How to Identify Digital Assets that Can be the Most Profitable

A digital asset is anything that exists in binary data which is self-contained, uniquely identifiable, and has a value or ability to use. When the term originated in the mid-90s, digital assets were items such as videos, images, audio, and documentation.

Some digital assets are unprofitable and digital assets management becomes important as the owners try to keep their profits high. 

At the same time, some sites generate over $1,000 per second. So how exactly are digital assets with great potential for profit different from those that are more likely to experience losses?

Making money on digital assets is not just luck. To become the owner of a profitable website, you need to know how to manage it, how SEO works, how you can generate money, and much more.

So, let’s see where and how to get an asset, choose the right one, and finally, how to make it bring in some money. 

Where To Look For Digital Assets 

Any digital object of monetary value to its owner may be considered a digital asset. Photos, videos, and documents located and searchable online are ideal if they can be valued in monetary terms. 

However, among all digital assets, websites seem to be the most interesting from a money-making perspective. So how do you become the owner of a website? 

It is possible to search for an asset among the existing full-featured sites and directly ask its owners whether you can buy a website. However, this does not always work. In other cases, in principle, there are two options: create a website and buy it. 

Marketplaces Where Everyone Is Welcomed

Websites can often be bought and sold on online platforms. The most famous of them are Flippa and Empire Flippers. Let’s see how you buy it there.

For example, the Empire Flippers on the marketplace page have a massive list of sites that you can buy. As you can see in the screenshot below, along with the website names, there is necessary information, including niches and potential income from assets.

If you look further, you will see a more detailed description of each site. There are visual charts, confirming the traffic of people and revenue for previous periods. 

Also, these graphs are followed by information on possible risks and skills needed to manage this accurate website.

You see the risks and can calculate how long it will take to get a return on your investment. For example, you can buy the Romance website for $1,327,715, and knowing that your net profit is $44,285, you can calculate that it will take about 30 years to get a return on your investment. 

You can accelerate your ROI time with professional management and explore new monetization options. 

As Neil Patel Digital, co-founder, said, “When you buy a site, you want to avoid buying fully customized websites. These types usually have fewer opportunities for potential growth, and you might notice that their quarterly or annual growth rates are not as high.

Therefore, buying on platforms like Empire Flippers seems easy and straightforward. However, platforms like Empire Flippers welcome everyone from amateurs to real experts to sell websites. It takes some expertise to determine which sites are worthy. 

There are also smaller and less well-known sites. Experts warn that the smaller the market, the more attention may be needed when making a purchase.

Building Assets From Scratch

When you can’t find the perfect suit, you can end up deciding to sew one. The story is the same with websites. 

You may need a website designed and engineered to meet your needs. For those who are ready to immerse themselves in all the details and technical subtleties, it is possible to make a site from scratch using website builders such as WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and others.

Creating, designing, marketing, and managing websites requires a lot of work. You don’t have to go through this on your own. Professional freelancers and digital agencies can solve any issues you face when creating your website. 

Recommended: W&D blog on tech and marketing

Profitable Digital Assets: Is There Any Specific Type? 

Identifying profitable websites before you buy them is a complicated task. It raises the question of whether there is an exact type of site that generates more. Let’s take a closer look at them.

eCommerce Websites 

E-commerce sites seem to be associated with making more money than sites in any other category. Fair enough, because e-commerce is about sales. Under the category of “e-commerce” falls any website where you can buy things.

E-commerce sites can accompany an offline business or become something around which new business is built. 

Is this type of website the most advantageous? It is difficult to say, as much depends on the business concept behind the sale of the web page. 

An excellent example of an e-commerce website is Soap Co.?

They must sell high-quality products. However, what’s more important is that they have a whole history behind these products. 

As Simon Sinek, a British businessman, said, “people don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” So try to focus on that when predicting the profits of an e-commerce site. 

Education And Entertainment Worlds

There are countless ways to learn and have fun. Site owners are building their business on these methods.

Entertainment sites can have different formats: from online casinos to forums with funny stories. Some of these sites are aimed at making a profit. Others are not. 

Those that can make money do it by using advertising, subscriptions, paid content, and other monetization tools. People are willing to pay for what they are entertained with. It makes entertainment sites an excellent nominee for the position of a “profitable type of site.” 

Educational sites can easily compete with entertainment sites in terms of revenue prospects. You can make just as much money from entertainment as from selling masterclasses, unique information, courses, and other educational products and services. 

There are just as many opportunities for growth for entertainment and education sites. For example, the project “Udacity” has grown from a successful online course to one of the largest educational online platforms. This platform is known among online students worldwide and recognized by major companies such as Google or AT&T.

According to the official website, the potential of education on a global scale is “awe-inspiring.” As well as the prospects for a profit of educational sites, one can add.

Business Websites

In 2020, we tend to Google things before making decisions. It includes situations where we need to get information about the company with which we want to collaborate. Today’s companies can’t afford to stay away from the online world. Business websites are usually a critical factor in making the first impression of the business. 

Business sites are closely linked to the business they represent. They may include portfolios, contacts, and other data relating to the company. The acquisition of a client can only be one result of having a fully functional website. With proper management, business sites can be an additional source of revenue for the business.

Profit prospects of business sites are built on the business that is associated with it. They also depend on the business owners’ awareness of how useful websites can be in marketing strategy.

Best For Google AdSense

“Google loves you when everyone else loves you first,” said marketing speaker David Merman Scott. His words explain why the following types of sites do wonders with Google’s free advertising program, like AdSense.

Forum Sites

Building forum sites seems like a naive initiative to give people space to interact. The forums that have managed to create brand and authority reach a high number of people, providing people with discussion topics. While visitors come to the site to express their opinions, they get high income from AdSense. 

