Purchasing an established website
- Thread starter Casben79
- Start date
I think buying an existing site if you can afford to can be a good way to jumpstart everything.
Google typically leans toward established sites and brand new sites can take awhile to get in
her good graces.
Be sure they haven't been banned by Google, don't have hidden links or anything else gray going on.
Also be sure they don't have any links to/from 'bad neighborhoods'.
Google typically leans toward established sites and brand new sites can take awhile to get in
her good graces.
Be sure they haven't been banned by Google, don't have hidden links or anything else gray going on.
Also be sure they don't have any links to/from 'bad neighborhoods'.
D
diytechblog
Guest
Theres good and bad
Hi Casben79,
As Linda said, you need to do some research when you buy an established site. It is usually a great way to get quick content and some history behind the domain, but you need to be careful where it's been and where the content originated.
I would be cautious if you are looking for the "cookie cutter" types site that are often for sale.
Good Luck
Hi Casben79,
As Linda said, you need to do some research when you buy an established site. It is usually a great way to get quick content and some history behind the domain, but you need to be careful where it's been and where the content originated.
I would be cautious if you are looking for the "cookie cutter" types site that are often for sale.
Good Luck
Sorry I meant hidden text (or links).
You can just highlight the whole page with your mouse and see if any tiny text shows up, or text the same color as the background of the page that does not show up when you view it. Not many people do that any more but I meant in general look to be sure there is nothing spammy or gray hat.
Cookie cutter - a good example is lots of the slick looking sites sold on ebay or private label rights sites or made-for-Adsense sites. They typically look really attractive to a newbie because they don't realize what's going on. But they are basically mirror sites of other sites. In other words a template of a site that's re-sold to lots of other people. So you end up not having unique content. If it's identical to 100 other sites Google won't rank you or can penalize you for duplicate content. It can even be a cookie cutter site where the content is unique, but so many with the same 'framework' are sold that it leaves an easy footprint for Google to follow to decide the site is not very quality.
If the site is sold by average Joe surfer then you may not have as much to worry about. But if it sounds too good to be true as in: auto-generate content, you don't have to do any work, set it and forget it, automatic Adsense income, anything like that then... well if it sounds too good to be true - it usually is!
You can just highlight the whole page with your mouse and see if any tiny text shows up, or text the same color as the background of the page that does not show up when you view it. Not many people do that any more but I meant in general look to be sure there is nothing spammy or gray hat.
Cookie cutter - a good example is lots of the slick looking sites sold on ebay or private label rights sites or made-for-Adsense sites. They typically look really attractive to a newbie because they don't realize what's going on. But they are basically mirror sites of other sites. In other words a template of a site that's re-sold to lots of other people. So you end up not having unique content. If it's identical to 100 other sites Google won't rank you or can penalize you for duplicate content. It can even be a cookie cutter site where the content is unique, but so many with the same 'framework' are sold that it leaves an easy footprint for Google to follow to decide the site is not very quality.
If the site is sold by average Joe surfer then you may not have as much to worry about. But if it sounds too good to be true as in: auto-generate content, you don't have to do any work, set it and forget it, automatic Adsense income, anything like that then... well if it sounds too good to be true - it usually is!
D
diytechblog
Guest
Exactly what I meant
Hi Casben79,
Of course, Linda's response was exactly what I meant by "cookie cutter". That's why I love this forum. The mods, and the President, are lightning fast with good information.
It's just my two cents, but I see a lot of people trying to produce an online presence quickly. And although I'm not against it, I just caution folks to be aware of what they are purchasing.
Good Luck.
Hi Casben79,
Of course, Linda's response was exactly what I meant by "cookie cutter". That's why I love this forum. The mods, and the President, are lightning fast with good information.
It's just my two cents, but I see a lot of people trying to produce an online presence quickly. And although I'm not against it, I just caution folks to be aware of what they are purchasing.
Good Luck.
Some great advice Casben...of course, the other side of the coin is once you buy a site...what then do you do with it? How's your online/offline marketing experience? Have you ever had to drive traffic to a site? How will you monetize your site? What kind of market will your site target? Is it niche specific or a general type site? All these, and more, are questions that need to be addressed when venturing into an online business. You may already have such experience which would be cool..but if you don't you will have to learn the hard way...by doing. Which of course, is the best way to do things...
The last thing you want to do is to purchase a site and the have it sit there doing nothing. Take care and all the best.
