How To Flip A Website 

A Beginner’s Guide

How to flip a website requires some time, knowledge and a bit of patience. Website flipping is not new nor is it difficult.  It is quickly emerging as a lucrative online business for savvy entrepreneurs. It offers individuals a unique opportunity to make money in the digital marketplace and it can all be done right from home. What can begin as a side hustle or hobby can turn into a full time operation with a six-figure exit on each flip. 

Check website flipping statistics on this website:

“We Can Track”  

In this blog post, we will delve into the intricacies of how to successfully flip websites and get a substantial profitable return on your investment.

What Is Website Flipping?

Website flipping involves the strategic acquisition and improvement of websites with the intention of selling them later at a higher price for profit. The concept of buying, enhancing and then selling websites for a profit has been gaining a lot of traction. This practice requires a keen eye for digital trends, an understanding of online business dynamics and the ability to enhance a website’s value. You can also flip a well established website immediately after buying it, without doing any enhancements if you’ve purchased a turnkey site. If you’re looking for a low cost bargain site, then it may be better to buy a fixer-upper or one that needs minimal enhancements. 

Is Certification Needed 

No. 

Anyone can make money with website flipping working from anywhere with an internet connection. Flipping websites for cash is a project you can get started on right now wherever you are.  A lot of information can be found on YouTube and eBay. 

What’s The Startup Cost?

You can literally start with just a few dollars, especially if you’re going to start by building a site from scratch. There is no set amount of money you’ll need to begin. Alternatively, you can buy existing sites for a few hundred dollars, put $100 of improvements into it and then flip it. Think of the end goal. It is certainly feasible to buy a website for under $500 and sell it less than a year later for over $100,000. That being said, you’ll also need money in your budget for the enhancements you’ll be making on your newly acquired asset. 

Take advantage of as many free tools as possible such as:

keyword research 

ai writers

website security

in order to increase your profit and keep your expenses low.

This blog post on tools for beginners will be very helpful.

How Long Does It Take?

A Website can take anywhere from a few days to several months to flip. There is no set time.

Do It In 4 Steps

Let’s try to keep the process simple by narrowing it down to four quick steps. The length of time you spend on each step is entirely up to you.

1. Research profitable niches and pick one. 
2. Buy or build a low cost website and host it on Bluehost.
3. Enhance the current SEO, content, income streams and email list.
4. Do keyword research if it’s a new site and write about 10 blog posts.
5. Optimize your website before listing it for sale to flip it for a tidy profit. 

Starting From Scratch

If you have the patience and a lot of time, you might prefer to build brand new websites completely from scratch and work on growing them before selling or flipping them. This could take about 2 years. Buying an existing site is faster and it’s the recommended method. Most likely an existing site has already been crawled and indexed by Google. 

What Is Crawling?

Search engines have a system to browse the world wide web in search of websites that they will index. To check if your site has already been crawled, use this site command and the url of the page you’re checking in the Google search bar ~

 site:yourdomain.com

 If Google has already crawled your site then your web pages will appear in the search results. Google uses searchbots or “spiders” as it crawls and indexes websites it encounters.

Your First Acquisition

A website can typically be bought for about 3 times its yearly revenue. If you don’t have the capital then start off by building and growing a website from scratch as we discussed earlier. If you’re going to buy a site, remember to negotiate because there’s always a chance that the seller will accept a lower price but you won’t know that unless you offer one. When you’re ready for your first purchase, there are many website marketplaces to choose from. 

Two Popular Marketplaces 

• Flippa

This is s very large, user-friendly platform that is a popular marketplace for flipping businesses.

• Empire Flippers

The marketplace at Empire Flippers has a huge listing of businesses for sale. If you see one that you like, you can access all the info you need on it.

No Coding Experience?

No problem! You can still proceed with this side hustle. For starters you can get assistance from free online tutorials. The vast majority of flippers do have some coding knowledge. 

www.codeacademy.com offers free tutorials with basic knowledge for beginners.

Website Flipping Tips

To be successful at website flipping, there are a few steps to consider:

• Do Market Research

Before diving in, conduct thorough market research to identify niches with potential for profit. It may be best to stick with niches that you enjoy or have some knowledge of.  Look for websites that align with your interests or expertise and analyze their current market demand.

• Due Diligence

When you’ve identified a potential website to purchase, perform due diligence. It won’t hurt to have a checklist to remind yourself of key points and features to look for.  Examine the site’s traffic, revenue streams, and overall performance. Verify the legitimacy of the seller and look into the website’s history.

