What are the most important factors when you are buying an ecommerce website?
Posted by : Premraj | Posted on : Wednesday, March 7, 2018
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REDDITShopping is no longer what it used to be. While traditional shops remain a popular choice, there is a whole other side to commerce: online businesses. Many customers prefer to shop from the comfort of their own homes, and it is not hard to understand why.
Because of this, many entrepreneurs have begun to focus on ecommerce websites. They come with less costs, and it can be easier to handle them. However, not everyone is willing to start from scratch. Luckily for these people, it is very easy to buy an ecommerce website.
However, buying a website is definitely an investment, so you should not rush it. There are some things you need to look out for before you buy an online business and we have created a list that should make things easier for you.
Profits, expenses and revenue
The main goal of a business is to maximize its profits, so you should start by taking a look at the financials. Looking at the revenue is not enough, and you will also need to take into account the expenses. It does not matter how much money business generates if the costs are even higher.
Ask for all the income statements and analyze them closely. If you are not sure that you can handle this on your own, you can also ask for the help of an expert. Alternatively, if you use an online ecommerce marketplace like Exchange by Shopify, you should get the financial details automatically. This will make it easier to determine the revenue of the ecommere you are considering purchasing.
Marketing tools and website traffic
For an online business, marketing is one of the main thing that attracts customers. Luckily for you, with an ecommerce website it is really easy to analyze the marketing techniques. Start by looking at the design of the website. Make sure that it is attractive enough, otherwise you might have to hire a web designer to change it, and that could be another investment you may not have been prepared to make.
Backlinking and SEO are two important tools and you should check to see how the website has taken advantage of them. Google will penalize you for poor backlinks and Google rankings will be affected by that. The age of the domain is also important for Google and it could attract bigger rankings. If you are going to buy a website, make sure that it is old enough, otherwise you could have to transfer the store on to another domain.
The site traffic must also be analyzed and you need to make sure that it is high enough. More traffic means more customers, and this is exactly what you want. When you take a look at the traffic, you need to take into consideration more factors. For example, check if the traffic is constant or if it has unusual ups and downs. Then, check if there are many returning customers. It is always a good sign when customers return to the website often, as repeat business is easier to acquire than new customers.
