Want to Invest in Digital Real Estate? How to Get Started

What is digital real estate?

Everyone’s familiar with real estate investment. It’s as simple as buying a house or land to rent or sell for profit. Digital real estate works the same way. Every domain name, website and blog you see online is internet property. They represent digital real estate that you can buy and sell just like houses, apartments and lots.

In fact, there are people making a full-time career from buying and selling domain names and websites. Some domain names sell for millions of dollars, and websites often get acquired for lots of money as well. You, too, can make money from digital real estate.

How to invest in digital real estate

One of the biggest reasons many people stay away from investing in websites is they think it requires advanced technical knowledge and web design experience to build and manage a website and avoid web design mistakes. 

However, the opposite is true: You don’t need any experience to set up a website and start investing in digital real estate. New technologies and free software platforms, such as WordPress, have made this process much easier for beginners. Today, you can set up a website with just one click.

There are two ways to invest in digital real estate: You can build a website from scratch with the purchase of a business domain name, or you can buy an established website.

Each strategy comes with benefits and downsides. Building a website from scratch requires only a small investment. However, you have to put in a lot of work to make it successful, and it will take a long time before you can sell it for a profit. If you decide to buy a website, it will cost you a lot of money, but because the site is already making a profit, you can get a return on your investment much sooner.

Where to buy established websites

If you have enough funds to buy an established website, there are several marketplaces you can explore to find websites for sale.

Flippa is one of the most popular marketplaces and a good place to begin your search. This platform allows you to participate in website auctions and buy websites that are already making a profit. The website listings in the marketplace show you the exact amount of money the site generates every month and what type of monetization strategies it uses to generate revenue.

Keep in mind that when buying websites, you can’t always trust the listings. Do your research to ensure your investment doesn’t go to waste. You can use a tool like Semrush to analyze a website and check its search engine optimization (SEO), backlinks, visitor count and other statistics before buying. You can also hire a website brokerage firm, such as FE International. These firms handle all that heavy work for you and help you find the right website for your investment.

How to build your own website

Another way to invest in digital real estate is by building your own website. While this option means more upfront work to establish the website, you’ll also have full control over the domain and its content.

If you decide to build a website from scratch, you can do it yourself by using one of the best website builders. [Learn more about how to build a solid online presence.]

Wix

With over 900 responsive, industry-specific templates as well as customizable tools, Wix makes it easy to design a website regardless of your experience level. Tech beginners can take advantage of the platform’s easy setup wizard and drag-and-drop tools, while those with advanced technical skills can create custom coding through Wix’s dev mode.

Wix offers both free and paid plans, but the free plan comes with advertisements. Paid plans are ad-free and range between $17 and $159 per month. The Core, Business and Business Elite plans include website analytics to help you understand how your site is performing.

Learn more about Wix here.

Hibu

If you’re looking for a professional to take the reins, Hibu may be the right fit for you. The full-service web design agency specializes in creating “smart” websites tailored to both search engines and targeted audiences. The company offers additional services to help you manage listings, online reviews, reputation and e-commerce sales.

Because Hibu is a service rather than software, the costs depend on the project. You will need to set up a consultation with a Hibu representative, who can offer a custom price quote. However, the services are more affordable because the company focuses on supporting small and midsize businesses.

Weebly

Weebly’s intuitive interface and comprehensive features make it easy to build a website that meets your needs. The platform includes more than 50 website templates organized by categories, a drag-and-drop design and an HTML editor for custom coding. Additional features include analytics, e-commerce and marketing applications.

Weebly’s free and paid plans make it easy to scale as your business grows. Paid plans range from $10 per month when billed annually ($13 month to month) to $26 per month when billed annually ($29 month to month). All paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a free professional domain for one year. If you downgrade or cancel your plan, you may be eligible for a partial refund.

Duda

A mobile-friendly website is a significant advantage in today’s marketplace. Duda allows you to build a mobile-responsive site and edit it based on the access device. The platform is easy to use, with drag-and-drop elements and templates designed specifically to work on mobile devices. Multiple users can collaborate on a single site, making it great for teams.

The Basic plan is $19 per month when billed annually ($25 month to month), the Team plan is $29 per month when billed annually ($39 month to month) and the Agency plan is $52 per month when billed annually ($69 month to month). There is also a White Label plan for $149 per month when billed annually ($199 month to month). You can sign up for Duda with a 14-day free trial, which includes all of the features in the Team plan.

How to profit from digital real estate

After buying or making your website, you need to create content on a consistent schedule to attract visitors to your website and generate traffic. Use Google’s Keyword Planner to brainstorm ideas for your blog using words that people are already searching for.

If you’re too busy to write blog posts and promote your website, hire freelancers to write content on your behalf. You can find freelancers from sites such as Upwork at affordable prices. Once you’re getting enough traffic to your website, monetize that traffic to generate revenue. Here are some ways to make money from your web traffic:

• Advertising: Sell ad space on your website, or use an ad network such as Google AdSense to monetize website traffic. When people click an ad, you earn money.
• Affiliate marketing: This involves promoting and selling products created by other businesses. Whenever someone buys a product through your affiliate link, you earn a commission off the sale.
• Product sales: You can create and sell your own products — like e-books, online courses and software — on your website.
• Sponsored content: Advertisers often reach out to companies to sponsor blog posts that promote their own brands and products. They will pay you to write about their products on your blog.

Eventually, you may start making a profit from your website. Then, you can decide whether to sell it for a profit or continue developing the site as an income stream. 

The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot on a website. The bad news is that, unlike when you invest in stocks or real estate, you can’t sit back and watch the value of your digital real estate go up over time; you have to put in the work to increase your website’s value. 

Kimberlee Leonard and Syed Balkhi contributed to this article.