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Investing in websites has become a popular and lucrative way to generate passive income and build long-term wealth.
With the rise of e-commerce and online businesses, websites have become valuable assets that can be bought, improved, and sold for a profit.
Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just starting out, investing in websites can offer a range of opportunities to earn money, from affiliate marketing and advertising revenue to e-commerce sales and more.
I dipped my toes into the website flipping world back in 2016 and I’ve sold over $100K worth of websites!
You can buy websites for passive income, buy websites that make money, and more! We’ll cover that in this article.
In this age of digital transformation, investing in websites has become an exciting way to diversify your investment portfolio and capitalize on the growth potential of the online economy.
How do you make money investing websites?
So, invest in websites, huh? How does that work.
Actually, there are several ways to make money by investing in websites:
- Buy and hold strategy: You can buy a website that is undervalued or has potential for growth, and hold onto it until its value increases. This can be done by improving the website’s content, design, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to attract more traffic and increase revenue. Once the website has reached its potential, you can sell it for a profit.
- Affiliate marketing: You can invest in a website that generates revenue through affiliate marketing. This involves promoting other people’s products on your website and earning a commission for each sale made through your affiliate link.
- Advertising revenue: Websites that generate a significant amount of traffic can earn money through advertising revenue. You can invest in such websites and improve their traffic by optimizing their content and SEO, thereby increasing their advertising revenue.
- E-commerce: You can invest in an e-commerce website that sells products online. You can improve the website’s user experience, marketing, and customer service to increase sales and revenue.
When investing in websites, it’s important to do your research and due diligence to identify websites with potential for growth and profitability. You should also have a clear exit strategy in place to sell the website when it reaches its potential.
Invest in websites: Buy and hold strategy
This is how to invest in websites with the buy-and-hold strategy.
The buy-and-hold strategy can be a smart way to make money investing in websites. It’s just what it sounds like. You research a website to purchase. Then, you buy it and hold it for the long term.
The goal here is to take advantage of what the website has already established for itself, the income and traffic. So, you’ll capitalize off those strengths and then you can add your expertise to it to make it even more valuable.
It can be like buying an income stream, in a way.
Here are some examples:
Example 1: buy and hold
You purchase an income-producing website earning $1,000 per month. Over 12 months, you earn $12,000!
Example 2: buy and hold
You buy a traffic-generating site that has an opportunity to be monetized. Over 12 months, you grow it to $3,000/month and then start earning $3K per month from then on out, holding it for 5 years, earning at least $180,000.
What do you need to buy and hold websites?
The biggest thing you need is a budget. You’ll need a startup budget to invest in websites. That budget will be based on you. If you’re new to website flipping, you might want to start small and go with a $1,000 budget or even up to $25,000 for a budget.
Generally, the more money you have, the more successful of a site you can buy.
For example, buying a $1,000 site might get you a website with 6,000 pageviews per month and no income. Whereas, a $25,000 website may get you a site making $1,000 per month with 20,000 pageviews per month.
More risk, more reward.
I have never used the buy and hold strategy but there are many successful website flippers who have!
Investing in websites: affiliate marketing
Investing in websites with affiliate marketing is about holding a site that’s earning income through affiliate marketing. This could be a site that you build or buy.
Building a site that earns with affiliate marketing involves:
- Buying a domain name and hosting
- Picking a site niche
- Adding content to the site and then,
- Monetizing the site with affiliate marketing
Learn how to start a blog in my free guide.
This will have low startup costs and can be a very lucrative project in the future.
For the above steps, you can invest up to $50 to $100 total and be on your way to earning money through affiliate marketing. But, brand new sites can take a long time to monetize. So, you get the benefit of low startup costs but, you may have to play the waiting game, until your site content ranks and you begin attracting visits to your affiliate links to make money.
If you want to cut the time it takes to wait to rank content, you may consider buying an aged domain name instead of new domain name.
Examples of affiliate opportunities
You can join affiliate programs and/or affiliate networks. Affiliate programs are usually run by the site and not a network.
Examples include Bluehost’s affiliate program, course affiliate programs like that from Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing’s course, and others. To find affiliate programs, visit the website of the product/service you want to promote and usually there is a link to join the affiliate program in the footer of the site, like this example below.
