings you closer to mastering this craft. Embrace the challenges, stay adaptable and keep your eyes on the goal. Good luck!
