Where Websites Are Sold
Define what this step is meant to prove before collecting documents. Good diligence connects a claim to evidence, identifies what remains uncertain and asks whether the issue can materially affect future cash flow or transferability.
Compare the current state with historical patterns. One month or one screenshot rarely tells the full story. Look for trends, exceptions and dependencies, then ask the seller to explain material changes with evidence that can be independently checked where practical.
Record the conclusion and its effect on the deal. Some findings simply confirm the thesis; others change valuation, transition planning or transaction terms. The purpose is a better-informed decision, not paperwork for its own sake.
Define Your Criteria
Write down acquisition criteria before reviewing opportunities. Include the business models you understand, maximum capital at risk, desired owner workload, minimum evidence requirements and deal-breakers. This prevents an attractive story from quietly changing the strategy after you begin browsing.
Use a two-stage screen. First decide whether the opportunity fits the thesis; only then spend time verifying financials, traffic, customers, operations, technology and legal ownership. Record unresolved questions so enthusiasm does not turn assumptions into facts.
Before making an offer, model a base case and a downside case. Include the cost of replacing seller labor, required reinvestment and plausible declines in a concentrated channel or customer. The purchase should still make sense under assumptions you can defend.
Screen The Business Model
Write down acquisition criteria before reviewing opportunities. Include the business models you understand, maximum capital at risk, desired owner workload, minimum evidence requirements and deal-breakers. This prevents an attractive story from quietly changing the strategy after you begin browsing.
Use a two-stage screen. First decide whether the opportunity fits the thesis; only then spend time verifying financials, traffic, customers, operations, technology and legal ownership. Record unresolved questions so enthusiasm does not turn assumptions into facts.
Before making an offer, model a base case and a downside case. Include the cost of replacing seller labor, required reinvestment and plausible declines in a concentrated channel or customer. The purchase should still make sense under assumptions you can defend.
Verify Revenue
Start with source records and reconcile them across a consistent period. Bank or payment-processor records, accounting exports, marketplace statements and read-only dashboards can each answer different questions. The goal is not simply to reproduce the seller’s profit number, but to understand how revenue is earned, which costs are necessary to keep earning it, and whether reported performance is repeatable.
Normalize unusual items carefully. Owner add-backs, one-time costs, discretionary expenses and recent changes can be legitimate adjustments, but every adjustment should have a reason and supporting evidence. Compare monthly trends, look for seasonality and identify revenue or cost items that changed shortly before the sale process.
Translate findings into the deal. If an important number cannot be verified, model a conservative case rather than assuming the best outcome. Material uncertainty can justify additional diligence, a different price, a holdback or another structure appropriate to the transaction.
Verify Traffic
Review the acquisition engine at channel level rather than relying on total sessions or users. Separate organic search, paid media, direct, referral, email, social and marketplace traffic, then compare their trends over time. A business with several durable channels has a different risk profile from one whose economics depend on a single ranking, ad account or marketplace.
Ask for source access where practical and inspect the pages, campaigns, keywords or products producing the result. Look for sudden changes, tracking gaps, branded versus non-branded demand, paid spend required to sustain revenue and geographic or device concentration. For search-driven sites, examine whether a small number of pages or queries carry a disproportionate share of traffic.
The buyer’s question is transferability: will these acquisition channels still function under new ownership? Document accounts, permissions, creative assets, tracking, historical data and relationships that must transfer. If a channel depends heavily on the seller’s identity or a non-transferable account, value it accordingly.
Check Content And SEO
Review the acquisition engine at channel level rather than relying on total sessions or users. Separate organic search, paid media, direct, referral, email, social and marketplace traffic, then compare their trends over time. A business with several durable channels has a different risk profile from one whose economics depend on a single ranking, ad account or marketplace.
Ask for source access where practical and inspect the pages, campaigns, keywords or products producing the result. Look for sudden changes, tracking gaps, branded versus non-branded demand, paid spend required to sustain revenue and geographic or device concentration. For search-driven sites, examine whether a small number of pages or queries carry a disproportionate share of traffic.
The buyer’s question is transferability: will these acquisition channels still function under new ownership? Document accounts, permissions, creative assets, tracking, historical data and relationships that must transfer. If a channel depends heavily on the seller’s identity or a non-transferable account, value it accordingly.
Assess Transferability
Create an explicit asset schedule instead of assuming that everything used by the business is included. Domains, repositories, source code, content, trademarks, customer data, analytics properties, ad accounts, email lists, social profiles, supplier relationships, licenses and software subscriptions can have different owners and transfer rules.
Confirm control and transferability before closing. Check registrants, account administrators, contractor agreements and relevant license terms. Where an asset cannot transfer directly, identify the replacement process, cost and downtime risk. Credentials should be transferred through a controlled handover rather than informally shared in advance.
Plan acceptance tests for important assets. After transfer, confirm that domains resolve, applications run, analytics collect data, payment flows work and the buyer has administrative control. The purchase agreement and closing checklist should reflect assets that are genuinely critical to continued operation.
Compare Opportunities
Write down acquisition criteria before reviewing opportunities. Include the business models you understand, maximum capital at risk, desired owner workload, minimum evidence requirements and deal-breakers. This prevents an attractive story from quietly changing the strategy after you begin browsing.
Use a two-stage screen. First decide whether the opportunity fits the thesis; only then spend time verifying financials, traffic, customers, operations, technology and legal ownership. Record unresolved questions so enthusiasm does not turn assumptions into facts.
Before making an offer, model a base case and a downside case. Include the cost of replacing seller labor, required reinvestment and plausible declines in a concentrated channel or customer. The purchase should still make sense under assumptions you can defend.