A few months ago I wrote up a series of beginner articles for anyone entering the online world. Whilst they are slightly out-of-date they have some great infomation for beginners and explain many terms, technologies and methods which most people now take for granted. So If you are new or just want a refresher make sure you check out my Newbie Series. This one is about buying a website.

So you’ve got some money and seen somewhere that established moneymaking websites are quite inexpensive and can be very profitable. Well here is a beginners guide to all the information, terminology, hints, tips and advice you will need when buying an established website.
The number one problem for new and old website owners.
Before I start I will outline the number 1 problem most web owners face. That is buying a website that does not interest you. If you buy a website because its making good money or any other reason but you don’t understand or care about the topic of your website, you are committing business suicide. This is because you will lose interest quickly and will not put the necessary time into making a successful website.
Three things you should know before you buy.
Like any business you cannot run a website without some training, research and education. Even if you are going to pay someone to run it you should at least know what they doing and more importantly why they are doing it. There are three basic lessons you should learn:
1. Basic HTML. HTML is the code a website is written in. It is the bricks and mortar of your website. You should know the basics so you can make simple updates yourself. Things like updating contact details, adding images, and adding written content can be done with a little work. Besides you wouldn’t run a factory if you did not know how it works right? Well this is no different.
2. Search Engine Optimization. (SEO). SEO is the work a Webmaster does on their website so that it ranks high in search engines. Why is this important? Because 70% of web traffic comes from search engines. So if you can’t be found in the search engine you are missing out on a whole lot of business. Check out our SEO articles to learn all you need to know.
3. Internet Marketing. Internet marketing is a whole different ball game to business marketing. There are hundreds of different ways to market your site online and many of them are free or cheap. Internet marketing and SEO works hand in hand to get people to visit your website. Remember no visitors equals no income. For comprehensive guides to marketing see our internet marketing guides.
So now your ready for a website which one do you pick.
Now that you have some knowledge of how to run a website (experience is always best) how do you pick which one you want. Well there are several things to look for and everyone has their own opinion on which is best. Generally though as I said before you want a site that interests you, and also you want a site that compliments your weaknesses. So if you have no idea about getting visitors buy a site that already gets heaps of visitors. Here are some of the key things to look at:
·  Google Page rank
·  The number of Incoming Links
·  The Sites Search engine Ranking
·  Number of Visitors
·  Income
·  Amount of Content
·  The Design

I’ve picked one to buy, now what.
So you have got your heart set on a certain website. Now you need to buy it. Well you have two options an escrow payment or upfront payment. I recommend to escrow a payment to the seller. An escrowed payment means the seller doesn’t actually receive the money until you receive all your goods or services. Once payment is escrowed the seller should give you any of the following that is applicable to their site (now your site):
·  All files including pages, images and scripts
·  Transfer hosting and domain into your name
·  Transfer affiliate accounts, website accounts, or any other affiliated account with the site.
·  Any email list, marketing material, and marketing information.
·  Absolutely anything related to your website.
Congratulations you are now an official webmaster/website owner. But this is just the first step. You will quickly realize there is still so much to learn. Good luck with your business endeavor and remember “Nothing comes without hard work”.

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