valuation of website based on its ads?

[gabe]

im thinking of making an offer to someone for a website. one thing that would help me make a good offer is knowing how much they earn through their web advertisements. any statistics related to this i could see being useful. the site uses google ads. is there a way to go through google to figure this out, or maybe any other relevant websites?

any help would be appreciated

[jyms]

Maybe hit up Tyson or Eric by PM, this is basically what they do as far as I know.

GL

[BennyLaRue]

There's more to it than just ad rev. You have to consider the domain name worth as well (among other things) and a key consideration beyond ad rev for determining if you should even buy is how the site gets its visitors (direct links, search engines, Google only etc). You'd prefer diversity there and to not be potentially bent over a desk by Google.

If you're not the site owner, Google won't share stats on the site but there is a site that can estimate that sort of thing for you called Alexa.com. Here's FTR on Alexa.

Flopturnriver.com Site Info

[jyms]

LOL at Shana Hiatt in the top 10 searches bringing people to FTR from search engines.

[Donachello]

This is partially what I do for my job. Benny is pretty right for the most part. You can use Google Analytics to track your sites traffic/ relevant search terms/ etc.

But it basically boils down to more visitors = more money, though gone are the days when you can make millions of shitty websites with links to yours to bump your site to the top of Google's search results.

[givememyleg]

more valuable knowing how much traffic, how the traffic is getting there, and where the traffic is coming from. almost any site that gets a lot of traffic and puts google ads up will make money, so knowing the traffic is more valuable. it's also good to know what kind of traffic they're getting. the same people over and over (as you see in many forums), lots of new people over different searches, etc.

[BennyLaRue]

Lithuania loves FTR.

[gabe]

im not interested in making money off this website, i just want to have a better idea what i should offer for it. i can use alexa to see the traffic and where its coming from but im not sure how to turn that into dollar amounts.

for example, propokertools.com provides a basic service and has some ads going. how would i guess at what to offer for that site?

thanks for help so far guys

[Ash256]

gabe, have you considered coming clean and e-mailing the site admin asking for financial and traffic records? If it's being run through a limited company they could e-mail you the accounts direct..

[philly and the phanatics]

Shana Hiatt Fan Site - Shana Hyatt Nude Photo Gallery! i wondered why it was the 7th highest thing that bought people to FTR, so i typed into google and boom...hahha sorry to thread jack but yessss

[kiwiMark]

though gone are the days when you can make millions of shitty websites with links to yours to bump your site to the top of Google's search results.

Quiet man, you'll have me fired.

[BooG690]

LOLOL yup. Those days are gone fo' sho. RIGHT KIWI!?!?!

[spoonitnow]

though gone are the days when you can make millions of shitty websites with links to yours to bump your site to the top of Google's search results.

lol no

[lolzzz_321]

Quiet man, you'll have me fired.

[givememyleg]

Quiet man, you'll have me fired.

in light of this new evidence, i think we might have to change some things !

[IowaSkinsFan]

I'm not sure about this, but I think a standard offer for any business is four times its yearly net profit.

[BennyLaRue]

I'm not sure about this, but I think a standard offer for any business is four times its yearly net profit.

You might be thinking of the 10x valuation rule. It's something that has been a rough guide in land-based business valuation, rental properties in particular. Like most rules of thumb, it suffers from a lack of context and I don't think it translates well into web-based businesses anyway for various reasons, chief among them intellectual property and domain-name valuations.

But yeah, Gabe, Ash is right. Without understanding the business and its books, it's tough to come up with a fair value. You'd probably be better off to say to the owner that you're serious about making an offer and would like to understand more about the site's traffic and financials before coming up with a number that suits you both. Be prepared with specific questions of what you would like to see. If the current owner is professional at all, he or she will be happy to comply. If they have zero interest in selling, you'll know right away and save yourself some time.