Flippa Blog | Buy & Sell Websites

Links from Around the Web: May 24 2012

Ophelie at Flippa — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:59:40 +0000

Are your ears burning?

Google Analytics has added backlink URLs to its Social Reports. For any given page on your site, you’ll see actions (such as a blog post, a social comment or a Google +1) tied to the link. One interesting aspect: social mentions and backlinks are put together in this report. A new trend in web analytics?

e-Shop ’till you drop.

For ecommerce websites, increasing the number of orders isn’t the only way to boost revenue. Increasing the average order value (AOV) can also increase cashflow, and perhaps even convert into long-term customers.

Next-generation Search Marketing

Is Search Engine Marketing evolving past backlinks and black-hat SEO techniques? The Distilled blog points to three emerging trends in Search Marketing.

Can you trademark “Face”?

A US federal judge declined to order Faceporn, a Norwegian adult site, to hand over their domain name to Facebook. This is the latest attempt by Facebook to claim domains with the words “face” or “book” as theirs. While the case won’t go forward in the US, Facebook can still pursue legal proceedings in Norway.

Everything’s social!

Speaking of Facebook: a Marketing Profs report highlights that the most popular social login is via Facebook. Not only does social login simplify the signup process for users, it also enables websites to collect information about their users — which is great for marketers, but controversial with users.

And the Website of the Week award goes to…

Using “Lorem Ipsum” as placeholder text on your website is so sixteenth-century. A modern option: using Gangsta Lorem Ipsum, or the very Australian Bogan Ipsum.

What were your favourite links this week? Let us know in the comments!

Nothing to do with the Facebook IPO: Links from around the web

Ophelie at Flippa — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:41:13 +0000

The circus surrounding Facebook’s IPO has intensified. Looking for a break? Here are the articles we most enjoyed this week.

Keeping Analytics clean

The most-used way to back up traffic claims is Google Analytics. This week, the always-useful Kissmetrics blog published two important articles on protecting your Analytics data from being hacked or corrupted.

Putting their foot down

We changed our policy on selling trademarked domains a few weeks ago, including domains containing the word “iPhone”. Owners of trademarked domains should take note: companies are increasingly protecting their trademarks. One example: Apple recently won their dispute over the use of iPhone5.com.

Technology companies aren’t the only ones: luxury fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Chanel are hoping to get trademark-infringing domains de-indexed from Google and pulled from domain registrars.

Speaking of Go Daddy…

Is the era of NASCAR and ads featuring large-breasted women coming to a close at Go Daddy? The company’s new CEO is trying to clean up the domain registrar’s image after last winter’s SOPA disaster.

Guess we can’t avoid them completely!

Yet another company, this time a large social network (which shall not be named!), filed to take control of the dot-info version of its domain, which has been hosting an unused forum since 2004. One more good reason to stay away from trademarked domains!

Video: Using Flippa’s Advanced Search

Ophelie at Flippa — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:17:32 +0000

With an average of 2,000 sites listed at any moment on Flippa, sifting through pages of listings that don’t match your desired criteria can be time-consuming and frustrating. Today we put together a short video that explains how to use Flippa’s Advanced Search function to weed out websites that don’t match what you’re looking for, and how to save those results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=837dgxbdaCY

What types of websites do you normally look for? Do you wish we included something else in our Advanced Search? Let us know in the comments?

Surviving Penguin, and other links from around the web

Ophelie at Flippa — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:38:00 +0000

Snake Oil 2.0?

Internet Marketers (capital I, capital M): legitimate businessmen or “Modern snake oil salesmen”? Tech news website The Verge published a long article arguing the latter; Danny Sullivan at MarketingLand.com responds.

Simplify, simplify, simplify

Do online buyers prefer fewer options and less engagement? Education, or help in making a decision? This article on Marketing Vox argues that the current buzz in engaging users might not convert as well as hoped.

Penguin Survivors

We talked about Google’s Penguin update last week. Penguin has been deemed “a success” by Matt Cutts. We’re not sure website owners necessarily agree. Search Engine Land published an interview with Cutts, who outlines a few ways to safeguard your site from the next time Penguin gets refreshed.

Know all about SEO best practices already? Good news for job-seeking SEO experts: Amazon is hiring! Not quite up to that level? Tommy at Sparklewise outlines his SEO strategy for a passive website.

Is it really all about social?

Klout scores, Twitter followers, Facebook fans: are these just vanity metrics, or do they have an actual influence on your site’s authority? Is buying Twitter followers ever a good idea? The Kernel publishes a short history of manufactured influence and public relations influence. (For the record, Flippa Digital Marketer Ophelie’s Klout score currently beats Marketing Manager Andrew’s score by 10 points.)

