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The SitePoint Market Watch #14                 Copyright (c) 2009
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News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Entrepreneurs
by Peter T Davis

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INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Greetings and welcome to Issue 14 of the SitePoint Market Watch.

In this edition, I'm going to address one of the most overlooked
questions by web site buyers: do you have the necessary time and
skills to handle the upkeep of the web property you're buying?

It's an important one to ask, so it's vital you have an accurate
picture of the site's technological aspects. That way you'll be
able to evaluate whether the effort required to maintain the
site is justified.

Read on for more ...

Peter T. Davis
Editor
SitePoint Market Watch


SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

No advertisement selected.


KNOW YOUR (TECH) PRODUCT  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When we're looking at a potential acquisition, the questions
that first come to mind are: is it a good buy and is the
financial information presented truthful? But I'd strongly
advise that you also consider questions about the technical [KS:
should this be technological?] side -- an aspect that's often
neglected by many potential buyers.

I've made this mistake myself. When I'm out shopping for a new
web site, I become enamored by one or more positive aspects of a
site and it blinds me to the obvious: that it will be a pig to
maintain. Web sites that are carelessly planned -- that are on
custom written code or even just have a certain kind of user
base -- can eat through your time, money, and resources like a
herd of pigs at feeding time. Avoid being saddled with a beast.

One of the first web sites I ever bought was very attractive,
because it had great content, received loads of traffic direct
from search engines, and the topic revolved around a
commercially available product. Perfect, or so I thought. When I
obtained the site it was bringing in about 2,000 unique visits a
day, primarily from search engines. It had about twenty or so
original articles, flagship content as we call it in the
industry, and a database behind it of collectible fantasy
figurines. It was very well-suited to affiliate programs, which
the previous owner for some reason had failed to implement.
Before I took over the site, the only monetization was through
Adsense (this is very common).

Now, a normal site receiving just 2,000 visits a day should have
no problem being hosted in a shared environment. It's minimal
traffic in the grand scheme. However, on this site, the coding
was done in such a way that the database was hammered by far
more queries per page view than you would expect. It was only
when I started tinkering with the site that I realized I&#8217;d
put myself in a quagmire. The site used up so much of the
server's resources that I had to place it on it's own box (this
was back when a Pentium 3 was bleeding edge for servers), and
though the site was doing well with revenues, consistently over
$1,000 a month, a third of that was right out the window just on
the server. Throw in five or six hours a week Band-Aiding the
code to keep the site live, and the investment started to seem
like a ball-and-chain rather than a savvy purchase.

That's when I decided that it was smart to specialize. Since
I've been dealing primarily with online community sites, and
specifically forums run on vBulletin for the past few years,
it's easier for me to evaluate what it takes to run a site.
Although online communities take an inordinate amount of time to
manage themselves, at least when you specialize you know what to
expect and can accommodate it.  I also like purchasing sites
that are run on well-known platforms, like WordPress. With the
flexibility of content management systems like WordPress,
there's very little reason for the small-to-medium type of web
sites to be running on homespun code anymore.  By all means buy
a custom-coded web site, but ensure you understand it fully
before you make the purchase.

So, the next time you're looking into a site you want to buy, in
addition to your questions about traffic and finances, make sure
you have some questions about the code, the customizations, the
server loads, and the time and expense involved with its upkeep.
On the flip side of that coin, when you're selling a site, be
prepared to answer questions, or better yet, offer the
information up front about what's involved.  And, if you want to
make your buyer really happy, create a manual on how to run the
site. 
MARKET WRAP  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fusce pede. Sed mattis dapibus magna. Quisque sed ligula. Sed
ultricies sem vitae velit. Praesent a nibh. Nullam posuere,
augue et aliquam semper, risus dolor eleifend erat, sit amet
euismod risus nulla quis urna. 

Ut mollis rhoncus risus. Sed eget pede. Proin in leo ac massa
tempor auctor. Sed augue leo, pulvinar eget, sollicitudin vel,
aliquet hendrerit, leo.


FEATURE TOPIC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After several years of buying and selling websites, I came to
the conclusion that I needed some sort of sanity check in my
portfolio of websites. 

Far too often I had purchased websites because I got a great
deal, and I knew I could resell the site for more.  A lot of
them I ended up keeping for various reasons, but what I ended up
with was a helter-skelter portfolio.  I was all over the place,
and there were far too few synergies among my portfolio. 
I&#8217;ve been working on fixing it for well over a year.

For most people, who are going to buy one website and make that
their sole focus, this won&#8217;t matter much.  However, if
you&#8217;re considering buying that second site, third site,
and so on, then I&#8217;m here to help you keep from making the
same mistakes I did.  Focus! Focus! Focus!

Read and comment on building an online portfolio






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TIPS FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS

Continuing our theme of being aware of the technological
elements of your prospective site, here are a few pointers:

 - Know what scripts the site runs, or if it's a custom code ask
why it is instead of a standard script like WordPress.

 - If the site was coded by a third party, contact that person
and talk to them about it before you ink the deal.

 - If the site runs an off-the-shelf script like vBulletin,
establish what modifications were done to it and how that
impacts your next upgrade.

 - Know the hosting costs and server loads, and whether the
current hosting company wants to upgrade the site to a more
expensive plan, or even have it removed.

 - If the site runs on a script, make sure the company
supporting the script is solid; I've had development companies
go south on me before, and it can be expensive.

 - If the seller coded the site himself, have the contract state
exactly what you expect him to support after the sale is done.

 - Only become involved in a custom-coded web site if you can
code it yourself, or if you&#8217;re prepared to hire a person
to support it for you.


SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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WHAT&#8217;S UP AT THE SITEPOINT MARKETPLACE

User Voice System



User Trust Sytem



Buy it now with Paypal



The Marketplace Development Blog


HOT GOSSIP    - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fusce pede. Sed mattis dapibus magna. Quisque sed ligula. Sed
ultricies sem vitae velit. Praesent a nibh. Nullam posuere,
augue et aliquam semper, risus dolor eleifend erat, sit amet
euismod risus nulla quis urna. 

Ut mollis rhoncus risus. Sed eget pede. Proin in leo ac massa
tempor auctor. Sed augue leo, pulvinar eget, sollicitudin vel,
aliquet hendrerit, leo.


SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

No advertisement selected.


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That's all for this issue -- thanks for reading! I'll see you in
a few weeks.

Peter T. Davis 
peter.davis@sitepoint.com [1]
Editor, SitePoint Market Watch





[1] <mailto:peter.davis@sitepoint.com>


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HELP YOUR FRIENDS OUT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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