Fake It, Flip It, Fast Forward To Next Flip

Posted in General, Starting Out, Web Master by DB

Have you ever come across websites for sale that have nothing going for them except impressive traffic statistics? Below is a typical ad you would have definitely come across in one of the many webmaster forums.

Selling my blog/website on custom WordPress themes
Url - SiteForSale.com
Launched on Jan 1, 2008
Unique Visitors/month - 10,000
Total Page Views/month - 25,000

Reason for selling - I have simply no time to dedicate to this awesome site any more as I am too involved in other sites or I am planning to start another exciting venture. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to buy a growing website in a great niche. This is priced aggressively for a quick sale. See attached screenshots of the traffic stats.

The traffic figures alone will make you think Wow!! How did this guy ever manage to pull in that much traffic in such a short time after launch? He must have or be onto the next killer marketing idea. Guess what? In more cases than not, the killer idea is to fake the traffic. Is it difficult to fake traffic? Heck no, just browse some more in the same forum and you will find another ad for 50,000 unique visitors to your website guaranteed for only $20.00

Have you also noticed that there always will be a screenshot of the traffic in the ad that will show you only the unique and total page view numbers? Funnily enough, in more cases than not, it is always StatCounter traffic statistics that you will see.

Does this mean all sites that fit the above description are fakes? Nope, but you can bet quite a few of them are and the trick is to separate the good from the bad. Remember no matter how enticing a particular sale might be, make sure you do the following before you proceed to bid or buy the site.

  1. Thoroughly research the website itself. Often, the structure, layout and the content will tell you if the sole goal was to flip the site in 3 months. Check seller history and past posts on the forum and other popular forums. Many will use the same user id or you can search by the signature details. Use Whois, Google and Yahoo Site Explorer to get a better picture of the website.
  2. Ask the poster for an explanation for the impressive traffic. Was it aggressively marketed over the past few months? Does it have an impressive number of back links to drive click through traffic?
  3. Ask to see the following traffic related statistics. Most analytic tools capture and store this data. It’s only a matter of capturing more screenshots.
    1. Entry Pages
    2. Exit Pages
    3. Bounce Rate or Visit Length
    4. Geography (Country/State/City/ISP)
    5. Traffic Sources
    6. Site Navigation or Visitor Path
  4. If everything checks out, ask if the seller is willing to substitute your tracking code on the website being sold for a few days for you to analyze and validate.

Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned pro, a little leg work will always help you piece together the complete picture and if nothing else will stop you from making an impulse buy. Good luck in your next acquisition.

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