Do you own your own blog, or maybe you’re considering buying one? Are you curious how much it’s worth? I know I’m always curious about my blog worth, but there are so many factors, and so many websites that give different answers, how can I really know?
Estimates of My Blog’s Worth
A couple of months ago, my site was earning an average of $1,500 a month or so and I was just curious how much it would be worth if I put it up for sale (don’t worry, I never planned on selling this site….unless it was worth a millions bucks or something…). Could I sell it for $5,000? $10,000? Maybe even $20,000? I honestly had no idea, so I took my question to Google.
Sites That Calculate Your Site’s Value
It turns out that there’s quite a few sites that try to estimate a blog’s value. Most of them just ask for your URL, and they spit out the value of your blog! Sounds simple…. until you visit more than one estimator. Take a look at the different estimates I got for my site.
Website Worth - estimates that my site is worth $16,796
URL Appraisal – estimates that my site is worth $1,746.37
Site Worth Checker – estimates that my site is worth $27,806
That is quite the range of estimates!! I only checked three sites and I already have a $26,000 difference! So, obviously, these websites aren’t very accurate when it comes to checking the value of your blog.
A Typical Rule of Thumb
As a general rule, I’ve also heard that your website’s worth is anywhere from 6 months to 12 months profit. This could turn into a pretty big span as well, but it’s a little more consistent than the website estimates that we just explored.
If I were to use this method, my site would be worth somewhere in between $9,000 and $18,000.
My Method
Rather than continuously checking my blog’s worth on other websites with a 1,000% variance in estimates, I’ve decided to calculate my blog’s worth through a method of my own. Answer the following questions below to find your blog is worth to you.
1) How long do you plan to keep your blog up and running (choose between 1 and 5 years)?
2) What is you blog’s average income from the past 6 months (this should be a monthly average)?
3) How much do you expect your blog to grow (in visitor numbers) while you own the blog?
I plan to keep this site going for the next 5 years, my average income per month is about $1,500, and I expect my site to grow by 15%. With these responses, we now have all the information we need to estimate our blog’s value.
12*(monthly income)*(years)*(1+(growth percent)) = My Blog’s Value
Using the above equation, let’s figure out what my blog is worth to me over the next 5 years:
12*(1500)*(5)*(1+.15) = $103,500
That might look like a pretty huge number, but that’s exactly the amount of money that I’ll earn with my blog over the next 5 years, so why in the world would I sell it for $10,000?? It just doesn’t make sense.
Different Circumstances
At this current moment, my blog is quite valuable to me – I probably wouldn’t let anyone have it for anything less than $100,000, but that’s only because I plan to keep writing and building it beyond its current state. I’d be pretty crazy to sell it.
What if the circumstances changed? What if I suddenly became an investment advisor and it was against company policy to have a financial blog? They gave me 6 months to sell it, or they would force me to shut it down.
Suddenly, my equation has changed entirely:
12*(1500)*(0.5)*(1+0.00) = $9,000
Now, if I were offered $10,000 for my site, I would jump all over it!
Don’t Let The Buyer Tell You How Much Your Site Is Worth
Hopefully, you are starting to understand my point. Don’t get so caught up in how much your site is worth, but rather, make sure you know how much your site could earn you in the next few years. If you actually calculate your potential earnings and they far-exceed the current offers, there will be no question that you should turn them down flat.
If however, your site is beginning to drag you down and you can’t keep up with the posting schedule, then it will be time to entertain those offers. I’d say make sure that you get at least 8 months of historical earnings.
Have you ever thought about selling your site? Are you thinking differently about it now? What is your site worth to you?
I don’t think your web valuable for me, and I don’t think to buy your website. Sorry.. no offense
Brillie recently posted..Gong Xi Fa Cai 2563 – Tahun Naga Air 2012
No biggie. Not everyone is going to be interested in my website!
I don’t like that those 3 sites have estimates all over the place. Somethings not right with the middle one.
Jai Catalano recently posted..Week In Review – Photography Tips, My Angry Wife & Sam Dogen
They are what they are: estimates. Some will be high, some will be low, but just make sure you know what your blog is worth to you!
If I absolutely had to sell my site, I would probably take a few thousand. But I plan on building it beyond where it is now so my selling point would be around 100k also.
LaTisha @YoungAdultFinances recently posted..Best of Weekend Reading Whale Post Edition
I think I’m the same as you LaTisha. If I had to sell my site, then I would probably try to get $8,000+. But, I’d much rather hang onto it and make $100,000+ over the next 5 years.
To me, my blog is worth quite a bit. It would take about $100,000 invested in a rental property to generate the type of cash flow I am getting with my blog. So that is a starting point for me and probably pretty accurate.
cashflowmantra recently posted..What Would I Do With $50,000?
Exactly! This blogging thing provides an awesome revenue, and it’s really not that much work. I’m not sure why anyone would want to sell.
One thing that I have run into with selling sites to bigger, more corporate buyers is that they were not interested in revenue that came from text link ads or paid posts. The multiple they used was almost strickly based on Google AdSense revenue. Not the case with all sales, but it is definitley something to consider.
Hank recently posted..Seven Car Insurance Myths You Need To Know
Wow. If a blog is only based on Google Adsense income, then buyers would really get them at a steal. I only make about $50 a month, so what’s my blog worth? $300? I don’t think so. I guess it all depends on what the buyer is going to do with it. If they are just going to let it sit and earn Adsense revenue, then yeah, I wouldn’t pay more than $300 either. But, it could be so much more!
I was contemplating selling my site. I was offering it for a steal…the buyer did not want it…about two months later I had income 2x what the buyer wanted to pay. The buyer made a boo-boo….
Super Frugalette recently posted..Credit card use is your arch nemesis to budget tracking….
