In the wake of the recent blog selling frenzy that has been going on, with blogs like Blogging Fingers, One Man’s Goal and most recently Cash Quests all being sold, it seems to be an appropriate time to discuss some of the elements to consider if you are in the market looking to purchase a blog. While all of the aforementioned are blogs in the Make Money Online genre, the following principles to consider can and should be applied to blogs in all niches.

Does the blog have an income stream?

Obviously this is one of the most important points to consider. Shelling out thousands of dollars for a blog probably isn’t worth it unless the blog has an established stream of income. Ideally, you would want to make sure that the income has been continuously climbing, or is at the very least stable. If the income is decreasing, that is never a good sign, unless you can identify the reasons for it, and you are sure that you can turn the tide.

Where does the income come from?

Contrary to what seems to popular belief now a days, this is relevant. If the majority of income comes from sponsored posts, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that the income is not passive (the income is directly proportionate to the amount of hours you put in), and that it will take some work to sustain. This again means that it is not quite as attractive as income from for instance various CPM and CPC ad networks.

That’s not to say blogs that make a lot of money from paid posts aren’t attractive however, and with all the fuzz about it these days, you might even be able to make a scoup by purchasing blogs that utilize this revenue model, simply because their prices are drastically reduced at the moment.

Are the stats impressive?

How many people visit the blog every day? How long do they stay at the blog on average each time? What type of relationship does the visitors have to the blog? Does it have any religious followers who worship the server the blog is hosted on? Research as many aspects of a blogs stats as you possibly can before deciding whether or not you purchase it, because these things will tell you more than the reported income does. It will give you insight into how much money the blog could be making, and should be making once you take over!

Where do visitors come from?

The most important aspect of the stats is how the people who read the blog find it. If the visitors come mostly from constant social media marketing efforts made by the current owner, it reduces the value of the blog. This is because you have no guarantees that you can continue to experience similar type of success with social media marketing through your own profiles.

If most of the traffic is organic, meaning that it comes from search engines, it puts the blog in an excellent position for future success. This is also a bit of a catch 22 scenario, because if neither of these promotion venues are utilized properly by the current owner, it means that there is great room to grow as well. Before buying, see if you can identify why the blog doesn’t rank particularly well in search engines, and if you believe you can do something about it, well then you probably have a winner on your hands.

What type of blog is it?

What this means is that you should examine closely the contents of the blog, and the behaviour of its readers, especially in comments. One bad mistake people have made in the recent past is buying single-author blogs driven by strong and visible founders. Blogs like these should be avoided at all costs, because the readers typically see the author as the main attraction of the blog, and the actual content provided doesn’t really make that much of a difference.

An excellent example of this is Wisdump. It was written and maintained by the famous Paul Scrivens of 9rules, and when it was first sold by him, the numbers plummeted. Within three weeks, the amount of RSS subscribers had been cut in half, and comments on the posts by the new writers were mostly in a negative tone. It didn’t take long before the new owner decided to cut his losses, and the blog again switched hands less than a month after the first sale.

If the contents of a blog is mostly educational and provides more value to its readers in forms of guides, tutorials, knowledge and descriptions as opposed to opinions, it is one of the first signs of a good investment object. Obviously a blog maintained by several writers generally makes for a better purchase than those relying on the voice of a single person, unless you are able to convince that person to continue to write after you take over.

Which niche does the blog operate in?

The niche the blog lives within will give you further information on how to interpret the stats, which you should have already examined closely. If the niche is big and host to a lot of high profile blogs, 500 visitors per day might not be as impressive as it first sounded. If the blog is focused around high paying keywords where advertising opportunities are few and far between, 500 visitors per day can be pure gold.

You should also consider the niche and whether or not you find it interesting. Most blog readers don’t stay at a blog for too long unless the writer is able to display a true passion for the topic he is writing about. Of course, you could always outsource the writing, but that will cost you, and should therefore be factored into the equation of whether or not to buy as well.

Are you still thinking about buying?

If you are, make sure that you have examined your prospect thoroughly, and especially all the points pointed out above. In closing it is worth mentioning that gut feeling counts for something too. If you have researched every aspect of the prospect, and you still have problems deciding, look inside yourself and see what your gut tells you!

Do you really believe that buying this blog could be a good investments that with time and effort can return your money and then some? If that is the case, you should probably go for it, and if not, well then you are probably still right. Buying a blog rarely means that you can just sit back and see the money return to you, but if you are willing to put in the hours and work consistently, chances are the project will eventually give you a nice return rate.

About the author

Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.