How Are Websites Making Money?

How Are Websites Making Money?A look at $30 Million in Website Sales

Affiliate Summit West 2013Andrew Knibbe – Operations Manager, Flippa.com

How Are Websites Making Money?

How Are Websites Making Money?• Approach• Average Site Profile• Niches• Site Types/Models• Advertising• Affiliate Programs• Platforms• Questions

Approach

• Transaction data for all established websites sold in 2011 and 2012

• Over 8,000 transactions worth almost $30 Million• Mix of seller provided and directly sourced data• Focus on median performance

2 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 12 - 16 – 40 [mean=10, median=6]• Compared changes between 2011 and 2012


Average Site Profile in 2012

The Baseline• Monthly Revenue: $133 12%• Monthly Uniques: 2,097 38%• Monthly Revenue per Unique: $0.04 15%• Sale Price: $493 1%• Sale Multiple: 8 x monthly revenue 21%• Built on a standard CMS• Single Monetization Method


Tier 1 Niches – 70% of Sales Volume

Internet MarketingEntertainmentHealth & BeautyHomeInternet ServicesTechnologyHobbiesBusinessTravelGaming

Tier 1 Niches – Capital/Revenue Yield

Internet Marketing

Entertainment

Health & Beauty

Home

Internet Services

Technology

Hobbies

Business

Travel

Gaming

$- $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200 $1,400 $1,600

$- $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 $400

Series4 Series1

Median Sales Price

Median Monthly Revenue

Tier 1 Niches – Traffic Yield

Internet Marketing

Entertainment

Health & Beauty

Home

Internet Services

Technology

Hobbies

Business

Travel

Gaming

- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

$0.00 $0.02 $0.04 $0.06 $0.08 $0.10 $0.12 $0.14 $0.16

Series3 Series2

Median Monthly Uniques

Median Visitor Value

Tier 1 Niches – wheretogetmovingboxes.com

• Home Niche

• ShareASale

• PageRank 1

• $69 Monthly Revenue

• 301 Month Uniques

• Sold for $747 (24 bids)

Tier 2 Niches – 24% of Sales Volume

Employment & EducationElectronicsFinanceSocial MediaFamilyNewsSportAutomotive

Tier 2 Niches – Capital/Revenue Yield

Employment & Education

Electronics

Finance

Social Media

Family

News

Sport

Automotive

$- $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200 $1,400 $1,600

$- $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 $400 $450 $500

Series4 Series1

Median Sales Price


Tier 2 Niches – Traffic Yield

Employment & Ed-ucation

Electronics

Finance

Social Media

Family

News

Sport

Automotive

- 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000

$0.00 $0.05 $0.10 $0.15 $0.20 $0.25

Series3 Series2



Tier 2 Niches – iKidApps.com

• Family Niche

• Link Share (Apple)

• PageRank 4

• $1,300 Monthly Revenue

• 19,000 Month Uniques

• Sold for $19,100 (35 bids)


Site Type Performance

BlogEcommerceDirectoryServicesSocialForumMarketplaceReviews

Site Types– Capital/Revenue Yield

Blog

Ecommerce

Directory

Services

Social

Forum

Marketplace

Reviews

$- $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200 $1,400 $1,600 $1,800 $2,000

$- $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900

Series4 Series1

Median Sales Price


Site Types – Traffic Yield

Blog

Ecommerce

Directory

Services

Social

Forum

Marketplace

Reviews

- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000

$0.00 $0.10 $0.20 $0.30 $0.40 $0.50 $0.60 $0.70 $0.80

Series3 Series2



Site Types – BestHydrationPacks.com

• Review Site

• Amazon Associates

• PageRank 1


• 870 Month Uniques

• Sold for $210 (19 bids)


Advertising Performance

Google AdsenseBuySell AdsInfolinksChitikaDoubleClick.NetOpenads/OpenX

Ad Performance – Capital/Revenue Yield

Google Adsense

BuySell Ads

Infolinks

Chitika

DoubleClick.Net

Openads/OpenX

$- $2,000 $4,000 $6,000 $8,000 $10,000 $12,000

$- $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 $3,500

Series4 Series1

Median Sales Price


Ad Performance – Traffic Yield

Google Adsense

BuySell Ads

Infolinks

Chitika

DoubleClick.Net

Openads/OpenX

- 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000

$0.00 $0.01 $0.02 $0.03 $0.04 $0.05 $0.06 $0.07 $0.08 $0.09 $0.10

Series3 Series2



Ad Performance – CrispMe.com

• BuySell Ads

• PageRank 3



• Sold for $9,450 (55 bids)


Affiliate Performance

Commission JunctionAmazon AssociatesSkimLinksLink ShareCPAleadShareASaleClickBankAffiliate Buzz

Aff. Performance – Capital/Revenue Yield

Commission Junction

Amazon Associates

SkimLinks

Link Share

CPAlead

ShareASale

ClickBank

Affiliate Buzz

$- $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000

$- $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1,000

Series4 Series1

Median Sales Price


Affiliate Performance – Traffic Yield

Commission Junction

Amazon Associates

SkimLinks

Link Share

CPAlead

ShareASale

ClickBank

Affiliate Buzz

- 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000

$0.00 $0.02 $0.04 $0.06 $0.08 $0.10 $0.12 $0.14 $0.16 $0.18 $0.20

Series3 Series2



Affiliate Performance – LoveTheOutdoors.com

• Amazon Associates

• PageRank 3

• $1,200 Monthly Revenue


• Sold for $37,100 (32 bids)


Platform Performance

WordPressJoomla!vBulletinDrupalBloggertumblrPligg

Platform – Capital/Revenue Yield

WordPress

Joomla!

vBulletin

Drupal

Blogger

tumblr

Pligg

$- $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 $6,000 $7,000

$- $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1,000

Series4 Series1

Median Sales Price


Platform – Traffic Yield

WordPress

Joomla!

vBulletin

Drupal

Blogger

tumblr

Pligg

- 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000

$0.00 $0.02 $0.04 $0.06 $0.08 $0.10 $0.12 $0.14 $0.16 $0.18

Series3 Series2



Platform– 3ROMS.com

• vBulletin

• CPAlead

• PageRank 3



• Sold for $3,000 (6 bids)


Questions – Take-Outs• Website performance down in 2012 compared to 2011• Offset by more effective monetization in 2012• Median sale prices have held steady• Not all Niches were created equal: Finance, Business,

Home, Entertainment/Gaming and Family niches tend to outperform the market

• Review sites are seeing a performance comeback• Ad revenue is generally in decline• Affiliate revenue is generally growing• Wordpress growth in unstoppable. Keep an eye on Tumblr

Questions

How Are Websites Making Money?Contact Flippa• Flippa.com/blog• facebook.com/flippamarketplace• @flippa• [email protected]

Contact Andrew• [email protected]• linkedin.com/in/andrewknibbe• @andrewknibbe