There are giants like Quora or Reddit in this niche. Millions of people use these sites to get first-hand information and share ideas in everything from politics to art, from technology to memes. 

A high number of visitors on forums can be monetized in many ways: from affiliate marketing to sales of forum brand products. 

Free Online Tool Sites

Some websites provide free tools: starting from the most simple ones like picture editors and finishing with professional business calculators. 

People like to get things for free, especially useful things. So if the tools are helpful, the site is likely to have many visitors. Thus, the site can potentially be very profitable.

Bloggers Are New Billionaires 

Blogging seems to be a trend today. High school students make pocket money on blogs, and experienced bloggers make millions on their blogs. 

Blogs attract people through unique content that is posted regularly. Advertisers seek to collaborate with bloggers because SEO-optimized blogs attract many people that see and “click” ads.

Another reason is that blogs with an audience have authority in certain areas. Specialized bloggers trust the ads they see on a website they trust. 

A blog with a loyal audience can develop anywhere from product sales to partnerships with large businesses. Let’s look at the example of a sports blog that’s one of the top 50 best blogs in the world. 

The Bleacher Report has gained credibility in sports coverage and thus enjoys many visitors to the site. The size of the site allows its owners to sell products along with sports news.

Thus, blog sites seem to be potentially profitable as long as they have, or may potentially have a target audience.

Mix It Up

Sticking to an exact type can be limiting. Therefore, create a forum for an e-commerce site or start selling products on the forum site. Enlighten or entertain visitors to the forum. Add fun to a business website if it fits a key business concept. 

As long as you can keep things attached to a key concept, keep using creativity to make the site grow.

Fun fact: Some say there are approximately 180 million businesses worldwide.

How To Choose An Asset With Best Profit Potential

There is no exact list of features that you can see about the site to call it “potentially profitable.” However, there are some signs and nuances that can give you a clearer idea of future earnings.

Most checklists for website buyers include:

• Site history
• The platform used (maintenance costs and other features and problems)
• Visitor history
• Potential risks and opportunities
• Expected return
• Detailed website data
• Reasons for sale

You can never find too much information about the website you are going to buy. Consult carefully for all the possible details.

Experienced marketer Chris Dyson gives specific advice on buying websites based on the number of people visiting the site: “First, check for signs of previous fines. At the stage of an intricate check, I would ask the seller many questions about any noticeable errors in the movement of the analysts’ accounts.” 

Secondly, check the link profile of the site – mainly on ordinary penguin-style links, such as low-quality PBN, a large number of links in directories, or links that use the same anchor text. 

Third, content: The two main things here are low-quality content that can be a problem for high-quality content that can be used to work with the site. 

You may also be interested in hearing a podcast about buying websites shared by expert Chris Guthrie.

When Having A Website Remember: Monetizing Is An Art

Choosing an asset that can be potentially profitable is just the beginning of a long and exciting journey to make money. It is followed by developing a monetization strategy and managing the website.

When choosing a site, you should keep in mind approximately possible ways to make it profitable and how to make the site grow and become a more robust asset one day.

Good Old Ways To Generate Money

There are widely used tools to generate money on a site. It means that they have proven to be effective and that there is a lot of information on how to set up these tools and make them work.

Affiliate Marketing

How it works: you redirect visitors to your site somewhere else and get a commission for it. 

Affiliate marketing works in two ways:

• CPC (cost per link): the website owner gets money each time someone “clicks” on an affiliate link
• CPA (cost per acquisition): the website owner gets money each time someone buys the product or service of the affiliate partner

In terms of development, partner/affiliate marketing is quite simple. The main issue is to attract visitors that can be used to create partnership offers. Affiliate marketing is an effective tool when people trust the one who redirects them.

Ad Space, Sponsored Posts And Open Advertisement 

Selling advertising space is as easy in terms of setting up as partner marketing. If you have a space on your site where advertising will look appropriate, it can bring you passive income. However, as with affiliate offers, selling advertising space brings you money when many people are visiting the site.

Sponsored messages and open advertising is an option often used by websites with loyal audiences. Brands are willing to pay extra money if they know that promoting their products is likely to work.

Sales 

Depending on the specifics of the site, there are different ways to attract sales. Here are some of them:

• Sell products related to the content of the site, enter into partnerships with companies that produce something that may interest your audience
• Sell out 
• To sell information (checklists, webinars, consultations).

Donations

Donations work well for sites with a loyal audience. 

The site’s content can be so useful that its users might be willing to express their support or admiration through donations. 

A great example of using donations as a monetizing tool is the Patreon website. 

This platform offers membership for artists who can be supported by visitors to the site through donations. 

A win-win deal: the website and artists get money, and visitors get content and can show their support through donations.

Subscription And Membership

Subscription and membership fees come into force in terms of creating a stable income for site owners. 

Just as people used to pay for regular newspaper delivery, now they are willing to pay for a subscription to unique content (VIP content, special offers, and anything you can think of for sale).

Add Some Creativity

All these tools are necessary, but there is still so much room to come up with new monetization options. 

First, consider how your site can be useful, and perhaps you can come up with premium content ideas or master classes and consulting projects based on your website.

Keep an eye on what other sites do to make themselves attractive, “sticky,” and, most importantly, profitable. 

To Sum It Up 

Identifying the most profitable assets requires more than a checklist of characteristics that an asset should possess. We are talking about predicting the life of something that works on the Web, and the Web is an ever-changing place. 

What seems to be profitable today can lead to losses tomorrow. Therefore, to make the most effective decisions regarding digital assets, you should accumulate experience in all the sections that you are discussing and always be ready to learn new things on your way.

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