Website Flipping

Finding a website to flip isn’t that hard. A quick look at popular webmaster forums like Sitepoint and DP are guaranteed to turn up more than a few sites available for cheap that you can easily sell for over twice the cost of acquisition.

If that’s all you’re going to do, though, you’re not going to maximize the inherent profitability of the business model. Sure, picking out a $25 site, tweaking it a little and letting it simmer for a few weeks before turning it over for $200 is a good way to make a small profit. However, it’s neither going to make you rich nor is it a real foundation to a sustainable business.

Experienced website flippers always go beyond “cheap” when looking for properties to turn around. They also don’t restrict themselves to places where websites are normally traded, such as webmaster forums or auction sites like eBay, where competition can prove fierce. Instead, they turn to search results and other avenues, evaluating websites to go after based on their merits and potential.

Finding those sites that are not on the market but may be available requires you to really search deep into the web. The more familiar you are with a particular industry, the more likely you will be able to scope out those under-performing properties that hide within its confines.

Big sites that show up in the first page of search results for that industry are obviously out of the question – they’re too expensive and well-managed on their own that changes you put in may actually be detrimental to it. What you’re looking for are those niche properties that have received some actual attention from their owners but are now being neglected for the most part. Maybe they’re good sites that are badly-optimized, content sites with no structure or decent products that weren’t given any promotion – if they actually carry some value but could use a little more work to make their mark, they will be your target acquisitions.

Take some time and go beyond the typical sources for websites to buy and flip for a profit. With a little work and patience, you can chance upon some real treasures.

-Brett

ps. if your interested in getting started or bettering your website flipping skills I highly suggest site flip academy