There comes a time in every bloggers life when the question is asked, ‘how much is my blog worth?’
Over at Problogger, Darren says:
Ultimately a blog is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it – a figure that is based upon many things including it’s income (current and projected), it’s influence, it’s dependency upon the blogger (and whether they’ll continue once it’s sold), it’s incoming links and SE ranking, it’s longevity, type of readership (ie search engine, loyal readers, RSS) the blog’s growth curve, domain name value, traffic, the topic etc.
Many have tried to calculate a formula for what a blog is worth, but none have been able to measure a sites real value.
When a marketer is looking to buy your blog, there are many questions to answer:
- What industry is the blog?
- Is the domain easy to remember?
- Does the domain receive “type in traffic”? (traffic without a referral, either directly from bookmark or typed in to the address bar) If so, how much?
- How many links and what are their value? (usually Google blogsearch, Ask, and Yahoo are used… never regular Google. Technorati may also be used in some instances)
- Are you selling the content or just the domain?
If the content:- What is the current traffic?
- How many subscribers do you have?
- What is the percent of return visitors?
- How many comments does your blog receive?
- How much do you make per month from advertising?
- Is there growth opportunity?
A general thumb of rule is to start your negotiations at 9 months current worth and negotiate from there. If your blog has huge growth opportunity, 15 months is the general answer; in some instances, websites have gone for far more.
From there, you add in or subtract according to your answers given to the above questions.
Although, no matter what scale you use, you must go back to the question, ‘how much do you value the blog?‘ If an offer is made and you feel it is too low, it is too low. There isn’t a measurement or calculation that can tell you different.
Written: Sep 30, 2008
Dennis Edell
October 1, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
Interesting stuff. I know this question is asked repeatedly on a few forums I frequent.
Tom - StandOutBlogger.com
October 4, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
It is also important to choose the right place to list your blog, because some marketplaces command higher prices that others.
Geoserv
October 4, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
STUMBLED and Engaged!
Good post, its hard to evaluate a blogs worth especially if it your own.
I think my blog is worth about $100,000.
Twinks
October 5, 2008 @ 6:11 am
hmmm…interesting Q.
I wonder how much my blog worth..
Great post!
go green
October 10, 2008 @ 8:41 am
Great list of things that if you want to sell your site or get advertisers on your site. I would hope my blog is worth a lot, but it is worth more than just a monetary value. It really gives me a place to go and write on topics that interest me.