If you have a WordPress website that you are holding onto, there is a way to sell it and make some extra money. In the past it was a bit more difficult to sell a website, now thanks to many platforms that help connect buyers and sellers, it is much more streamlined and simplified.
Before you dive right in and list your website on one of the countless marketplaces, there is a bit of research and careful consideration to do. Read more as we give you some of the points that you will need to ponder.
Is Selling Worth It?
This can prove to be a difficult question to answer. Let’s say that your site is consistently generating a profit and has an established reach with an audience, then finding a buyer shouldn’t be too difficult. Selling your profitable website is a difficult decision, especially if you have built it from the ground up, but there are a few reasons why you might want to sell.
It’s Not Working Out
If you are tirelessly working on a website, but aren’t reaping the fruits of your labor, then it might be time to sell. Working too hard on a website that isn’t generating enough profit to be worth your while can be a bit discouraging, so it might be good for your money and your mind to sell.
It’s Time to Move On
If you are no longer passionate or interested in the current project, even if it is doing well, then consider moving on. Try to be picky and choosy about who the buyer is and hopefully they will maintain it to keep your customers or users satisfied.
Straight Up Cash
The best part of selling your website is the potential sum of money that you will receive. This is contingent upon a lot of factors such as annual or monthly income and other metrics that you should be keeping track of. So, if your site is performing well, you could get a nice chunk of change by selling.
Whether to sell your WordPress site or not can be a hard choice to make, so before you try to offload it onto someone else, make sure that you are absolutely positively ready to let it go.
What’s It Worth?
When it comes to putting a dollar amount on your WordPress site, there’s a few attributes that buyers are primarily interested in. Obviously, the first thing that they take into consideration is how much money it makes and if it does so consistently. Read more to find out what else prospective buyers are looking for that will add value to your site.
Your Audience
The larger the audience, the more money there is to be made. If you have a wide reach of people that interact with or buy from your website, then selling that should be easier compared to a site with a small audience.
How Old Is Your Site?
If your site is new, but still making a profit, it can be difficult to find a buyer. Buyers are more interested in brands or sites that have an established history. The older the site is with a good performance record, the more likely someone will spend more money on it.
Content
Depending on the quality of the content on your site, the greater the chance someone will buy it. If you have great content that is consistent with a long-standing history, as well as a large audience, then you should have no problems finding a valid buyer.
So How Do You Sell Your WordPress Site?
Now that you know what prospective buyers are interested in, you need to know how to go about selling. We recommend you look into one of two methods of selling: listing on a marketplace or use a broker.
Marketplace
You can buy and sell anything these days through an online marketplace, including websites and domain names. Using a marketplace is almost like a private sale, so there are fewer restrictions and rules than using a broker. Here are some of the benefits if you decide to go this route.
Wider Audience
Marketplaces are typically more popular than brokers because of their accessibility. You can set your own price and have people submit offers or even bid on your website. The tricky part of this is sometimes you will be lowballed on offers, or you might not find people willing to pay your asking price. It is important to know the true value of your site before using this option.
Keep More of Your Money
Generally speaking, selling through a marketplace you will be able to keep more of your money. Some marketplaces will charge a service fee for listing or selling your website. Compared to brokers, this is oftentimes less than what they will charge.
Brokers
Using a broker to sell your website is a great option if your site earns you a sizeable income. Brokers put sellers in contact with buyers that mostly are looking to expand their portfolio and make serious investments. A lot of the time these services have a vetting system, some more rigorous than others, before listing your site for sale. Here are some reasons why you might opt for this choice.
They Handle the Leg Work
When you submit your site to a broker, as we mentioned before, it undergoes a vetting process. They comb through your site’s information to calculate how much money your site earns, the size of the audience, as well as other metrics that you may or may not keep track of.
If they choose to list your site for sale, they help find an appropriate price that you are willing to sell for, and then you sit back and wait for a buyer to come along. That being said, they don’t just sell your site when someone makes an offer; you have the final say in the deal.
Make More Money
You can absolutely make a healthy amount selling your website through a marketplace, but brokers tend to deal in more high-ticket items, so to speak. Because they are very thorough when it comes to analyzing your site, they tend to only list websites that generate a certain amount of money per month. Sure, they might charge a premium for using their service and are a bit slower than a marketplace, but you can potentially earn five to six figures.
Selling your WordPress site is a big decision to make, so we recommend that you take the above tips into careful consideration before trying to find a buyer. Even if you are ready to give up and sell it to the first person that comes along, it could very well be worth your while ot hold onto it for just a little longer so that you can earn more capital. That being said, good luck!