When buying an adult website, you are not only purchasing a domain but also gaining access to its content, previous audience, and even its SEO ranking.
However, before you choose the first one you see, you should always look out for red flags.
Just because a porn site may look good on paper, with high annual earnings, that doesn’t mean that is the reality. In today’s article, Adult Site Broker will walk you through some of the potential red flags to look for when buying a porn site.
Lack of Financial Transparency
First and foremost, when buying a porn site, you want to know the potential profit you could earn from it; that is why looking at previous years’ financial reports is essential.
Not only does it give you a glimpse into their profits and revenue, but it also highlights any potential debts or financial risks you may be taking on after the sale.
If the website seller refuses to provide records or is withholding certain records, that’s a big red flag. At Adult Site Broker, to mitigate this risk, we always ask our sellers to provide three years of their financial records so we can offer our buyers full financial transparency when buying a site from us.
The Seller Has a Reputation
Even if the website is profitable, you want to work with a trustworthy seller when buying your new site. This will allow the negotiations and sales to move quickly. Knowing the seller’s reputation can save you time and energy and help you spot a potential red flag.
As you do your due diligence, you want to make sure that the seller and any adult website broker they are working with don’t have a reputation for being unresponsive, uncooperative, or unreasonable when it comes to negotiations on price for the porn site you are looking to buy.
Bad Backlink History
Backlinks have become a popular way to improve your website’s SEO, with adult websites using reputable backlink sources to drive traffic.
As you start doing your due diligence when buying a porn site, using tools like Ahrefs backlink checker to identify any bad or sketchy backlinks can help you identify an SEO red flag before you decide to buy.
Look for any obvious spam backlinks from Blackhat or PBN (Private Blog Network) links, ‘bad neighborhood sites’, or dofollow links from questionable sites.
Bad backlinks can harm your porn site’s SEO rankings and make you look untrustworthy, directly reducing the organic traffic that may come to your new website. Recognizing these early on can help you decide whether the website is the right choice for you to buy from.
Lack of Paperwork
The content on your website needs to include the correct paperwork proving that the models were over 18 at the time of the shoot and that they agreed to be on the website.
One of the biggest red flags you should be aware of when buying a porn site is whether the previous owners have these in place. US regulations are very clear, and they are honored worldwide.
As well as this, other red flags to look for include if there is a privacy and data policy on the website that outlines how the website has previously been handling their user’s private details, if there is a refund policy, and if they have the correct certificates to prove they are following the regulations to operate in the adult entertainment industry, such as DMCA takedown notices. There should be both a clear privacy policy and terms of use on the site.
If The Site Has Multiple DMCA Takedown Notices
If you are buying a tube site where users can upload adult content directly, you want to make sure it is reputable. One way to do this is to look at the number of DMCA takedown notices they receive and how they resolve them.
This will also give you a better understanding of the content on the potential porn site you are looking to buy and help you determine whether it is pirated, which could affect the website’s reputation in the long run. As a porn site owner, you want to make sure all content is legally uploaded and properly moderated.
Suppose the previous owners have either decided not to act to remove pirated content or to properly moderate content being uploaded to their site.
In that case, this may be a red flag for your business. It could mean you are buying a tube site with a bad reputation, which you must fix. It could also create unresolved legal issues you may be taking on once the sale has closed.
Unresolved legal issues
Finally, as you start looking at potential red flags when buying a porn site, you should also do your research into any unresolved legal issues the website may be going through during the sale. This could include unpaid debts, DMCA takedown violations, noncompliance with age-verification or data protection laws in the country where they operate, or more serious criminal offenses.
Depending on your risk mitigation strategy, these unresolved legal issues may affect your decision to buy the website. Still, they may also offer you the opportunity to negotiate a lower price with the seller.
Before you make that decision, it’s best to talk with your adult website broker and seek legal advice on whether this is a risk worth taking.
Conclusion
When it comes to buying a porn site, it can be an excellent opportunity to turn a profit quickly within the adult entertainment industry. However, as you start the process of buying a porn site, you should always be aware of potential red flags to help you decide if purchasing a website is the right option for you, saving you time and money in the long run.
At Adult Site Broker, we strive to offer only adult websites for sale that meet our ethical standards, with transparency coming first and foremost. That is why we audit any potential website that looks to sell with us, allowing us to support both the seller and buyer throughout the process. Find out more today.
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