Selling Website Checklist

I’ve been selling off some of the sites that no longer fit into my overall plans, and thought I’d share with you what steps to take before transferring the site to the new owner.

Of course, you need to make sure the funds you get are real. So far, I sold my sites to people I’ve known online for a while, but if you sell through a Facebook group, on Flippa.com or other similar site, you need to make sure you are not dealing with a fraudster (is that even a word?)

Once you have the funds in your hands, its time to start the transfer process.

1. Initiate domain transfer at your domain registrar

The steps you need to take depend on your registrar: my domains are registered with GoDaddy and I needed the buyer’s customer name or number, and the email associated with their account.

Other registrars might need different information for the transfer.

2. Go through the site’s files and delete those you don’t want to pass on

I don’t know about you, but if you owned the site you are selling for any length of time, you’re bound to find things that are not intended for others to see/have: personal pictures, paid plugins or programs, specific landing pages for PPC campaigns you tried, keyword research, and more. I found all of the above on the site I sold today.

Make sure you remove your picture and name from the about page, unless you don’t mind your name associated whit content that don’t align with your values. I made this mistake and to this day, a site I sold still has my name as the author for all posts (even though my picture is no longer there). This site went into a completely different direction that I’d rather not have my name associated with, but they o linger open my emails. A lesson learned the hard way.

3. Download the site to your computer, zip it and send it to your buyer

If it’s a WordPress site, make sure to backup the database, as well as the files.

With the sale of a site, there are other opportunities. For example, if the buyer is a first time website owner, they’ll need a good host, possibly an auto-responder, and sometimes even help getting going.

Make sure to have a list of the services you use, with affiliate links when appropriate, and not only will you help your buyer, but you’ll also make a little more money in the process.

4. Send your SOPs to the new owner

Most new site owners will want to know how you did things. While they may not always continue your best practices, it’s helpful to know your process for posting new content, adding images, promoting your new content on social media, etc.

This will also keep you from getting bombarded with questions later on.

If you sold a site, did you do anything different?