Before you dive in and start buying websites, it’s a good idea to take a little time out for some introspection. Many people want to buy websites to build up a source of passive income – or semi-passive income at least. Hey, who doesn’t want passive income right!? And some just want to fire their boss and work for themselves.

Before you start throwing your PayPal account details around, ask yourself the tough questions and define your website buyer profile.

Grab a warm cup of chamomile tea, sit in a quiet spot with a pen and paper (or iPad) and ask yourself these three simple questions relating to your online world:

  • What am I good at?
  • What do I love doing?
  • How can I add value?

Once you’re done, you’ll most likely fall into at least one of the following six buyer profiles:

The Online Marketer

You love to figure out ways of turning traffic into dollars. When you see a website traffic report with visitors in the thousands, you think to yourself: “How can I get 10% of those visitors to sign-up to my list and convert 2% of those into a continuity program?”

The online marketer loves monetizing traffic and figuring out the best way to service a website’s audience. This buyer will usually look for websites with a solid history of traffic, targeted search results and a profitable niche. Existing revenue may not be important.

Your favorite part of Google Analytics is the Conversion Report.

The Web Designer

You love user interface design, CSS, XHTML, and wouldn’t dream of using tables in a website layout. When you come across a poorly designed site that ranks well in search engines and receives a heap of visitors, you cry at the injustice. You know what web standards are and your bible is “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steven Krug.

You guys are potentially the real website flippers. You can renovate – buy it, give it a face lift and sell it. You probably want to find sites that are downright ugly, but have reasonable traffic and targeted search rankings. You’ll be looking at Bounce Rates when considering a website to buy.

Your favorite part of Google Analytics is the Browser Capabilities Report.

The SEO Pro

Fancy yourself as a bit of an SEO guru? Do you love keyword research, building backlinks, tweaking page titles and content? Awesome! The Flippa world is your oyster. When looking for websites to buy, look for sites that already excel at things you’re not good at. If you’re crap at design and writing, then look for a site that’s well designed, has good original content, but few backlinks and average rankings. Find sites that you can work your SEO charm on.

If you’re creating an SEO empire, you may want to add to your network with a high PR, low Alexa website.

Your favorite part of Google Analytics is the Keyword Report.

The Writer

You’re a great writer and wannabe blogger, and love to create copy around a variety of topics; however, you may not have the time or the skills to setup a well designed blog. You want to fast track the development of a blog and not have to have something custom designed because that can get expensive. You also know there are restrictions to the other freely available blogging platforms out there and you really want to own your own domain and niche blog.

If you’re just looking for a quick leg up then there are plenty of affordable start-up websites for sale here on Flippa. Make sure you buy from an established seller who has plenty of positive feedback as most will be able to help with the transfer process. Also make sure the blog is built on a popular blogging platform such as WordPress.

If you want to give up your day job and supplement your income instantly with a blog that’s already making money, then look for a blog in your area of interest with good revenue history.

Your not quite sure what Google Analytics is but you know it must be important because I’ve mentioned it three times already.

The Product Developer

You know what it takes to write a good eBook, build a membership program or at least know how to outsource it to someone who can. You may be a programmer or an ideas person who knows how to get a product to market.

Similar in profile to the Online Marketer, you’ll be on the lookout for websites with targeted traffic and search rankings, perhaps a keyword or brandable domain name and an under monetized site.

Your favorite part of Google Analytics is the Keyword Report.

The Investor

You are looking for online businesses that require little time investment on your behalf. You have access to a team who can do all of the above and a decent investment fund to buy profitable websites.

Bottom line, you want to find established websites with revenue. Aged sites that have a history of visitors, search rankings and regular revenue. You will value these websites according to business valuation methods and pay accordingly.

You don’t have a favorite part of Google Analytics, but you do like the e-Commerce Tracking Report your virtual assistant sends you each month.

Play to Your Strengths

To summarize, when looking to invest in a website, play to your strengths. Find sites that already excel at things you’re not good at or don’t like doing. And, as we always say here at Flippa, do your due diligence before buying.