Welcome to Week 30! There has been a lack of quality sites for sale this past week, most likely due to July 4th weekend in the U.S. Today’s Authority Business Blueprints features sites from Flippa and a domain from ODYS Global. Also, I feature two “Too Good To Be True” sites from Motion Invest.
Let’s get into it!
Blueprint #1: VoIP-Magazine.com
Domain Summary
Type: Aged Domain
Niche: VoIP
Source: ODYS.Global
Age: 2004 (17 years old)
Listed Price: $1,790
AHREFS
Backlinks: This domain has notable backlinks from CNN, Linux, Next Billion, Mac Tech, GigaOm, Deal Breaker, and more.
Site History
This site included all things related to Voice over Internet Protocol. It covered what was going on in the news at the time, upcoming webinars in VoIP, interviews with VoIP industry leaders, and a general blog where the site owners could contribute their own content.
Here is a snapshot of the past site:
Growth Blueprint
I am covering this domain mostly due to nostalgia. The first site I ever built was in the VoIP in 2008 and is still a live site. Check it out at CheapestVoIPCalls.net. It was purchased by Slashdot Media who owns a portfolio of sites in this niche.
They’ve made improvements but check out the Archive history below.
VoIP is a lucrative niche with many businesses using it for their primary in-house phone service. Back in the day, I was promoting Skype for international calling and they would pay $25 per lead. Nowadays, affiliate programs will include RingCentral, Nextiva, PhonePower, VoIPO, and a handful more. You would be targeting the B2B market here.
Here is what I would do:
- Write informational content on how small businesses can use different VoIP services to save money, keep connected, etc.
- Write informational content on tutorials on how to set up VoIP services, coupon codes, etc.
- Write product reviews and commercial guides on various VoIP services
The affiliate commissions in this industry are lucrative. I personally would not enter the niche again since it has become much more competitive but if you are looking for a niche that is B2B, less competitive than other business niches overall, and lucrative payouts, it’s a good one to try.
Blueprint #2: CampingTentExpert.com
Website Summary
Type: Existing Content Site
Niche: Camping
Source: Flippa (see here)
Revenue: $141/mo via Amazon Affiliates over last-6-months
AHREFS
Due Diligence Dashboard
Growth Blueprint
Highlights
- Traffic growing month-over-month
- Clean backlink profile; no toxic links
- Lucrative niche with products price $200+
- Niche has many e-commerce brands with private affiliate programs
Setbacks
- Too many commercial articles (buying guides) vs informational
- One page gets more than 20% of traffic. 2nd page gets 6%. I like to see 15% or less to top page.
- Nonbrandable domain; no room for expansion to other outdoor topics
Easy Wins
- Add comparison tables to all buying guides
- Link product images to Amazon
- Add product boxes or call-to-action buttons (currently just a link for a CTA)
- Expand the content with FAQs, what to look out for, pros and cons of each product; content has room for expansion
- Integrate Ezoic display ads
- Add in other affiliate programs (like Cabela’s, REI, Coleman, etc) side-by-side with Amazon
Takeaway
This is a growing site in the camping that is growing month over month. The seller of this site, Josh B., is a well-known niche website creator active in various Facebook groups, and also part of Matt Diggity’s Affiliate Lab’s 6 Figure Flipper Club, which I am a part of as well.
This site is a typical Amazon affiliate site. However, it has many easy wins that could realistically double the current earnings. All the high-traffic pages lack basic easy wins, such as comparison tables, product boxes, linked images, and contextual affiliate links.
Other easy wins include adding Ezoic for an additional $40-$50 per month and improving the content.
🙅♂️ “Too Good To Be True” Sites
RVExpert.net – MotionInvest
This site caught my eye since it’s in a relatively low competition niche (i.e., RVs) compared to other outdoor sub-niches like camping, hunting, etc. The site has been on a downtrend month over month for the past 3 months. According to the website valuation framework, down-trending sites should get a lower multiple.
This site, however, is being listed at a 40X multiple with the last 8-month (L8M) average being used. Using a long-term average is taking into account the peak revenue months, which is not a proper valuation.
This site should be using a last-3-month (L3M) average to consider the downtrend since the site has not stabilized yet. The valuation should also be listed at a 30-35x multiple, more closer to 30x. If interested in buying, make sure to strongly negotiate!
OverTopInfo.com – MotionInvest
This site hit the marketplace this week and looked intriguing. The traffic is increasing month over month (a bit due to seasonality). However, the content quality is extremely poor. One of the articles’ opening lines:
Want to produce vibrant, juicy, testy bigger tomatoes with less care? Grow your tomato plants in the best soil. Did I say wrong? I don’t think so. Let me explain-
At a 42X multiple, this site is overpriced due to content quality. Based on my website valuation framework, if everything was on point, it would have received a 35X multiple. But with 96 articles published, the effort to revamp the content with an editor would be significant. In that case, it’s better to just create the same site from scratch or on an aged domain. If you are still interested in buying, negotiate strongly!
Wrap Up
These blueprints lay out the high-level strategies to accelerate your ROI after the acquisition. Of course, the real effort is putting all of this into practice.
When buying a site, make sure to perform due diligence and understand website valuations. These are two critical aspects every investor should know.
