A lot of beginners are still asking, “Can I buy a website and make money from it?”
In 2026, that’s not the best question to ask anymore.
AI and Google changes have made some websites far riskier than they look on the surface.
If you’re thinking about buying your first website, this interview will show you what to avoid, what to look for, and how to spot the overlooked “diamonds in the rough” most buyers miss.
Can You Still Buy Websites In 2026?
The market for buying websites has changed quite a bit in 2026.
AI has changed things. Google has changed things. And that means some of the websites people used to buy in the past are not as straightforward as they once were.
That is why I invited Steph back onto the Digital Investors Podcast.
Steph is currently doing our other pathway, which is building websites and digital marketing for local businesses. But the thing that first made her pay attention to eBusiness Institute was the idea that there were existing websites out there you could actually buy.
She had never really considered that before.
And I think that is true for a lot of people.
Most people understand the idea of building a website. They understand starting from scratch. But buying a website that already exists and already has traffic, income, content, or assets inside it? That is a different way of thinking.
So in this interview, Steph asked the questions a lot of beginners probably have.
How do websites actually make money? What kind of website should you buy? What has changed because of AI? Why would someone sell a profitable website? Can you buy websites with no money down? And who is actually suited to this?
They are good questions because buying websites still works, but the rules have changed.
How Websites Actually Make Money
One of Steph’s first questions was simple: how do you actually make money from a website you buy?
There are a few main ways websites can make money.
The first is advertising. A website gets visitors, those visitors read the content, ads are shown on the site, and when someone clicks one of those ads, the website owner gets paid. It might only be 50 cents or a dollar, but when a site has enough traffic, that can add up.
The second way is affiliate marketing. This is where a website talks about certain products, services, or businesses. Someone clicks a link from that website, buys something from another business, and the website owner earns a commission.
Those are two of the traditional ways websites have made money online: ads and affiliate links.
Another model is e-commerce, where the website sells physical products. But that is not usually what we teach beginners because there is more complexity involved.
If you buy an e-commerce business, you may not just be buying the website. You may also have to buy the stock behind that business. That might be $50,000, a few hundred thousand dollars, or even a couple of million dollars. That is a big risk if you are just starting out online.
E-commerce can be a sensational way to make money, but for beginners, there is usually more complexity and more money involved.
Another way websites make money is through lead generation or selling leads. A simple example is renting out a website to a local business. Instead of building a website and selling it, you keep the asset. Then, for a monthly fee, you let the business use that website and put their phone number on it.
That is a simple version of it, but it shows the idea.
There are many ways a website can make money. But in 2026, the more important question is not just “how does this website make money?”
The better question is: what type of website is actually worth buying now?
What Type Of Website Should Beginners Look For?
For beginners, we want to keep things safe.
You do not need to go out and buy a huge website as your first deal. In the interview, I talked about looking at websites under $50,000. Ideally, if you are just starting out, websites under $10,000.
Start small. Keep it safe. Learn the skill first.
That is important because AI has changed the content site market. AI has killed a certain amount of content sites. Any content site that is just AI slop is probably never going to make money.
So we are not looking for generic, low-quality content sites.
What we are looking for are longer established websites that still have traffic and are still making some kind of profit.
But the real skill is learning to spot what I call diamonds in the rough.
These are websites other people miss. Maybe the site has been hit by AI or a Google update. Maybe the owner has given up. Maybe it is a passion site that has never made a huge amount of money. Maybe they cannot be bothered running it anymore.
But when you know what to look for, there may still be valuable assets inside it.
That is the knowledge gap.
You are looking for unrealised assets.
It might be the age of the site. It might be the traffic. It might be the content. It might be a strong niche. It might be a course. It might be followers on social media. It might be a community.
That is the gold.
Why Community Matters So Much Now
One of the big things we are looking for now is sites that either have a community already, or have the ability to add a community.
That is one of the AI-proof parts.
