Did you know that some website owners don’t employ the services of an online marketplace but instead advertise it on their website? When I first used the search phrase website for sale, Google returned 18.6 million listings. What that really told me was there were over 18 million websites that contained the words website, for, and sale. Obviously, those search results were too broad.
Luckily all the major search engines allow you to narrow your search by using quotation marks. The advantage: a search engine will only return results with that exact phrase on a webpage. This search technique can trim your results significantly.
For example, when I used the search phrase “website for sale” Google returned only 501,000 websites which is more accurate. That meant over half a million web pages contained the EXACT search phrase website for sale. That’s a lot of prospects! Here are common search terms you can use when conducting a search:
“ web site for sale”
“ website for sale”
“ website 4 sales”
“ web site 4 sale”
“ turnkey website”
“ for sale by owner website”
“ for sale by owner website”
If you want to narrow your search even further, it’s easy. For example, if you only want dating-related websites, you can alter your search to “dating site for sale” or “date site for sale”. Here are other examples:
“ dating website for sale”
“ dating web site for sale”
“ dating website 4 sale”
“ dating web site 4 sale”
“ turnkey website”
“ for sale by owner dating website”
Just remember that in order for this search method to be effective, you must use “quotation marks” around your search phrase.
Once you arrive at a webpage, see if you can locate a link. Some website owners will already have a page prepared for any curious visitors. How much information is revealed will be up to the website owner. If not, locate their contact page or email address and send them a message.
There are two ways to approach a prospect, the first is soft. I prefer this approach because it’s less threatening and intrusive. By sending a short quick email, it allows the seller to open up and see what they reveal. Here’s the soft approach:
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Greetings Sally Seller:
I recently found your website through Google and
noticed it was for sale.
When possible, please provide me with some background
on your site such as unique visitors, any income and
why do you want to sell your website?
Best regards–
Polly Prospector
——————————–
The second is a hard approach introductory email which is direct and to the point.
——————————–
Greetings Sally Seller:
I recently found your website through Google and
noticed it was for sale.
Below area a few standard questions I have about
your website. Your answers will help me determine if
this may be a good match.
– the origin of the content including images
– monthly unique visitors (not hits)
– monthly total gross income
– monthly expenses
– monthly AdSense income
– any third-party obligations (i.e., existing advertisers)
– have you used paid advertising in the last year
– are the person authorized to sell
– asking price
– why are you selling
Thanks for your time.
Best regards–
Polly Prospector