Is Bing about to beat out Google in social search? Microsoft’s search engine is rolling out a redesign which pulls in results from Facebook, Twitter, Quora… and Google+. Don’t think Bing is relevant to your search engine results? If your niche caters to an older, less tech-savy audience, your users are most likely using Internet Explorer, which includes Bing as the default search provider.

Making us proud

Gumroad, a new service that allows anyone to receive payments with a simple URL, received $7 million in funding. That’s cool. Even cooler is that the founder, Sahil Lavignia, is only 19. We think the fact that he started out selling web applications on Flippa is cooler still.

The Flippa listing for web designer directory Sortfolio received some great press this week, including this post at The Next Web. Why this listing in particular? It might have to do with the seller’s cachet: Jason Fried is founder of 37signals, the company behind the hugely popular Basecamp.

An easier way to provide Verified traffic stats

Ophelie at Flippa — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:03:11 +0000

Traffic is one of the most important factors in evaluating a potential website purchase. As we talked about last month, one of the best ways to provide traffic statistics to buyers is by installing Google Analytics on your site and providing a Verified Google Analytics report.

Previously, sellers had to manually enter their average monthly unique visitors and page views, and log into Google Analytics to send a PDF summary of their website’s statistics to their Flippa listing.

Today, we introduced a new way for sellers to add Analytics data to their listing: by feeding data directly from Google Analytics to their Flippa listing.

Quicker verification

We’ve put together a handy help page, but these are the basic facts on this new feature:

When creating your listing, you’ll be asked to provide traffic details. You’ll now be able to click “Verify Google Analytics Data” to fill in your traffic information. (Don’t have Analytics installed? You can still enter data manually.)
Once you’re logged into Analytics, you’ll be asked to pick the site for which you’re providing data. Selecting a different domain than the site you’re trying to list will bring up an error message.
The average monthly figures for the last 3 months will then be added to your listing.

Listings with Verified Traffic Analytics will have identifying styling in the sidebar, like this:

If you’d like to add a separate Verified Analytics report, you can still do so by clicking “Add Analytics Stats” in your listing’s sidebar.

Streamlined verification, more exposure

Why is it a good idea to include Verified Google Analytics? Not only does it make it much easier for buyers to get a glimpse of a site’s traffic, it also allows your auction to appear in searches for listings with Verified Analytics.

This is the first of two features integrating Google Analytics data. Our developers are currently working on pulling in more information from Analytics, including average pages viewed, average time on site, and top locations.

Do you typically include Verified Analytics data in your listings? Buyers: do you insist on viewing Google Analytics reports before bidding on a site? Let us know in the comments!

Design your Auction to Attract the Right Buyer for your Site

Ophelie at Flippa — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:28:13 +0000

Today’s guest post is by Tommy Noonan, better known on Flippa as noonanco.

Just because someone is the high bidder, doesn’t mean that they are going to follow through with the sale and pay for the site. Unfortunately, it’s not 100% within your control, however you have a lot of influence as the seller to attract quality bidders. I’ve had 41 completed sales on Flippa, and only two high bidders went MIA. Thankfully Flippa waives the success fee and will give you a free re-list in this event.

When asked to do a guest Flippa blog post on how I vet bidders, I thought long and hard about the process I use. I realized that my auction description does most of the weeding out for me. It’s all about creating an auction that attracts the right buyers.

Grow Bidder Confidence with Honesty

The relationship with your potential buyer begins when they see your auction description. You want to start the relationship on the right foot by being as honest as possible. A buyer who thinks you are an honest seller is much less likely to flake. When putting your auction together, keep these points in mind:

1. Disclose everything you know about your own site. - Just say it straight up, from the beginning to end. Let them know why/when you created/acquired it. Give them the back story. Even sharing things about your personal life will help foster this new relationship. (For example, you could say: I built a site about horseback riding because I used to ride horses at my grandmother’s farm when I was a kid).

2. Don’t try to hide anything. - Buyers are GREAT at due diligence and digging up dirt/inconsistencies in your auction description. If you are trying to hide something, it is sure to surface and bite you in the butt sooner or later. Avoid ambiguous and vague terms that might create a sense of mistrust in your buyers.

3. Invite everyone to take a look at your Google Analytics. Adding potential buyers as guest users on your analytics really shows that you have nothing to hide. They’ll know just as much about your visitors as you do. Some sellers are hesitant to add analytics users because they fear that they’ll be competitors looking for secret data. I call shenanigans! First, you are selling the site anyway, and second, this is very unlikely. Definitely not worth the potential loss in buyer confidence by denying people access to your analytics.

