5 Factors to Calculate Your Blog’s Worth

There are many page rank checkers online that will also provide you with a “value” or “worth” of your blog, many of which you can show off with a special button directly on your blog.  Unfortunately, most of the valuations those websites provide seem overly generous.  How then can you calculate the value of your blog if you want to sell it? 

The best way to start is by determining the your blog’s value using the five factors listed below.  Create a written report that clearly outlines your blog using the five factors below, and you’ll not only be able to determine its worth, but you’ll also have something to point to when a potential buyer asks you how you came up with the dollar amount you’re asking for.

1. Blog Assets: Just like a business has assets, your blog has assets.  Some of those assets are tangible such as your blog’s domain name and the work that went into designing, setting up and building content and functionality on your blog.  However, intangible assets should also be considered.  If you’ve developed a strong brand name and reputation for your blog, then that needs to be factored into the value of your blog assets as well.  Think of it this way.  Your blog assets should equate to the amount of money it would cost to rebuild your blog from scratch to the point it is now.
2. Marketing Assets: Your marketing assets includes anything that you’ve worked to create that can immediately be used by a new owner to market your blog such as subscribers, email lists (they should be current and accurate), etc.
3. Revenue Stream: If you’re earning money through advertising or other monetization efforts on your blog that a new owner can continue to use, then those income methods should be included in your blog’s worth.  Even if a new owner can’t simply pick up on the same income stream, if he or she can duplicate it (e.g., setting up their own Google AdSense account), then you should include it in your blog’s worth.
4. Traffic: A blog is only as strong as the traffic it receives, so make sure you include the amount of traffic your blog receives into the calculation of your blog’s worth.  Don’t stop with the number of page views.  Review your traffic from a variety of angles to develop the most comprehensive picture of who is visiting your blog and what they’re doing once they get there. 
5. Online Presence: If your blog is known around the Internet by name (not by your personal name but by the blog’s name) such as user groups, forums and so on, then that presence should be factored into your blog’s worth calculation because it translates into more places that a new owner can immediately pick up continued marketing opportunities.  Also, include your blog’s Technorati, Alexa and Google page ranks when you’re calculating your blog’s online presence as well as pages where your blog shows up high in Google or other search engines searches for specific keywords.  All of these factors are things that a new owner can leverage immediately. 

Once you have a clear document prepared that provides evidence of your blog’s current and future potential, you can set a price you feel is reasonable and back it up with your proof of worth document. 

Do you have any other suggestions for calculating a blog’s worth?

Written by Susan Gunelius from Women On Business
Posted on March 24th, 2008 and filed under Making Money
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