Deciding whether to sell your blog or just shut it down is a big decision. It is easier to just shut it down and be done with it, but what if it is worth money? If you are like a lot of blog owners, you have invested a great deal of time and energy into the creation and upkeep of your blog, and the idea of simply shutting it down is almost heartbreaking. Buying and selling blogs is still a somewhat new and unpredictable market; however, there are certain criteria that buyers will tend to look for when deciding if they want to purchase. If your blog meets these requirements, then simply shutting it down would be a mistake.
Ideally, you should sell a blog at the height of its popularity. When the blog is receiving a considerable amount of traffic and advertising revenue, it obviously will be worth the most to potential buyers. However, your decision to stop operating your blog may have come about because of personal matters, boredom or simply a lack of time to continue with it, so you might not necessarily be able to sell at the optimal time. This does not necessarily mean that deleting your blog is your only option.
Where does your blog rank on major search engines? The closer it is to the top of the results page, the more money your blog could be worth. Buyers will want to know where it ranks to determine how much work, if any, they will have to do to improve its rank. Buyers know it can take months and sometimes years of work for a blog to rank high in its niche, so if your blog is already there, it might be worth a significant amount of money.
Obviously, the amount of traffic your blog gets each day greatly affects how much it is worth. This goes hand in hand with its search engine rank and generally follows the same criteria. If you have consistently provided valuable content for your readers, you likely have built up a loyal following that visits your blog regularly -- something that buyers value highly.
Individuals interested in purchasing your blog will also want to know how much revenue it earns on a daily and monthly basis. Any blog can be improved to provide the owner with more revenue, but buyers will want to know the current revenue before make an offer. Are you involved in several affiliate or advertising programs that generate a substantial income? If you are considering selling your blog, you will need to have all relevant facts and figures ready to show potential buyers.
Do you have a unique name for your blog? Sometimes the URL itself is worth more to buyers than the actual content. Of course, it is up to you to decide if you want to sell everything as a package or to sell just the name. Many different sites are available to help you market and sell either a domain name alone or an entire blog. No matter which route you choose, you should not be too quick to simply shut down your blog. The work you have put into it could be worth more than you realize.