I break down a website that's for sale ... the good, the bad and the "oh, my!"

A couple of weeks ago I shared my list of things I look for when I’m looking for a website to buy.? I’ve mentioned before that one of my goals is to add another website to my portfolio of content sites by year’s end.

I also promised that I would review a website and break down what I like and don’t like about it.? So that, if you so choose, you can use that information to fix up your own website.??

Who knows?? Maybe you’ll want to sell it one day.

So here we go.??

First up, picking the website to review.? I do get weekly emails from a number of buyer/seller platforms about websites for sale.? But for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to pick one that Flippa (affiliate link) has sent me in their weekly roundup of sites they think I’ll be interested in.??

And just to be really clear, I’m still wearing my training wheels when it comes to buying sites, so to manage the risk I’ll get things super wrong, I’m working with a budget of between $5-7K USD.? This is more than I spent on the site I bought last year, but not so much that I’d go bankrupt if everything fell over.??

My point being anything out of that $5-$7K range is an instant no.

Out of the list of 5 or sites this one jumps out at me.

I like some video games.? And my kids love them.

So I head in for a closer look.? The first thing I check is how many people are interested in potentially buying the site, then I’ll check out the site itself.

I don’t pay too much attention to the dollar amounts just yet, because this site is up for auction, which means that the only really important number is whether the seller has set a reserve.

In this instance they have set a reserve, but that number hasn’t been listed on the posting.? Often the seller will list the reserve or they’ll have a “buy it now” price that potential buyers can see.

Given the stated monthly profit, it’s likely that this site will end up outside of my price range, but for now, I don’t make any judgements.? I just keep going through the available information, including looking at the site itself.

I can instantly see that it’s well maintained and there are plenty of current articles for people to read (have a look for yourself if you like).? It’s also got a good menu set up and search functionality.? This is important, given the age of the site and the huge number of articles on it.

I do a super quick search on Google for “video game review websites” and they definitely do not pop up on the “first” page.? I say “first” because these days you just keep scrolling and hit the “more results” button when you hit the bottom.

The fact they don’t show up is not necessarily a show stopper...yet.?

It’s quite possible that they are ranking for different keywords to the ones I used.? It’s also possible that they’ve been de-indexed in Google’s latest “helpful content” update, whether they’ve deserved to be or not.

I have no way of knowing at this stage, so I keep going and dig a bit deeper.??

The next thing I do is go through the “About The Business” section that explains what the business is all about, what assets are included in the sale and why they are selling it.??

And I’m looking to see whether their story holds together.? Is there something about current market conditions that is making them run away as fast as they can?

As I wondered earlier, did they get hit with Google’s latest “helpful content” update?? Unknown at this stage.

Do they have a strategic growth plan for the future of the site where they explain what they’d do if they weren’t selling the site?? Um, not really what I’d call a plan.

Does the sale come with lots of good, as yet unpublished content?? Yup.? Tick.

Is the seller legit?? Yes, definite tick.? This guy’s been around for over 20 years and he has a small track record of buying/selling on Flippa.? Plus he has gone through the process of having the information he has provided about himself verified.

How has he been monetising the site?? Through sponsored content, affiliate links and ads, although the way the information is phrased about the ads means I’ll be double checking that if I decide to take this site past the preliminary tire-kicking stage that I’m going through right now.

From a tech stack perspective, would this site work with my other sites?? Tick.

What’s not going so great with the site?? Although still profitable, the last year has seen declining revenue.? That’s cause for concern and it’s important to understand why if I was to move to the next step of deciding whether this would be a good purchase.

I have a quick look to see where the asking price sits as compared to other similar sites on the market.? And it’s pretty much dead center with the one other site they are comparing it to.? Which means that there aren’t that many similar sites like it…at least for sale on Flippa.

By now I’ve seen most of what I need to see, so I scroll down to look at the analytics, which oddly enough aren’t there.??

There is some data provided by SEMRush which covers the authority score, backlinks and other useful SEO-type information.??

It’s pretty good, so that’s a plus, despite what I assume to be falling traffic (hence the declining revenue), which has probably been caused by all the changes Google has been making lately.

Next I check out the revenue graph which only proves what’s already been said … revenue has declined over the last 12 months.?

The key thing here is that while the graph shows the decline, the associated graph data highlights a big problem.? Whilst the average monthly profit is listed as being $258 USD a month, the last few months have been as low as $41 USD and have not been above $100 since January 2024.

So anyone wanting to buy this site would need to do a truckload of work to turn around the traffic decline.? And they would need to put in a growth strategy that involves more social media and less SEO.

All of which would take more time than I have available.? So not a site for me.

But it might be a site for you if you’re in the market.? If you are interested, go ahead and set up an account on Flippa (affiliate link) and search for "Game Freaks 365".? Then take a look at the data for yourself.

If I WAS going to take the next step, the first thing I would do is reach out to the seller and request access to their Google Analytics account.??

And if that checked out and I WAS still interested in buying, I’d ask the seller to jump on a call.??

During that call I’d ask a ton of questions to satisfy myself about the state of the site and how much the seller is willing to help in terms of handover and support if needed.?

But at this stage I’ve seen enough to know that, although I’m interested in what the site does sell for, I won’t be taking this one any further.

I hope that breakdown was helpful.

Let me know if you’d like to see more of these breakdowns and if so, what kinds of questions would you like to have answered.

Take care and I hope you have a great week.

Trudy

P.S.? If you have a website that you’re either wanting to improve OR you’re thinking of selling it, let me know if you’d like me to go through it and break it down here.? The experience won’t be for everyone.? It’s a bit like having your coaching session made public.? But if you are interested, hit reply and let me know (and please include the URL of the website).