How can you measure the value of a blog? This question was raised in a content writers’ group, and I decided to write about it to help people understand this crucial topic. Perhaps you want to sell your blog to an investor and want to know how much it is worth. Here are the steps to take.

1) Traffic Per Month/Year

Traffic volume is measured in either unique visitors or pageviews. Unique visitors measures the number of different people who visit your site in a given month or year. Pageviews measures the total number of pages viewed on your site in a given month or year.

2) Number of Backlinks.

Backlinks are extremely valuable because they act as endorsements from other websites that have cited your work. To count the number of external links, use the MOZ Site Explorer tool, SEMrush, or Google Search Console (Links, External Links Tab).

3) Number of articles on the site:

You can use the sitemap checker tool. For example: https://digital4africa.com/sitemap_index.xml 

4) The value of sponsored content + affiliate links per Month/Year.

Look at your financial account statements from clients who’ve paid for content to determine how much you make.

5) Domain Authority:

Domain Authority (DA) is a metric created by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). It is based on data from the web linking structure and measures the quantity and quality of links to a site. The higher the DA score, the more likely it is that a website will rank high in SERPs.

Domain Authority can be valuable to businesses because it gives them an idea of how competitive their industry is and how difficult it will be to rank higher than their competitors. Additionally, businesses can use Domain Authority as a tool for measuring their own progress over time; as they accumulate more high-quality links, their DA score should increase.

Use MOZ Domain authority checker.

6) Engagement and Content Distribution Metrics

Social media share of voice. What’s the total number of social media followers on all your platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Email Subscribers, Telegram etc. 

7) Number of branded searches.

You can check how many people search for your blog using its name for example. Digital4africa or Digital 4 Africa and Digital For Africa . This is a sign that your blog is a reputable source of content. This data can be found inside Google Search Console. Go to Performance, Search Results, Queries.  There is data for Clicks and Impressions  over a given period.

8) How many awards have you received for your work?

Having external validation from respected organizations or publications can give potential partners more confidence in working with you .

9) What is the size and demographics of your audience?

Knowing who reads your blog and what interests them can help you determine its worth to potential advertisers or other partners.

The owner of Life in Mombasa, a lifestyle blog, recently sold it to investors for an undisclosed sum. Knowing how much your blog is worth can be extremely beneficial.

By Francis Waithaka. Lead trainer and strategist at Digital4Africa, with 21 years of experience in  technology and new media.