Affiliate networks are sites that are a collection of various affiliate programs. You join the affiliate network for free then, you can browse the various affiliate programs they offer and join the ones you want to promote.
Invest in websites: Advertising
Investing in sites through advertising is similar to the affiliate marketing approach. You can buy or build a site then monetize it with ads.
Examples of ad networks are: Google Adsense, Ezoic, Mediavine, and AdThrive.
Some ad networks have requirements to join, such as a minimum of 50,000 sessions per month, for Mediavine.
Investing in websites with advertising can be a good way to earn passive income. Here are some steps you can take to invest in websites with advertising:
- Do your research: Look for websites that have good traffic and engagement metrics, such as page views, unique visitors, and time spent on site. You can use tools like SimilarWeb or Alexa to get an idea of a website’s traffic and demographics.
- Assess the quality of the content: Websites with high-quality content are more likely to attract and retain visitors, which is important for generating advertising revenue. Check the website’s content for accuracy, relevance, and originality.
- Look at the advertising options: Some websites use advertising networks, while others sell advertising space directly to businesses. Evaluate the advertising options available on the website to ensure that they are relevant and not too intrusive for visitors.
- Consider the website’s niche: Some niches are more profitable for advertising than others. For example, websites in the finance or health niches may have higher advertising rates than websites in the entertainment niche.
- Evaluate the website’s revenue potential: Look at the website’s historical revenue and projections for future revenue to get an idea of its potential profitability.
- Negotiate a deal: If you decide to invest in a website with advertising, negotiate a fair price and agree on terms such as revenue sharing or advertising placement.
It’s important to note that investing in websites with advertising can be risky, and you should always do your due diligence before making any investment decisions. Additionally, it may be helpful to consult with a financial advisor or legal professional to ensure that you are making informed decisions.
Investing in websites with e-commerce
Going the e-commerce route is about buying or building a website that you will monetize by selling products and services. You can add an e-commerce extension like Woocomerce to your website or attach a store to the site.
Examples of physical products you can sell:
- Coffee mugs
- T-shirts
- Hoodies
- Pillow cases
Examples of digital products you can sell:
- Digital planners
- Pinterest pin templates
- Resume templates
Examples of services you can sell:
- Bookkeeping services
- Tax/accounting services
- Audit services
- Personal coaching/consulting
What is the best website to invest in
The best website to invest in is your own!
If you own a website, you have a lot of power to take it as far as you want to go. You can monetize the site and turn it into an online empire, making hundreds of thousands or millions per year.
Top blogs like Making Sense of Cents earn up to $100K per month.
Bloggers like Adam Enfroy make up to $400K per month.
It can be truly mind-boggling how much you can earn from websites and how far you can take the site!
Is it profitable to buy websites
Wondering how profitable websites are?
Buying websites can be profitable, but it depends on various factors. Here are some of the factors that can influence the profitability of buying websites:
- Traffic and Revenue: Websites that have a significant amount of traffic and generate substantial revenue are generally more valuable and profitable. However, it’s essential to ensure that the traffic and revenue are organic and sustainable over time.
- Niche: Websites that operate in popular or profitable niches, such as finance, health, or technology, may have a higher potential for profitability.
- Monetization: The monetization strategy of the website can also play a significant role in its profitability. Websites that have a diversified income stream, such as advertising, affiliate marketing, and product sales, can be more profitable than those that rely on a single income source.
- Competition: The level of competition in the niche can also impact the website’s profitability. If the niche is highly competitive, it may be more challenging to generate revenue and maintain profitability.
- Website quality: The quality of the website can also impact its profitability. A well-designed, user-friendly, and SEO-optimized website may attract more visitors, resulting in higher revenue and profitability.
- Price: The price you pay to buy the website can also impact its profitability. It’s important to ensure that the price is fair and reasonable based on the website’s traffic, revenue, and potential for growth.
Buying websites can be profitable, but it’s essential to evaluate various factors before making an investment decision.
It’s important to do your research, assess the website’s potential for growth, and negotiate a fair price to ensure profitability. Additionally, it’s recommended to consult with a financial advisor or legal professional to ensure that you are making informed decisions.
