Answer eight quick questions about the website of a business you no longer run and this tool gives an instant verdict, Lease-worthy, Borderline or Not yet, with the reasons behind it. It runs entirely in your browser, stores nothing and takes about two minutes once you have your numbers.
The check above gives a quick read on whether the website of a business you no longer run meets the minimums we look for when we buy or lease a site. It is a first answer, not a valuation, and it is only as good as the numbers you put in. Here is how to find each one for free and how to read the result.
How do I find each number for free?
- Website and type of business. Your domain and what the business did: an online store, an app, a SaaS product, a local business, a news site. The check is built for websites of real businesses, so a personal blog will always return Not yet.
- Still indexed. Type site:yourdomain.com into Google. If pages from your site appear, answer yes. This indexation test is the first gate in how we evaluate a website.
- Monthly organic traffic. Enter your domain in the free Ahrefs traffic checker for an estimate of monthly organic traffic. If you still have Search Console, use the real click figure instead.
- Referring domains. The number of different websites linking to you. Ahrefs’ free Website Authority Checker shows your Domain Rating and link profile at a glance.
- Strong authority links. Count the respected, independent sites that wrote about the business: press, universities, associations, suppliers, local government. Open each page to confirm the link is still live. The guide on what counts as a strong authority link helps you sort them.
- Domain age and last update. The year you registered the domain (your registrar account shows it) and roughly when the site last changed.
How do I read the verdict?
| Verdict | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Lease-worthy | Indexed, 500 or more monthly organic visits, two or more strong links, a real business | Send it for a free valuation |
| Borderline | Short on one of those points | Check the weak point with better data, then send it |
| Not yet | Short on two or more, or not a real business site | Read the reasons; keep the domain renewed if you plan to revisit |
The reasons under your verdict matter more than the label. A site that is Borderline only on traffic is in a very different position from one that is Borderline because it is no longer indexed.
Why can the estimates be wrong?
Third-party traffic figures are modeled, not measured. Ahrefs itself says its data is just an estimate and cannot be treated as the actual search traffic of a website. Suppose your store gets 700 real visits a month in Search Console but Ahrefs shows 350: the check would call it short on traffic when it is not. The reverse happens too. Link counts can also miss genuine links or include ones that have since been removed.
Search Console is the better source when you have it, but it keeps only the last 16 months of performance data, so export it now. The guide on reading Ahrefs numbers if you are not an SEO explains each metric in more detail.
What happens to the data I enter?
Nothing. The check runs entirely in your browser and makes no external calls. Your answers are not stored, sent or shared, and they disappear when you close the page.
What to do next
- If you got Lease-worthy or Borderline, send us your site for a free valuation and we will check it properly.
- If you got Not yet, read what a dormant website is still worth before you decide to let it go.
- Whatever the result, renew the domain if it is close to expiry, so you keep the option open.
Frequently asked questions
Is the website value check really free and private?
Yes. The check runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or to anyone else, nothing is saved, and there is no account or email required. If you close the page, your answers are gone. If you want us to look at the site, you send it separately through the short form on the homepage, and only then do we see it.
Where do I find my website's monthly organic traffic?
Use the free Ahrefs traffic checker, which shows an estimate of monthly organic visits for any website. If you still have access to Google Search Console for the site, the performance report shows real clicks for up to the last 16 months, which is more reliable than any estimate. Enter whichever number you trust more, and note which one it was.
What counts as a strong authority link?
A link from a respected, independent site that chose to mention your business, such as a newspaper article, a university page, an industry association, a supplier or a local government listing. Small directory listings and links you placed yourself do not count. Open each linking page to confirm the link is still there. Two or three genuine ones are what we look for.
My result says Borderline. Is it worth contacting you?
Often, yes. Borderline means the site is short on one point, and estimates can be off in either direction. Traffic just under 500 in Ahrefs may be higher in Search Console, and you may have a press link you forgot. Send the site through the homepage form and we will tell you exactly what is missing and whether it can be resolved.
Does a Lease-worthy verdict mean you will make me an offer?
No. It means the numbers you entered meet the minimums we look for, which makes an offer likely to be worth discussing. We still check the site ourselves, including who controls the domain, whether it was a real business and whether it carries any risk such as a past hack. How we price a site is explained on the call.
Find out what your website is worth before it expires.
Send us the site in about a minute. We check index status, organic traffic, authority links and history, then come back with a cash offer, a monthly lease-to-own option, or a plain no.
Get my free website valuation →