A website flipper is like a virtual real estate broker without the need for a license. Real estate flippers buy a property, fix it up and then sell it for a profit. Website flippers do essentially the same thing just instead in the virtual world.

How do you actually make money from website flipping and how hard is it to do? Here are some tips for those considering giving the virtual real estate market a go:

1. Buy a site that complements a product or service you already sell. Established traffic from such a site can be rerouted to your own. Just make sure that it’s the kind of traffic you want. Research the site’s audience before you buy. Just because it has a high visitor rate does not mean a site will bring you the kind of visitors you want or need.
2. Buy a site to generate ad revenue. This works very well for sites whose overall content is good but they have been poorly optimized by their owner. You may not need to do much more than ramp up the traffic coming to the site. Buying the site will give you the right to all of its’ content as well, which you could repackage and redistribute for even more profit.
3. Buy a Community Site. Many busy forums are started by keen hobbyists, who then run out of the money to pay for all the extra bandwidth to keep them going. Just be careful with the site’s audience, as they may not take well to their community forum becoming an advertising laden affair and migrate away quickly. Subtlety is called for here to avoid being left with a lemon on your hands.

In order to be a successful website flipper you need the design and marketing skills to successfully upgrade the site, or at least know where to hire someone who does. In order to make the kind of profit you are hoping for you will need to put the effort in, this is not a “passive” moneymaker.

Good places to begin shopping for a website? Flippa is a major player in the industry but, even Ebay now has a websites for sale section. Some others to try: BuySellWebsite, DealASite, & WebsiteBroker. To really find a bargain you may have to dig deep into a Google search but, this expanding business venture could be a great investment.