In the interview, I mentioned that the CEO of Flippa came and spoke to our private community. Flippa is one of the world’s biggest marketplaces for buying and selling websites. He said the data on Flippa was showing that one of the most sought-after types of deals now are sites that are community-driven because they are more AI-proof.
Or sites that have strong branding and a following of some kind.
That is a good barometer of where the market is going.
So if you are looking at a website in 2026, you want to ask:
Does this site have a community?
Could a community be added?
Does it have a following?
Does it have a brand?
Does it have genuine history?
Does it have user-generated experience, comments, feedback, or a forum?
These things matter because they are much harder for AI to replicate.
That is why we are not just looking for a basic blog with articles. We are looking for websites with assets that can be strengthened.
The Type Of Website We Get Excited About
A good example from our community is Ashlene.
Ashlene was in Steph’s group and was one of our champions of the year. She is a go-getter, and she has been buying neglected sites that other people were not bidding on.
One of the best sites she bought recently was more than 15 years old.
It was owned by a guy living in Thailand who wanted to retire. The website teaches people how to become a Thai masseur. It has a course. It has courses on YouTube. It has a long history. And it had consistently made anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 a month net profit.
Ashlene bought it for $50,000.
That is the sort of thing we get excited about.
Why?
Because it had a lot of the assets we look for.
It was built around a community. It was built around the person teaching it. It had followers on social media. It had a well-regarded course. It had a lot of history. It had user-generated experience. It had feedback. It had a massive forum.
That is very different from a generic content site.
If someone wants to learn Thai massage and get certified, that website has hundreds or even thousands of comments and experiences that AI cannot just replicate.
That is why that kind of site is interesting.
And shortly before the interview, Ashlene had hit a $5,000 month with that site.
That is what I mean by a diamond in the rough.
Using AI To Renovate The Right Websites
AI is a challenge for standard content sites.
But the opportunity is to use AI to your advantage with the right websites.
That is what I showed Ashlene.
I did a renovation plan for her on Zoom using Claude. I shared my screen, told her what I thought she needed to do with the website, and Claude helped lay out the plan.
AI can help with deep keyword research. It can help you figure out how to run the website ongoing. It can help you create a plan for the next six months. And in Ashlene’s case, AI will help her implement a lot of that plan.
That is why it is not simply a case of “AI has killed websites.”
It is more nuanced than that.
AI has made some sites riskier. But if you know what to look for, AI can also help renovate the right sites faster.
Another example we talked about was Ashlene buying sites for around $5,000 that no one else was bidding on. These were sites where the owners were bored, worried about AI, and wanted to sell.
But the sites had age. They had genuine content. And they had assets that could be turned into something stronger with AI.
For example, Matt talked about adding a community, a list, or a newsletter of some kind. And if the site already has a lot of content sitting there, AI can help turn that into a newsletter that is better than what is currently on the website.
That is the opportunity when you know what you are looking for.
Why Would Someone Sell A Profitable Website?
Steph asked a really good question.
If a website is making $500 a month, $1,000 a month, or even $5,000 a month, why would someone sell it?
And the answer is simple: people sell good assets all the time.
People sell real estate. People sell businesses. People sell investments.
Sometimes they are bored. Sometimes they want to retire. Sometimes they need cash. Sometimes they need money for a tax bill or a home deposit. Sometimes they have owned a website for years and just cannot be bothered anymore.
Right now, that is an opportunity.
A lot of website owners are overwhelmed by AI. They are worried about Google changes. They might have a site that still has value, but they do not want to learn the next phase.
So they put it up for sale.
That does not always mean the website is bad.
Sometimes it just means the owner is done.
In the Thai massage example, the owner had been running the site for around 15 years and wanted to retire. That is understandable. But for someone like Ashlene, who knows what to look for, that can create a good opportunity.
Are Websites Passive Income?
Steph also asked whether these websites just sit there and make money.
And the honest answer is yes and no.
I would call them semi-passive.
They are not completely passive where you buy them and never touch them again. But they are also not like a normal 9-to-5 job.