How much should you invest in a website?
How much you should invest in a website is based on your personal budget. You want to consider your goals and what you hope to achieve from investing in websites, along with your timeline.
If you have a more limited budget, buying a starter site will be what’s likely available to you. A starter site is newer and it will generally have less income and less traffic than an aged website but, it’s more affordable.
If you want an established site, it will cost you. But, in exchange, you’ll get a more seasoned website that may come with increased income and traffic, compared to a newer site.
How to do your due diligence investing in sites
The amount you should invest in a website depends on several factors, such as the website’s potential for growth, revenue, and profitability, as well as your investment objectives and risk tolerance.
Here are some general guidelines you can consider when investing in a website:
- Evaluate the website’s potential: Before investing in a website, it’s important to evaluate its potential for growth, revenue, and profitability. Look at factors such as the website’s traffic, revenue, niche, competition, and monetization strategy to assess its potential.
- Set a budget: Once you have evaluated the website’s potential, you can set a budget for your investment. Consider how much you are willing to invest and how much risk you are comfortable taking.
- Consider your investment objectives: Your investment objectives will also influence how much you should invest in a website. If you are looking for a long-term investment with steady income, you may want to invest more. If you are looking for a short-term investment, you may want to invest less.
- Negotiate a fair price: When investing in a website, it’s important to negotiate a fair price based on the website’s traffic, revenue, and potential for growth. You may want to consult with a financial advisor or legal professional to ensure that you are getting a fair deal.
- Diversify your portfolio: It’s important to diversify your portfolio by investing in multiple websites to spread your risk. This will help you minimize the impact of any single website’s performance on your overall investment returns.
There is no set amount you should invest in a website as it depends on various factors. It’s important to evaluate the website’s potential, set a budget, consider your investment objectives, negotiate a fair price, and diversify your portfolio to maximize your investment returns.
FAQ about investing in websites
1. Where to buy websites with revenue?
You can buy websites with revenue from a number of places:
- Website marketplaces
- Social media
- Website brokerages
Some examples include Flippa and Empire Flippers.
2. Is it expensive buying established websites?
Buying established websites can be expensive. It’s not unusual to pay up to 50X of the monthly income as the purchase price for these sites. For example, a website generating $1,000/month could sell for 35X, or $35,000.
The benefit of investing in established websites is that there can be a shorter turnaround time for turning your investment. The established site is already seasoned. It’s already likely Google-friendly, ranks for content and is income-producing. It takes much longer to work with a starter site to get it to this level, though it’s much cheaper.
3. Should you buy websites that make money?
Buying websites that make money can be a smart investment. But, you’ve got to do your due diligence. It’s a matter of personal preference and there are pros and cons to both.
With starter sites, it’s a lesser investment so the barrier to entry for investing in websites is lower but, it will most likely take longer to monetize and grow traffic.
With established websites, it’s a higher investment but, you walk into a situation with a website that may already be making money and generating traffic. The improvements you make to it may reflect with Google quicker, like improving the SEO.
4. Where can you learn how to flip websites?
You can learn how to flip websites from my ebook Flipping It and my course The Art of the Microflip. You can hear from other niche site investors from podcasts like Niche Pursuits, YouTube videos, and other places online.
5. Is the Empire Flipper website good?
Empire Flippers is a solid marketplace for buying and selling websites. This is the marketplace I used to sell my first website. I had success working with them and I’d recommend them to others.
Is it worth investing in a website?
I think investing in a website is worth it. It’s a cool way to diversify your investments and it can be a fun, money-making hobby that’s powerful enough to take over your day job income!
Top investors in websites and website flippers earn up to $250,000/year and more!
Making up to $2,500 per month from beginners is within reach, as well!
This lucrative side hustle is one to consider if you’re looking for a way to make some extra cash on the side or develop a full-time career working from home. And, it’s possible to do with under $1,000 in startup costs.
If you want to learn more about how to invest in websites, check out my course, The Art of the Microflip which teaches you how to build and profit from websites that generate income and traffic. If you want something more beginner-friendly, my website flipping ebook teaches you how to build microsites for profit.
