If you are actively looking for websites to buy, you will find a class of websites that are termed “starter niche sites”, “non-revenue niche sites”, or variations thereof.
These sites can be found through open website marketplaces like Flippa, Facebook groups, and newsletters like ours. You won’t find these through typical brokerages (e.g., Empire Flippers).
Expert website flippers can acquire such sites for a fraction of the startup costs. The sites can then be used to get an edge in the growth phase of a website flip, or even merged into an existing site.
In this write-up, I will be covering the following:
- Characteristics of such sites
- Valuation framework
- Case studies
- Valuation calculator
Let’s get into it!
👉 Major Characteristics of a Starter Niche Site
These types of sites have the following characteristics:
- Created by first-time niche site creators where everything was DIYed
- Created by niche site creators with their own in-house team of writers
- Created by DFY agencies and sold to the current seller
- Purposefully built to grow into a high-revenue site to keep in a portfolio or to be sold, but failed
- Aged at least 6+ months; typically around 1-2 years
- Includes bulk published content, site build-out, images, etc.
- May include quality backlinks
You will find these sites for sale because they (1) were not getting traction, (2) had a lack of time, and/or (3) lack of interest.
👉 The Profit Multiple: Typical Valuation Methodology
Content sites are valued based on a multiple of their profits. Read this detailed guide on how to value a profitable website.
However, this methodology is not viable for non-revenue niche sites that come up for sale since they do not have profit to show. It’s the wild west when evaluating such sites.
The following framework lays down a methodology that can be used for valuations.
👉 5-Step Framework for Valuating Non-Revenue Niche Sites
In this framework, we will value each individual component of a typical content site. They are:
- Domain
- Backlinks
- Content
- Content Formatting
- Website build-out (theme, plugins, etc.)
Let’s break each of these down.
1. Domain Value
To make this simple, let’s assume the domain is nothing special. Such that, it’s not a one-word domain or any such domain that would have speculative value.
To value the domain, we will only consider the renewal costs of around $10 per year.
2. Backlink Value
The next aspect to value is existing backlinks. Using AHREFs, SEMRush, or Google Search Console, look at the backlink profile.
We want to value each backlink that requires effort to obtain. For example, backlinks that are from guest posts, niche edits, or naturally obtained can be valued.
Backlinks that are easy to obtain like forum profile links, blog comments, and trust links (e.g., TrustPilot) should not be counted.
Here is a rubric to follow for each backlink:
- DR0-DR20: $30 per referring domain
- DR20-DR30: $50 per referring domain
- DR30-DR50: $100 per referring domain
- DR50+: depends on the site but can be anywhere from $200-$1,000
These numbers were estimated based on the cost to pay the site owner their admin fees.
Public marketplaces like Authority.builders and NOBS.link can be used to obtain rough pricing but remember that they markup about 50% and also add-on the cost of the article which is around $30.
Most starter niche sites will have DR0 to DR30 so on average we can assume about $40 per link if outreach is done manually.
3. Content Value
The highest value is the pre-existing content.
There are three tiers of content in the open marketplace for affiliate sites:
- Non-native English writers: 1-2 cents/word
- Native English writers, inexperienced: 3-4 cents/word
- Top-tier writers: 5+ cents/word
For example, Niche Website Builders charges 6 cents/word for content written by their in-house writers based out of the UK.
However, with pre-existing content, there are no guarantees that all of the content is useful and/or needed. You also did not choose the keywords for the content. With that said, I value pre-existing content at 2 cents/word maximum.
Use tools like Screaming Frog to crawl the site and obtain an exact word count breakdown per article.
4. Content Formatting Value
Content needs to be uploaded and formatted onto the site.
The estimated time for a virtual assistant to format an article is 30 minutes (0.5 hours). The max going rate for an assistant is 6 to 10 $/hour.
Note: I pay my VAs $6/hour based out of India or Vietnam.
5. Website Build Out Value
The website itself includes the following:
- Wordpress installation
- Theme installation and customization
- Plugin installation and setup
To value the website build-out, we have to assume that plugins and theme licenses are separate. Even if you are acquiring a site from someone else, you will need to switch out their licenses for yours. Themes and plugins are subsidized across many sites so can be ignored here.
The cost of website build-out will be the labor required to replicate the base structure of the site.
I value this at a fixed $300 for a virtual assistant to install Wordpress, a theme (e.g., GeneratePress), and plugins (e.g., AAWP, WP Rocket).
👉 3 Case Studies: Valuation of Starter Site Sales
The Website Flip brokerage has transacted on several non-revenue generating sites. For the case studies, I will reverse calculate the valuation on these sites and compare it with the final sales price.
Summary of Niche Sites
Here’s a breakdown of the key information about each niche site that were starter sites with no revenue:
| 1. Family/Parenting | 2. Pet | 3. Home | |
|---|---|---|---|
| # of articles | 69 | 106 | 56 |
| Total word count | 39,394 | 105,664 | 52,975 |
| Domain Age (yrs) | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Backlinks | 5 DR 20-30 links | 9 DR0-DR20 links | 6 DR0-30 links |
Site #1: Family/Parenting Niche
The calculation for this is as follows:
- Content cost: $788
- Content format cost: $204
- Domain cost: $40
- Backlinks: $250
- Site buildout: $300
Total valuation is $1,582. This site sold for $1,600 via Escrow.
Site #2: Pet Niche
The calculation for this is as follows:
- Content cost: $2,113
- Content format cost: $318
- Domain cost: $20
- Backlinks: $270
- Site buildout: $300
Total valuation is $3,021. This site sold for $1,500 via Escrow. The buyer received a great deal on this site.
Site #3: Home Niche
The calculation for this is as follows:
- Content cost: $1,059
- Content format cost: $168
- Domain cost: $40
- Backlinks: $180
- Site buildout: $300
Total valuation is $1,847. This site sold for $1,700 via Escrow.
🔢 Valuation Calculator
You can plug in your numbers in the calculator below to evaluate such a website. If you are a buyer or seller, you can use this to understand the bare minimum value of the asset.
👉 Are Starter Niche Sites Part Of Your Strategy?
Over the years, I’ve acquired many such sites that were then built out and flipped. My primary driver for acquiring such sites was twofold:
- they are aged thus are passed the notorious Google sandbox phase, and
- can be purchased at a fraction of the cost to build from scratch.
With this strategy, you are capitalizing on someone else’s hard work and investment.
When acquiring though, you will still need to do due diligence to ensure the websites pass your investment criteria.
Good luck deal hunting!