4. Don’t try to embellish or skew information. Your goal with your auction description is to accurately describe the site. Let the potential buyers analyze the data on their own. Don’t try and interpret the data for your buyers.

Don’t Over-Sell Your Site

You aren’t trying to pedal some generic clickbank eBook with a 5-page sales copy using tons of colors, highlighted text, testimonials and guarantees. This over-sell approach might work if you are selling cookie-cutter, mass-produced, brand new, generic sites with a BIN of $199. If you’re selling a real investment with established traffic/earnings, you’ll want to attract a different kind of buyer.

Don’t get me wrong; it is definitely a good practice to mention the positive qualities of your site. You can even share your ideas for improving the site, but don’t get carried away. Your site isn’t going to turn into the next Facebook, so don’t try and convince buyers of this.

The bottom line is this: you want buyers to know what they are getting into. Don’t give them any false expectations. Make sure they understand that this is an investment, and as with any investment, there is an amount of risk, and no guarantees on future earnings. You don’t want to over-sell them into placing a bid, only to get cold feet when it comes time to cough up the dough.

Make Sure Bidders Actually Read your Auction Description

One of the key indicators that someone has not read your auction description is when they ask questions that are clearly answered in your auction description. I’ll usually scare them off with a semi-rude response such as “Per the auction description: [a sentence literally copied and pasted from the description]“.

I’m sure there are more polite ways to do this, but the key is to make sure that your bidders are actually reading the auction. You spent the time to create an auction description targeted towards serious bidders. How can you be serious about buying a site if you aren’t even reading the entire auction?

Don’t be afraid to tell someone that they shouldn’t be bidding on your auction. In general, the more bidders, the higher the competition and the higher the site sells for. However there is no point in jacking the high bid up if the winner is going to flake.

Use as much industry jargon as you want to in your auction description. CPC, CPR, Adsense, eCPM, Analytics, Conversion Rates, etc. Even if a bidder doesn’t understand a term – but is able to Google it and figure it out on their own – they are demonstrating competency. If a bidder has to ask you what Adsense is, you’ll have to let them know that they probably aren’t ready to make the investment in your site.

Accept Multiple Payment Methods

I personally always accept Escrow.com, Paypal or paper check payment. It definitely increases buyer confidence to show that you’re willing to do the transaction securely through Escrow.com. Forcing a winning bidder to pay in a manner that they are not comfortable with is only going to result in more flaky bidders.

High-End Sites Produce Fewer Flakes

I’m not sure if this is universally true for ALL Flippa auctions, however I’ve definitely noticed it for my own. The only times I’ve had a non-paying bidder are auctions under $1,000. My average auction is over $5,000. I assume it is because buyers are more serious at this price point. The auctions that end for a few hundred will attract a lot of newbies and bidders who aren’t as dedicated as the big spenders.

Answer ALL Questions Promptly and Honestly

While the auctions may sometimes drag on and on, you should always be available to answer last minute questions as the auction is coming to an end. The users who are asking questions right at the end are probably pretty serious about bidding on your site, so you want to start things off on the right foot by being on top of your communication with them.

Be an Honest Seller to Attract Honest Buyers

The old proverb “You get what you give” definitely applies to selling sites on Flippa. Be as honest, upfront and straight to the point as possible in your auction and you’ll get the same bidders.

Tommy Noonan has been buying/selling websites for over 5 years, and has sold nearly a quarter million dollars worth of sites on Flippa. He is also a world traveler and adventurer. He shares his stories and wisdom on his blog: TomsAdventure.com

The Penguins Are Marching In, And Other News From Around the Web

Ophelie at Flippa — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:17:29 +0000

Beware the Penguins!

To the Flippa team, penguins are either a hockey team (for the two Canadians) or a cute critter that wanders on the beach in Melbourne’s south side (for everyone else). Last week, though, the word “penguin” took on a brand new, vaguely alarming tone: Google’s latest major algorithm change, Penguin, has taken down more than one high-ranking site. SEOMoz has a great guide to making sure your site can withstand this so-called “Panic at the Zoo“.

Crowd-Sourced Valuation at the New York Times

The usual ways of valuing a website hinge on comparing a site to similar sales, asking experienced website sellers, and using other valuation methods. A less attainable option: have a reporter from the New York Times dig through your business records and see where the comments go. We think this e-commerce business should try a Flippa auction!

Covert acquisitions?

When buying a website with an extensive user base, should you make this acquisition public? In this piece at The Next Web, Boris argues acquisitions should be kept as quiet as possible. Should LinkedIn have followed this advice before announcing their upcoming purchase of SlideShare?

