Understanding how to evaluate a website will determine the success or failure of your decision in buying or selling a website. This evaluation is not created to reflect large corporate website businesses but a guide to help individuals to establish value in the buying and selling of a website. As with the exchange of any business, I suggest the consultation of an attorney for the legal aspects of any exchange in the jurisdiction you live.

It is essential to understand the function of the search engines and the components of a website before any successful evaluation.

Confucius says, "Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure."

Every website is created with a goal in mind. By identifying the components of a website we can isolate the type of website to be evaluated. Listed below are some different types of websites the assets of each type of website will have a bearing on the actual value.

Websites Offering Hard Goods

A hard goods website sells physical products. This type of website maintains inventory that is shipped to its customers. The size of the operation will determine the amount of capital involved to purchase this type of a website and business. When someone operates out of their home the operating cost will be much less than someone maintaining a warehouse. A merchant account and shopping cart for managing and collecting funds for the products purchased. The sales price of a hard goods website is derived from a composition of many separate assets of the business such as inventory, equipment, website value and real property.

Websites Offering Digital Goods

Digital Goods are goods transferred from one website to another through the internet. This includes E-books, software or any digital service transferring information for a fee from one website to another. A digital goods website can operate from a home or small office.

Websites Selling Services

Services represent large companies as well as the individuals operating from their home. A gardener selling lawn maintenance, a Doctor or Lawyer providing information or services for their practice are marketing a service. New Digital Services are created daily on the internet expanding the amount of internet services available. A merchant account and a shopping cart are used to manage and collect funds for the services exchanged.

Information Websites

The commodity of an information site is the information. This type of site is compensated by selling ad space on the site, affiliate programs, referral programs, or multilevel marketing. What sets this type of site apart is that there is no need for a merchant account or shopping cart. The monetization comes directly from the customers with whom an arrangement has been made to advertise on the website.

Personal Websites

When a person decides to have a website for the purpose of providing information to their family and friends they have a personal website. Personal websites are monetized in same manner as any other website. The focus of a personal website is providing information to an exclusive audience.

Combination Websites

A well monetized website will consist of a combination of monetization methods. No site is limited to a particular method of monetization. Websites combining different methods monetization offer more opportunity for their customers.

Organizational Websites

Some Churches and some businesses have information only websites for their patrons. These websites are usually not monetized and inform its community of information and activities of the organization. This type of website is normally not optimized but used only to inform about a specific organization.

By separating the type of site and realizing the different methods of monetization a clear view of additional methods of monetization will be visible.

Value

Website value is determined by the location of a websites pages on the search engines. Page rank is determined by the popularity of a website resulting from its relevant content. This value is created value by the webmaster that created the website with all of its content. Obviously a webmaster with a track record of successful websites will be very busy person.

Actual Value is what a buyer pays to a seller for a website. Each person through their own understanding of value will establish the price they will pay for a website. The rule of thumb is based on the page rank and the amount of money generated by the website.

Created value is determined by the traffic generated by the relevant consistent content of the website, coupled with relevant back links to the website. The popularity, content and the keywords or keywords phrases will determine the websites created value. The passion and hard work of the author or webmaster will be reflected in the website.

The Components for a Successful Website

1. Is the domain name relevant reflecting what is being sold on the website? The domain name should reflect the content of the website.

2. Are the pages reflective of high demand keywords and filled with relevant content? The pages must reflect a relevant relationship to the theme or the domain name.

3. How old is the site? An older website with a good domain name and pages reflecting the theme is a plus. Without these once again it will be easier to establish a new website.

4. What is the size of the website? How many pages are contained in the site? When purchasing or selling a site there should be at least 35 to 45 relevant theme based pages to create value.

5. What is the page ranking? Is the site listed on all of the available search engines? Created value could exist without being ranked high in the search engines provided the site is new and reflects Items #1, #2, #3, and #4. If someone has already created quality pages with content, a value is established. Plus I would also look at the webmasters plan for expansion to establish the feasibility of more pages with keywords or keyword phrases that are in demand. The more pages the more traffic the more revenue. This type of site will be generated by a skilled webmaster.

6. What kind of traffic is generated? Does the traffic come from its location on the search pages of the search engines or Is the traffic generated from advertizing?

7. How is the site monetized? What are the expenditures and the net profits?

8. Are there new monetization models that could be put in place?

When the first four items are in place a new monetization can be created to increase the return on investment.

Each person has to ask their own questions regarding the evaluation of a website, this evaluation is only a guide to create a value to a website.

My name is David Norton and my goal is to provide information to help anyone considering building a website a source of free information to help make a decision for selecting a hosting company. I also believe there is a market for existing websites that meet a certain criteria with content and popularity. Understanding the makeup of a website will help to establish an accurate value for a website. There is also basic information on how to make your own website. Sell the websites provides information to help in understanding the makeup of a website and information on buying and selling of a website.

The focus of Sell The Websites is to bring forth the importance of the web-hosting company providing website owners the information to have a successful connection with their customers.