Haha, I bet you’re glad you didn’t sell!!
At some point in our lives, we might have to sell a site or two, but just make sure you’ll be at peace with the decision.
Your blog is only worth what you can get a buyer to pay for it.
It’s probably worth more to you than to another person, since this is your baby.
I think it largely depends on the revenue sources and if that’s transferrable, and if the blog could be written by another person easily without a loss of readership.
Kacie recently posted..An update on our Magic Jack Plus home phone
I wouldn’t value your blog based on what someone tells you it’s worth. If you do that, then you’re going to sell it for way too cheap. If you truly do want to sell your site, then yes, obviously you’ll have to discount the value because there will no doubt be money lost in the transfer (visitors will drop), plus your buyer will want to earn a profit, so they aren’t going to pay top dollar.
Interesting formula. I honestly don’t know how to value our site. It is growing quite steadily and the side income has been very good. Helped me pay off my student loan at long last!
Sustainable PF recently posted..Determining the Proper Stop Loss
What your blog is worth to you is often very different than what it’s worth to someone else. If your value is higher, then it’s simple, hang onto your site.
Inever gave it any thougt, however it is a bonus for what I am doing.
Krantcents recently posted..The 3 B’s of Success
So you feel that you’re getting paid to good to sell? Is that what I’m hearing?
Due to my blogs infancy stage, it isn’t worth much, but like Kacie pointed out in a previous comment: It is probably worth more to me than anyone else, because it is my baby. Sure, I want it to be worth a ton, but for now it is more important to me to keep my leadership skills sharp by reading materials that can assist me in my current position.
Kevin recently posted..Good Enough Part 2
Very true Kevin! If you need to build up your leadership skills for your current position, then a blog is a great way to keep yourself motivated! Thanks for commenting!
I am looking forward to building my blogs worth and revenue. I appreciate your helpful advice and support along the way!
Lisa @ Cents To Save recently posted..Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall Visit
I’m always glad to help Lisa! If you ever have any questions, feel free to contact me through the “Contact/Advertise” tab at the top of my site! I respond to every email that comes my way.
I have heard metrics of 24 or 36 months profit for a sale price but it seems to vary. I have considered selling before but right now I am just staying tight. If I can keep up with stuff then I will keep the blog.
Miss T @ Prairie Eco-Thrifter recently posted..What Buddhism Teaches Us About Personal Finance
Wow, I haven’t heard that one! Maybe that would be a good metric for a passive website, but for a blog, I think it’s much less (unfortunately). You have a great site – I would definitely keep it if I were you!
Hmm this is very interesting! I don’t know if I’d want to sell, but it’s interesting to see where I might be.
When you first start out, selling sounds intriguing, but you wouldn’t make very much money. Really, I wouldn’t sell my site unless I had like, 100,000 subscribers and wanted to retire (which I don’t think will every happen – this is just way too fun!).
Thanks for the valuation derek – i’ve always been curious what my site would be worth (not interested in selling though)
Jeff @ Sustainable Life Blog recently posted..The Easy Workout
It’s always good to know what your site could yield in the next few years. I think sometimes we don’t realize how much it actually equates to be. I would have never guessed that my number was $100,000!!
So, if Hank’s right, how did those big bloggers get $1M plus for it? That wouldn’t be the Adsense number. Is it because they value the subscriber list that much or the site traffic numbers?
Although my partner and I have no plans to sell our 4 1/2 month old blog, we are building it to sell. It makes it more fun to work the blog if you’re building a ship that’s designed to work without you once you’re ready to leave…..
AverageJoeMoney recently posted..5 Jaw-Dropping Financial Advisor Interview Questions
Average Joe,
I think that you bring up a great point about the subscriber lists. Different buyers value different things. In addition to the AdSense revenue that QuinStreet obviously values in the sites they have bought, a large portion of those sites are affiliate sales as you can see from the ads on them. But, email subscriber lists are not as easy to put a value and subsequently a price multiple on like ad revenue is.
Hank recently posted..Couponing Questions And Answers – eBook How To Coupon
Yep, once a site gets huge, there are other factors to consider than just the income. Often they factor in the subscribers and page views and decide how much they could earn from the site themselves (I would guess that they have a general formula for this). I’ll let you know how it works when my site gets that big.
I only wish I had the time to have several blogs worth a few thousand clams!
Chad Brady recently posted..Your Credit Card Interest Out of Hand?
I bet you could do it Chad! I started with just one, but now I’m involved in 4! After a while, you create systems and have staff writers. It really becomes quite manageable!
I was having this conversation with a friend the other day. I find that blogs that have really personal tones are a bit harder to sell since the original author would need to stay on to keep it authentic,
Marissa @ Thirtsyixmonths recently posted..Think You Can’t Afford To Budget?
Yep. If you’re ok with sticking around with your site forever, then I wouldn’t worry about it, but if you’re looking to sell in a year, then perhaps you should start de-personalizing your site.
The problem with personal sites is that this 6-12 mos multiple cannot be applied for a simple reason: Why would I pay anyone 12x earnings when I know that the personal touch the seller had will be lost taking with it a lot of traffic.
BeatingTheIndex recently posted..Stock Trades: Sold Avenex Energy
Yep yep. That’s why when a blog is sold, typically, they require the original owner to continue writing for it. Otherwise, the value would be way less. That’s just the nature of blogging.
I wonder what these blogs actually go for when they need the original owner to write for them. The Tech Crunch dude ran his thing practically solo for awhile, but he managed to sell big. I guess you would have to start getting more people to write and you phase out your writing.
Travis@ TradeTechSports recently posted..Facebook Stock Ready for IPO
I think you’re exactly right Travis. If you want to sell your website in the future, it’s best to phase yourself out slowly with other writers.