Poker Face-book

Apparently, email is the Madonna of Internet marketing and Facebook is more like Lady Gaga. Whatever you thought of Madonna’s latest album, you have to admit: some things (like email) will always be around, and others (like Facebook) sure know how to captivate an audience. Speaking of email, here are 7 clever ways to encourage lapsed users to come back to your site.

Restrictions on Selling Websites with Trademarked Domains

Andrew Knibbe — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:41:27 +0000

We’ve talked about trademarks on the Flippa blog before. While there is inherent risk of a DMCA takedown notice when buying a potentially trademarked domain, some buyers aren’t troubled by this possibility, and some domains that contain a trademark can be used under a fair use policy.

As always, we don’t attempt to police potential trademark breaches on behalf of trademark holders but actively work with them when they bring breaches to our attention.

As a result of recently working with a number of these trademark owners, we have developed measures that will now block some specific trademarked URLs from being sold on Flippa.

This list currently includes some frequently-used trademarked names such as Twitter, Google and Facebook and will grow over time upon request by trademark holders.

If a site listed on Flippa infringes on a trademark you own, you can report the listing through our DMCA Procedure (pdf).

Does this guarantee that there won’t ever be trademarked domains on Flippa?
Not quite. While we’re now blocking certain trademarks from being listed at all, this only applies to a defined list of trademarks. It’s still up to trademark owners to defend their intellectual property by reporting infringement. If you’re purchasing a website or domain name listing on Flippa, then we encourage you to run a trademark search via the United States Patent and Trademark office, or at Trademarkia. particularly for .com, .net, .org and .info domains.

Apologies in advance to the owner of FacebookTwitterGoogle.com …

Image: west.m

Links from around the web: April 26 2012

Ophelie at Flippa — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:55:53 +0000

AdMovie?

As video production becomes easier and cheaper, more and more content is uploaded every day on YouTube. While YouTube ads have, until now, been reserved for large brands with matching budgets, Google has launched AdWords for Video. The service boasts the same management platform and bidding structure as their text-based ads.

Don’t be such a downer.

Most internet marketers work hard at SEO to build their rankings up… but what about bringing other sites down in Google’s results, or getting them removed from Google entirely? That’s the point of Negative SEO. Will it end with every niche website trying to sink its competitors?

Build up those links!

Want to protect yourself from negative SEO, or simply increase the number of backlinks to your site? Here’s a massive list of ways to build backlinks to your site, including filters for time, link value and resources needed.

A domain by any other name…

Domain names are mostly irrelevant. Wait, no, they’re actually very important, so you should think long and hard before naming your company. Didn’t get the name you wanted? That’s okay, you might still be able to buy one of the most-used 5000 prefixes and suffixes for your domain.

Whoops.

As outlined above, it can be difficult to buy a premium domain once your company has taken off, so it’s a good idea to buy it as you establish your company. That’s what one entrepreneur is learning the hard way. As a bonus lesson, he’s finding out that changing your site’s URL can have all sorts of unintended consequences. Should he just have stuck to his original domain?

On the other hand…

As the waves following last week’s massive Facebook/Instagram deal die down, smaller interesting deals are coming to the surface, such as Ancestry.com’s acquisition of Archives.com for a reported $100 million. That’s a great example of a site acquiring a great domain, devoted user base and similar concept.

A Google badge of honor

How good is your customer service? Would you show off your customer satisfaction ratings right next to your Google results? Google is currently running a trial program to test whether a retailer’s good customer service reputation influences buyers. The trial, named Trusted Stores, currently has a few hundred members.

An update to Verified Google Analytics

Ophelie at Flippa — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:48:23 +0000

Google has been rolling out the latest version of Analytics progressively over the last few months, with new functionalities, different options and an updated look. As of last week, the new version of Google Analytics is the only one available. This has changed a few things about how Flippa handles Verified Analytics reports.

What’s New?

Sellers can still submit a Verified Analytics report for attachment in their Flippa listing, though the instructions for doing so have changed slightly. You’ll find instructions for sending your Analytics report in the Add Analytics Stats link of your listing’s sidebar.

The new Analytics report is shorter than the old version, and it omits several categories such as Traffic Sources, Visitor Location and Keywords. If you’d like to show potential buyers more thorough analytics data, you can include those reports as PDF attachments in your listing.

More Information

Google Analytics is often a big part of due diligence research into a potential website purchase; that’s why many buyers will insist on reviewing Analytics data themselves. You can provide selected buyers with read-only access to your site’s Google Analytics by following these instructions.

Don’t have Google Analytics installed on your website? Even if your listing is already live, it’s a good idea to install Analytics as soon as possible and post Verified Analytics reports periodically.