Can You Make Money Flipping Websites? Website Flipping 101

Blogging is one of the best ways to make money online. The basic idea of blogging is to create content around a niche and money through ads, selling products or services, affiliate marketing, and creating sponsored posts.

In comes website flipping, which basically means selling your well established blog for profit. Website flipping is not new; many bloggers have sold blogs for six figures since the internet became a hit. But is it still profitable?

The good news is you don’t have to start the blogs yourself. You can buy other people’s blogs, improve their traffic and earning potential, and flip it for a profit. How cool is that?

So, can you still make money flipping websites in 2024?

In this article, I will share the ultimate guide to website flipping with step by step tips and everything you need to know about website flipping.

What is Website Flipping?

Website flipping is the term used for the process of buying a website, making improvements such as traffic, revenue and selling it for a profit.

One of the alternative website flipping methods experienced internet marketers use is to create new websites, create content, drive traffic through SEO optimization, and then sell it for 30 to 40 times the monthly revenue.

How Can You Make Money Flipping Websites?

Website flipping is a fun and creative way to make money online that you can do part time or full time. You can choose either to buy a new website or create one from scratch. Let’s look at the two options:

1. Buy and sell existing websites

If you are short on time (and patience) to start a new website every time from scratch and have to deal with web design and other aspects, then buying and selling existing websites is the best option for you. You will buy an existing website, make improvements to increase traffic and how much it earns then sell it for a profit.

For example, you buy a website for $2500, which is making $100 per month via ads and affiliate marketing. Then you spend 4 months to improve it to a point where it is making $500 per month. You could sell it at least 30x, which is $15000!

The only problem with this method is that you require significant upfront cash to buy the website and improve it.

2. Build and sell websites from scratch

If you are short on cash to buy websites upfront, building websites from scratch is the best way to get started with website flipping. You need about $100 to buy a domain, hosting, and a premium theme for your website.

The only problem with this method is that it takes longer to increase traffic on a new website. It also takes time to rank the domain and increase domain authority, which makes search engines trust you.

However, there is still an opportunity to flip starter websites that are yet to earn money. Although they won’t fetch as much profit, they are quicker to sell than established blogs. You can still earn much if you create multiple sites and sell them at the same time.

How to Make Money Flipping Websites Step by Step

Step 1. Decide whether to buy or build from scratch

Do you want to start a website from scratch or prefer to buy ready websites? Choose the option that works for you, depending on your budget or personal preferences.

Step 2. Choose a profitable niche

Before you do website flipping, you need to know which niche you want to deal with, but it must be profitable, meaning that it has trending topics and low competition keywords. This is the most important step in the process of making money flipping websites. This ensures that you can improve or build a website and earn a good profit margin when you sell it.

The best way is to do extensive research and choose subcategories from profitable niches such as finance, travel, pets, gardening, and health with long tail keywords that are easier to rank. Some of the tools to consider include Keywords Everywhere, Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz extension.

Step 3. Buy a domain name and hosting

If you are starting your site from scratch, you need to buy a domain. Skip this step if you will buy an existing website and move to step 5.

If you went with approach two, choose a domain name related to your niche and one that is easy to remember. The best sites often have a .com extension because it is easier to remember and appears more legitimate. Consider companies such as Go Daddy and Namecheap to buy domains at an affordable price.

Then, pay for hosting from reliable web hosting providers such as Digital Ocean, Namecheap, Blue Host, or Host Gator. Do your research and choose one that suits your budget and expectations.

Most of these companies have a way to install WordPress with a one-click button, which is easy for beginners. Using the content management system will help you create and manage your site since WordPress is easy to work with and optimize for SEO.

If you chose the buying existing websites option, then look for websites to buy at Flippa, Motion Invest, or Niche Investor. The best website for beginners is Flippa because it has websites for all budgets.

Before you purchase a website, do your due diligence and check for the potential that the website will grow after you buy it.

For example, check the traffic stats, the amount of revenue generated in the last three months, the monetization strategy, and any costs for running the sites, such as premium plugins with subscription models.

Also, check if the website uses any black hat methods, such as buying backlinks that could lead you to be penalized by Google. Also, check for the type of content management system it uses. Most websites use WordPress since the others are hard to sell.

A website with good revenue generation is good because you will be able to increase the revenue once you buy it.

Step 4. Create your website design

Once you have installed WordPress, select a good theme for your site. It should have good visual appearance and excellent user experience, as this can affect your ranking. You can go with a free or paid theme, depending on your budget. But it is always great to start with a premium theme such as Genesis, Kadence, and Astra.

