I’m often asked about the value of a website or domain. Most of the time, the question relates specifically to value from an SEO perspective. The truth is, I don’t like to assess domains solely based on search engine optimization — other factors are more important.
Over the past year, we’ve acquired quite a few domains. Two examples are Choklad.se and Brath.com. We paid around 75,000 SEK for Choklad.se and about 10,000 SEK for Brath.com. Neither domain had any real SEO value — there had never been functioning websites on them before. Sure, it’s still beneficial to own domains that match search terms (there are advantages in search results even though Google has reduced their impact somewhat), but that’s not why we chose to buy these. I think it’s easy to understand why we wanted Brath.com.
Choklad.se fits perfectly with one of our projects — we’re building a store that sells chocolate. So the reason we chose to pay that much wasn’t primarily for SEO benefits, but because we believe it will work well as a brand name for a chocolate shop.
However, if a domain does have a history — if it comes with a functioning website — then it’s of course possible to estimate the value of the SEO work that’s been done. A domain with lots of strong backlinks and high trust clearly has inherent value. But I want to highlight something that may sound counterintuitive.
I actually consider strong search rankings to be a negative when I’m looking at buying an online store. A webshop with Google’s trust, strong backlinks, and good revenue — but not generating most of its traffic from search engines — is worth more to me personally than one that relies heavily on Google traffic. The reason is simple: I know how to fix the issues that are preventing traffic from coming via search. That means there’s more upside.
Magnus Bråth
Consultant & Adviser
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.