How to sell a website: from preparing the listing to the handover

How to sell a website with an offer the buyer understands

First decide whether you are selling just an established website or a website together with a business. In the first case, the look, content and features matter most to the buyer. In the second, they will also want to understand the results, costs, partners and day-to-day duties. Do not let your description suggest they are buying a developed business if you are offering a new project that has no users or revenue yet.

Make a list of what the price includes. That could be the domain, the website files, the database, texts, photos, the logo and editing instructions. For each part, check whether you can hand it over and under what terms. List the exceptions separately: subscriptions, personal accounts or materials for which the buyer needs their own licence.

Prepare the website for a real review

Open the website on a phone and a computer as if you were seeing it for the first time. Go through the menu, photos, buttons and forms. Send a test enquiry and check that it arrives at the intended address. For a store, walk through the path from a product to a completed order in a suitable test mode. If a feature still needs developing, say so in the description.

Prepare a few clear screenshots showing the important pages and different features. A short video can show the admin area or how it is used, but before recording, remove personal data and login details from the frame. The public presentation should help the buyer understand the product. Keep documentation with sensitive information for a controlled exchange with a serious, interested buyer.

Put together the data you will be able to show

• Basic information: address, purpose, technology and year of launch.
• A list of pages and features, with known limitations.
• The costs of the domain, hosting, add-ons and maintenance.
• An overview of traffic and results for a clearly marked period, if they exist.
• A list of the access and materials included in the handover.
• Short instructions for the new owner’s most common tasks.

If the website earns money, separate revenue from costs and explain what you do personally. Show continuity across the months, rather than only your most successful period. If there is no reliable traffic data, say that it is not available. Do not present an estimate from an external tool as a measured number of users. A clear answer about the limits of the data is better than a claim you cannot confirm.

To let a buyer check reports in Google Analytics, you can consider the Viewer role, which allows viewing data without editing rights. Give access only to the relevant project, after judging what is needed for the check. Google describes the roles and restrictions in its documentation; there is no need to send an interested person the password to your Google account.

Source: Google Analytics: roles and access restrictions (new tab)

Write a concrete description and justify the price

A good description answers four questions: who the website is for, what it already does, what is included and what the buyer needs to adapt. State the reason for selling simply and honestly. A sentence saying you are focusing on another project is often enough. Avoid promises of future earnings or first place in search engines that are not part of something you can reliably deliver.

Link the price to the size of the project, its condition and its confirmed results. If a buyer suggests a lower amount, ask them to explain what the offer lacks for them. Sometimes the scope of the handover needs clarifying, and sometimes the price really does not match the extra work needed. Keep notes of the agreed items so that different conversations do not create different expectations.

List an established project on Prodaja sajtova

On the “Sell your website” page you can send the project’s address and details of the offer. The website must exist online, load normally and have a tidy look and basic features. It can be new or have a history behind it. You set the price, and after the review we clarify details, if needed, before it appears in the listings.

If you are offering a business too, choose the matching option and describe exactly what is included in the sale. An application on its own is not a completed sale. Before an agreement, the content of the offer, the responsibilities and how the deal will be carried out need to be pinned down. That way the buyer understands from the start whether they are looking at a ready foundation for their own idea or at taking over an existing business.

Agree the order of payment and handover

Before the handover, write down the agreed amount, the method and timing of payment, the list of assets, the deadlines and the criteria for checking. Agree who handles the migration and how long the agreed help lasts. When selling an active business, clarify ongoing orders, subscriptions and obligations. Settle the specific contractual and tax points with an appropriate professional, according to what is actually being sold.

Handing over the domain is a separate step. For Serbian .rs and .срб domains, RNIDS distinguishes a change of registrant — the person the national domain is registered to — from a change of accredited registrar. For an agreed change of registrant, contact the accredited registrar that manages the domain; other domain endings follow the rules of their own registry. Changing the hosting alone does not take care of this part of the handover.

Source: RNIDS: registration and domain name changes (new tab)

Keep the agreed backup, check the website at its destination and go through the key features with the buyer. Once the handover is confirmed, arrange access as agreed. In Search Console, removing a previous owner also requires checking the remaining verification tokens, because they can be used to verify ownership again. Before removing one, check whether the same token is used by another connected service.

Source: Google Search Console: managing owners and verification (new tab)