If you have a passion for transforming under-optimized websites into thriving online spaces, just like me, blog flipping might be the perfect venture for you.
When I first knew about the world of blog flipping in June 2020, I was quite excited. I thought to myself “this is the perfect way to make money online!”
So, what exactly is blog flipping? Well, in its simplest form, it’s the process of buying and selling blogs.
As a blogger flipper, your job would be to purchase under-valued websites with low traffic and turn them into profitable businesses by implementing SEO tactics, creating content, and driving traffic.
If you are looking to start in the blog flipping industry, read on to learn more about essential tips that will help you maximize your profits.
Understanding Blog Flipping
Blog flipping is the process of buying, improving, and selling websites or blogs. It’s a popular online business model that generates profit by monetizing and increasing the value of the purchased site.
Normally, blog flipping strategies revolve around three main stages:
- Purchase or create: Identifying and purchasing an undervalued blog or website with potential, or, create one from scratch and fill it with content.
- Improvement: Updating and optimizing the site to increase its attractiveness, traffic, and profitability.
- Sale: Selling the improved blog at a higher price than it was purchased for, depending on the site’s potential and performance.
Although it looks very simple with just three steps, the workload behind it is quite extensive. Unless you have a team to help you with each step, it can take a considerable amount of time and effort to complete the project.
Choose Your Niche Strategically
When it comes to blog flipping, choosing a niche is an important step as it can affect the success of your venture.
If you choose a highly competitive niche, it’s going to be much harder for you to rank well in search engine results and generate organic traffic.
On the other hand, picking a niche that has fewer competitors but high potential profits will make your blog flipping journey significantly easier.
Consider researching the different niches available and doing some market research to determine the most profitable niche for you.
In the worst case, if you cannot come up with any profitable niches, start with blogs using PLR content. It is a great way to test the water and get your feet wet before investing in more expensive projects.
Find & Evaluate Potential Blogs
Finding potential blog opportunities can be a long and challenging process but keep in mind that this step is extremely important for your success.
You must take the time to evaluate each opportunity carefully before deciding whether or not it is worth purchasing. Consider factors such as the blog’s domain authority, potential for monetization, and content quality.
The best way to evaluate a blog opportunity is by analyzing its search engine rankings and analytics. This will help you determine how well the site is performing in terms of SEO, traffic volume, and page views — all important information for making an informed decision.
Effective Content Improvement
Quality content is the backbone of every successful website. Even in this time of AI-generated content, you should strive to create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience.
When it comes to blog flipping, improving the content is often one of the most important steps in increasing a website’s value.
Investing in quality content will make your site more attractive and boost its search engine rankings, resulting in higher traffic and better monetization potential. Here’s a quick check list for you to follow:
- Identify the target audience: Understand the demographics, preferences, and needs of your blog’s visitors. It will help you create content that speaks to them.
- Analyze existing content: Evaluate the quality, relevance, and optimization of existing posts. This step is often called content audit, and you can easily get the point here.
- Create a content plan: Outline a plan to improve, update, or create new content for the blog. A proper content plan will help you stay organized and on-track.
- Write informative and engaging posts: Produce content that appeals to your target audience and offers value. It can be both content for the blog itself and SoMe content that can help you reach more people.
- Edit and proofread: Ensure all content is free of errors, and follows a consistent style and tone. If AI-generated content is your go-to solution, make sure to manually review it before publishing.
As you can see, all these behind-the-scene content strategies will make a big difference in increasing the value of your blog flipping project. And yes, of course, it takes time and effort to do all of this, but it will pay off when you see the results.
SEO Optimization
SEO is essential to increase organic traffic and improve the blog’s visibility on search engines. Even a brand new domain with DA 1, with the right SEO approach, you can still rank in Google.
When optimizing a blog for search engines, there are several best practices you should follow to make sure all your keyword research and content writing hard work pays off:
- Do keyword research: Identify relevant and high-traffic keywords for your blog’s content. Long-term keywords are always a good choice if you’re aiming for long-term organic traffic.
- Optimize on-page elements: Ensure title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and body content include your main keywords. It’s free, and you can do it altogether with content improvement.
- Improve site speed: Reduce page loading times to keep users engaged and improve search engine rankings. If you’re not tech-savvy to fix all these yourself, a simple solution is WP Rocket plugin to help you with it.
- Build quality backlinks: Obtain relevant and authoritative inbound links to enhance the blog’s credibility. HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a great service for this purpose. You can also ask other bloggers for guest post opportunities.
Bring in the Money
Finally, after all the hard work of flipping a blog is done, it’s time to monetize it and start generating profits. There are many ways to monetize a website, depending on your industry and target audience: AdSense, affiliate marketing, selling products or services, and more.
Take the time to research each monetization approach and determine which one is best for your blog. Be sure to optimize all the elements of your website before launching any money-making strategies — this will help ensure success.
A blog generating $100 per month can be sold x24 or x36 multiple of its monthly income. The higher the blog’s performance, the bigger the multiple you can get for it. Feel motivated?
Selling Strategies
Now we’re talking. After all these hard work, your most important task is to successfully sell the blog.
There are several ways you can go about it: broker websites, classified ads, affiliates, social media, and even forums. You might also explore hiring a professional list-broker if your budget allows for it — they have access to huge databases of potential buyers.
- Set a fair valuation: Determine a realistic price for your blog based on factors like traffic, revenue, and growth potential. Generally, a starter site with neither traffic nor income can be sold for as low as x3 of its yearly expenses.
- Advertise on online marketplaces: List the blog on popular platforms like Flippa or Empire Flippers to reach a wide audience. You as a seller have to do due diligence as well since not all buyers are reliable.
- Reach out to buyers: Most importantly, don’t forget to actively promote the blog through marketing channels such as email campaigns, social media ads, or paid search. Keep in mind that this only works if you’re about to sell a high-performing blog.
- Negotiate: Be prepared to negotiate with potential buyers and close deals quickly. The longer you or the buyer waits, the more likely one or both of you will change their minds.
When selling your blog, remember that things can change quickly. A new Google algorithm update or a viral post can dramatically change the blog’s performance, and your valuation. Be prepared for anything, do the research and adjust the selling price accordingly.
My Thoughts on Blog Flipping
Blog flipping is an exciting and potentially rewarding business venture, but it requires careful planning and execution. In the last three years, I’ve seen many bloggers succeed in selling their blogs for a good price.
However, I’ve also seen too many blog flippers fail due to poor planning and unrealistic expectations. Blog flipping is not a get-rich-quick scheme — it requires hard work, dedication, and proper strategies to be successful.
But if you can commit to the process, the rewards can be substantial. Just remember: a successful blog flipping project is all about planning, optimizing, and selling. Happy flipping!