Next, you should add the necessary plugins to WordPress to increase the functionality. Some of the key plugins help with SEO, social media integration, and security.

However, don’t overload your site with unnecessary themes because they can affect your ranking. Some of the top plugins to consider include Site Kit by Google (track your analytics), Updraft Plus (backup), Akismet (antispam), Rank Math (for SEO), and WP Rocket (for optimization and speed).

Step 5. Create and update content

This is where the two options for website flipping merge. Even if you bought an existing website, you still need to update content and add new content to increase the profitability of the website.

If you started from scratch it’s time to go into content creation mode and create at least 30 articles for a start. This is the step that takes most of the time.

Ensure to do keyword research and identify the low competition keywords. Then, write high quality content that solves your reader’s problems and is not just optimized for search engines.

Use Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, and Keywords Everywhere for keyword research. Have a list of keywords you want to write on, and then start writing articles.

Lastly, make the content visually appealing by adding images, infographics, and videos to make the readers have an easy time exploring your content.

Learn more about blogging with these free blogging courses.

5. Improve SEO

Building a website does not stop at content creation. You need to improve the website often to maximize the chances of success.

One of the key things to look at is to optimize your website for search engines because organic traffic is the best way to grow a site.

Furthermore, it is cheap, free, and more sustainable compared to paid ads. Do both on site and off site SEO optimization.

Onsite optimization basically means actions that you do directly on your website, such as adding images with alt tags, choosing low completion keywords, and internally linking your posts. On the other hand, off site optimization involves building backlinks to boost the domain ranking of your website through outreach or guest blogging.

Learn more about SEO with this free course from Moz.

6. Check on site speed

Did you know that site speed is a ranking factor for Google? A slow site has a high bounce rate because users get off the site if it is taking too long to load. This shows Google that there is a problem with your site, so it stops recommending it to them, which will impact your traffic and revenue.

To improve speed, consider using a caching plugin such as Wp Rocket, optimize your images as when they are too big in size, they make the site load slowly, and also consider Cloudfare as a content delivery network to boost the speed.

7. Build an email list right away

Email marketing is an effective way to increase traffic, increase sales, and maximize your profits. Give your readers a free lead magnet, either a checklist or eBook, in exchange for their email.

Then, you will keep sending them valuable information and share it with them when you post a new article. This will increase viewership for your blog quickly and make it easier to grow your site.

8. Leverage social media

Social media is a powerful tool to share your new or old articles. Create social media platforms for your website on key platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Each platform has different algorithms so you need to check the ones to start with and give more focus. Find out where your target audience hangs out on social media and invest time to grow one or two, then add the others.

9. Monetize the blog

Once the blog has enough traffic, choose different ways to monetize it to increase its value. Most buyers pay better when a site is making money compared to when it’s not.

Some of the best ways to monetize your website are through adding ads from Google AdSense, Ezoic, or AdSense to your website, selling digital products such as eBooks or online courses, and affiliate marketing. It is advisable to diversify your monetization.

10. Sell the website

Once you have created enough content, gotten traffic, and monetized the site, you can now think of selling your website.

The best place to sell a website is Flippa because it is beginner friendly and has numerous buyers because of the auction method, where interested buyers can place bids on your ad. However, you need to pay $29 to list your website for sale for a period of three months.

Other options include Empire Flippers, Motion Invest, Website Broker, and Niche Investor. For all these sites, you will need to share the traffic, revenue, and desired selling price so that prospects can estimate the worth of the website.

FAQs

• How do I find a website to flip?

There are two options to start website flipping. You can build a website from scratch or buy a ready website that you can make improvements on. Some places to buy websites include Flippa.com, but do due diligence and have escrow protection during the purchase.

• Is website flipping profitable in 2024?

Absolutely. Website flipping is still relevant in 2024 and is one of the easy ways to make money online. You can flip websites at 30-40 times what they earn every month.

• How do websites make money?

Websites make money through companies placing ads in their content, through selling products or services, sponsored posts, and/or affiliate marketing.

Is website flipping a good business?

Yes, website flipping is a good online business that has the potential to earn you a full time income in the comfort of your home. You can start with low budget starter sites and increase your investment as you sell more websites.

Final Thoughts

Website flipping is a good way to make money online for beginners. It has the potential to scale into a figures business and is a great side hustle.

You can make unlimited income when you make money flipping websites and don’t have to trade time for money, unlike other ways of making money online, like freelancing. However, you need to be patient, acquire the knowledge of SEO, and put in extra effort to improve the sites.

Ready to become an expert website flipper? This article has shared everything you need to know with a step by step guide on how to make money flipping websites. Take a step today and create or buy your first website today.

Happy earning!

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