• Strategic Acquisition

Acquire websites at a reasonable price while considering factors such as the site’s potential for improvement and future market trends. It helps to have some negotiating skills to close on a good deal when you purchase it but if you don’t, you can definitely wing it. 

• Enhance & Optimize

You may need to make improvements to enhance the website’s appeal and functionality. You may need to improve on SEO strategies, design, layout and images. 

• Content Quality

I’m sure you’ve heard it many times that content is king. 

As mentioned before, it’s best to stick with familiar niches so that you’ll be comfortable writing content about it.

Focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that attracts and engages visitors. You can write the content yourself, hire a VA, use an ai to do it or hire writers . Think about a need that users may have and how your site can fulfill that need. Implement low competition keyword choices to boost the website’s visibility on search engines. The object is to increase its overall value. Some knowledge of Pinterest keyword research will be very helpful. Pinterest is an amazing tool and along with Tailwind, they can give the site just the boost in traffic that it may be lacking. Doing all this work yourself could slow you down so consider hiring a VA if you need to. Keep track of your expenses to calculate your ROI later.

• Monetization Strategies

Diversify revenue streams for your websites. Most buyers are looking for sites that have been monetized with several methods. If the site you’ve purchased is profitable then that’s great but if it isn’t, then you’ll have some work to do. Here are some ideas:

• Affiliate marketing links.  There is an endless list of affiliate programs including Amazon, Canva, web hosting platforms like Bluehost and so much more. 

• Display Ads from sources such as Google AdSense, Mediavine or others. 
• Sell digital products or ebooks  
• Email marketing and subscriptions. 

A well-monetized website is more attractive to potential buyers. Typically, a website has to have a high volume of traffic to gain the acceptance of Ad companies. Heavy traffic can result in huge revenues but it could take years to rank high in Google and get a lot of free traffic. Pinterest is the best free tool to use to get huge amounts of FREE traffic. 

• Build a Track Record

You may need to act quickly so you can showcase your websites’ growth and performance over time. Keep detailed records of traffic, revenue and other key metrics to demonstrate the potential your sites have to prospective buyers.

• Strategic Timing

Consider market trends and economic conditions when deciding the optimal time to sell. Flipping websites during periods of increased demand in the relevant niche can maximize your returns. Research prices before listing your valuable asset competitively. 

The Impending Sale 

Parting is such sweet sorrow they say

You’ve been working towards this big day. Hopefully you are not attached to your websites like I was when it’s time for them to graduate and fly the coop. In the event that you are, what’s to stop you from keeping one for passive income?  That’s a decision you’ll have to make. While buying and flipping them will give you “quick” one time cash, keeping these little gems aka cash cows will give you passive ongoing monthly income forever with little maintenance. 

Personally, I like to keep my ”kids” especially after all the work I’ve done on them thus far.

Website flipping isn’t for everyone. However when you’re ready to sell, the marketplaces where you can make that happen are the same ones where you initially acquired them from. If you want to use different ones, here are a few:

● MotionInvest

MotionInvest is as an online marketplace facilitating the buying and selling of websites. This user-friendly platform is accessible to all, providing a fee-free experience for both buyers and sellers, with no additional listing fees. A fee is charged on the sale price of businesses.  Additionally, MotionInvest offers a complimentary site valuation tool, empowering sellers to assess the value of their websites without any cost.

• LaTona’s
• Digital Exists
• BuySellEmpire
• Website Broker
• BlogsForSale.co
• FE International
• Website Properties
• Exchange (on Shopify)
• Facebook Marketplace
• Email Marketing

Yes, websites have been successfully flipped via social media and email. 

Conclusion

Educating yourself on how to flip a website is necessary in order to be successful at this side hustle. A high percentage of flippers do have some coding knowledge and you can take a free beginner’s course to get started.

Hone your negotiating and closing skills. Website flipping is a potentially lucrative work from home project that demands a combination of digital knowledge, an eye for business and strategic planning.

By carefully selecting, enhancing, and flipping websites, you can turn this side hustle into a profitable 6-figure business.

Consider keeping one or more of your niche websites for passive ongoing income.

Remember to stay informed about industry trends and approach each flip with a well-thought-out plan. With dedication and a keen eye for opportunities, you can navigate the world of website flipping and unlock the financial success you desire. 

We update our posts regularly when new information becomes available so remember to bookmark, revisit and follow us on Pinterest for more info please. 

Best wishes to you on your flipping journey 😉