How would you put a value on something like this

Ok,

If i can give you a scenario.... I have a website, the domain name is probably not that great so im not going to mention it, I reckon if I did I would be lucky if you were to value it at £50...

But I set this up as an information resource site related to an aspect of work that I do (or did, im retiring from it now), it brings in around 1,000 unique visitors per month (1,300+ visitors last month in total) and although I dont go out of my way to "attract" work from it, I did (before I removed my feedback form) get around 20-25 days work out of it per year (and that was a year or two ago when visitor numbers were a lot less, maybe 300/month); the work it generates can bring in between £500 to £600/day depending on location, so it realistically brought me about £11,000/year.

Its ranked 1st at google for lots of related keyword searches, around 80% of the unique visitors come from google....

So, would you value this website based on the business it could bring the user, the visitors per month or the domain name itself (which you can assume would be £50ish)?

Its just that most people focus on the domain name rather than what the website can generate in terms of real world work, and if i asked someone for even £5,000 they would cough, splutter and say that names not worth that much. Even those people who think of "moneterizing" their site are thinking along the lines of pay-per-click adverts and such like.

I am contacting related companies/contractors to try and sell it rather than listing it at an auction site, and although I am getting some interest I am finding it very difficult to come up with a price I should ask for it. I feel if i ask what its worth based on the income it can generate for me, most people would run a mile, but conversley, even though I dont do that work anymore, why should I accept say £100 or less for a website capabale of generating that kind of business? Bit of a pcikle really.....

Cheers
Gary

 

Hi Gary,

Sounds like a great site. Just wanted to say I think you should reveal the domain name, but perhaps omit the extension, so the search engines won't pick it up.

That way those on here with real experience in domain names can assess the scope and potential for the name and the underlying revenue generation. And perhaps advise on the best way to acheive a top price.

For example, Buy-Diamonds-Here, could make for a fantastically profitable business, but the domain name has limited value, due to the hyphens and available variants (ie. order, purchase etc.etc.) - so the name is pretty important for a true appraisal.

I may be wrong though - If so, just ignore my meaningless witterings ! :razz:

Cheers,

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve,

I dont really want to list the site because I am actively trying to market it to potential buyers and the last thing I want is them to google it, come here and find lots of comments like...

thats a poor name, only wiorth $50

.. etc etc. As I say, I know the value of this site is not in its name so its a bit superfluous to the argument really.

What I will say is its related to the data/telecoms infrastructure industry, specifically cabling.

I did once ask for advice on another site about another name, gamesconsole.com and it got pretty hammered because everyone said it should be game and not games, some time later someone was going to buy it for a decent amount then stumbled across the other site and changed their mind. Thats why I am a bit cautious.

 

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People focus on domain names here because they are usually selling undeveloped domain names. A developed website is a different animal. A developed website that generates income a different animal again.

eBay as a domain name would be £50ish if it wasn't attached to the site it is and nobody had heard of it.

I'd definitely be marketing the site to end users on the basis of the business it generates, although as to price it would deopend on how much it would cost someone to generate 11k of business by an alternative method and how much of that 11k was profit.

 

Quite a hard one.

A few things to consider :

1, is it generic
2, how many words
3, any hyphens
4, what extension

If it ranks no1 fos various terms then this is great, 11k in work pa.

I think an important factor is that if say somebody comes on to your site and your homepage says that you have been in the telecoms industry for eg 18 years and a new owner of your domain says they have been in the industry for 2 years then the conversion rate would be different though generating less revenue.

I would try to sell to somebody how is established.

As for value, if the domains not that good but gets the traffic then worth something.

Normally sites sell for 18 to 24 months revenue but that's sites earning a revenue, your site earns 11k pa through the site and not from the site if you know what i mean ?

I would say sell for 3 months revenue so about 2k to 3k

I've never appraised a domain under these curcumstances before so please wait for more replies before making a decision.

Good luck Andy

 

Guys,

thanks for all the great feedback.

I think my mind is made up, its difficult to come up with a figure so my answer will be to contact as many interested parties,companies working in that field, and ask for best and final offers.

To answer some of the questions posed:

Is It Generic... Reasonably so.
how many words, 3
Any hyphens, no
what extension, .com and .co.uk

The site is basically an information resource, my name only appears as part of the copyright notice, I make no mention of me, my experience etc etc. So I am not the selling point if you like.

Where the work usually came from was usually an email like "just visited your site, got a real problem (network down/CCTV down/digger damaged cables etc etc) and cant find anyone to help, do you know anyone or can you do it?"

If I could do it i did. I also got lots of contractors CV's sent to me, so if i could not do the work I would occassionaly put them in contact with a local contractor. Scope for a specialist recruitment company I guess?

I assume there will be some suspicion as to why I would sell a site that generates that kind of business/work, so just to clarify... I have sold my main business, I carried on doing some of that work but cant be bothered anymore. I now am kind of semi retired, but work as a consultant to some Oil/Gas companies. My days of chasing cables under floors, roads etc are long gone so the site is really of no use to me anymore.

Anyway, thanks again to eveyone. If I do eventually find a buyer I will be back with the details as it may help others with similar scenario get a ball park figure in mind.

Cheers
Gary