Ashlene is a good example. Before this, she was working massive hours in tech. Now, she can work from places like Venice, Italy, without customers or clients in the same way she had before.
That does not mean there is no work. There is work.
You still need to learn. You still need to know how to use AI. You still need to understand the website, the niche, and the assets inside the business.
But compared to building a traditional bricks and mortar business, it is a very different kind of work.
That is why these digital assets are attractive. They can give you more flexibility and, when done properly, they can allow you to work whenever you want, wherever you want, and with whoever you want.
Can You Buy Websites With No Money Down?
Steph also asked whether you can buy websites with no money down.
And the blunt answer is generally no.
That is more common in bricks and mortar businesses, especially in America, where people talk about buying businesses with none of their own money down.
With websites, you generally still need money.
But the market is changing.
It is getting tougher for sellers. The economy is tighter. People do not have as much cash. So seller finance and creative deal structures are becoming more common.
Typically, you may still need 50% to 70% of the purchase price.
For example, if someone is selling a website for $50,000, you might offer $25,000 upfront and then pay the other $25,000 at $5,000 a month over the next five months.
Or you might pay the rest out of the profits.
That is not strictly no money down. But it is a creative way to do the deal.
And brokers are comfortable with these structures now. Matt mentioned Flippa and Empire Flippers as examples of brokers that understand seller finance deals.
So while you should not expect to buy good websites with no money at all, you should understand that negotiation is part of the skill.
Why Soft Skills Matter
A lot of people think buying websites is all about technical skills.
But soft skills matter a lot.
You need to become a bit of a detective.
You need to know what you are looking for. You need to spot unrealised assets. You need to understand why the seller is exiting. You need to have conversations. And you need to build trust.
That matters because sellers like dealing with people they trust and like.
Cash also matters.
Matt talked about how he and Liz did this in their own business career. They would privately approach website owners, get chatting with them, and let them know they were cash buyers up to a certain amount.
Sometimes the owner was not actively thinking about selling. But if they had a reason to move quickly, and you could move quickly, that could create an opportunity.
That is why conversations matter.
The more good conversations you have, the more likely you are to find the diamonds in the rough.
Who Is Suited To Buying Websites?
Steph asked who is actually going to be able to do this.
And Matt gave the real answer.
If someone is sitting around watching more Netflix than working, they are probably not going to be successful at this.
Buying and selling websites in 2026 is a hustler’s game.
You need to be smart. You need to be driven. You need to be hungry. You need to want to make a change in your life.
That does not mean you have to quit your job.
You can do this in the evenings. You can do this on weekends. But you do need to carve out time and take it seriously.
There is a lot to learn. AI is changing things. Google is changing things. The market is changing. And if you are serious, you need to put in the work.
Matt talked about Ashlene as an example. She was working a massive number of hours, quit her job, had no plan B, and had that steely-eyed determination to make it work.
Less than 12 months later, she had hit $10,000 a month income and no longer needed to go back to the corporate world.
That does not mean everyone gets that result.
But it does show what is possible when someone is serious, learns the skill, and takes action.
So, Has AI Killed Buying Websites?
No.
But it has changed the market.
In 2026, you need to be more careful about what you buy.
You do not want generic AI content sites. You do not want low-quality sites with no real assets. And you do not want to assume that every site with a bit of traffic is a good deal.
What you are looking for are diamonds in the rough.
Older sites. Sites with traffic. Sites with profit. Sites with real history. Sites with a course, a following, a community, a forum, a list, or the ability to add those things.
That is where the opportunity is.
And AI can help you renovate those sites faster if you know what you are doing.
But you still need the skill.
You need to know how websites make money. You need to know what to avoid. You need to know how to do due diligence. You need to know how to talk to sellers. You need to know how to negotiate.
That is why this is not just about buying one website.
It is about learning a digital skillset.
And once you learn that skillset, you start to see opportunities differently.
You start to see assets where other people only see old websites.
That is why buying websites is still one of the most exciting opportunities in 2026, but only for people willing to learn what has changed.
