Due diligence checklist

Traffic

Google Analytics read-only access granted and verified Organic traffic share confirmed (target: >60% organic) Traffic independently estimated via Ahrefs or SEMrush No single article driving more than 50% of sessions Traffic held through last 2 major Google algorithm updates 12-month traffic trend reviewed (not just trailing 3 months)

Revenue

Affiliate dashboard screenshots provided for last 12 months Screenshots reconciled against bank statements or PayPal history Seasonal revenue patterns identified and accounted for Revenue concentration checked (no single programme >70% of revenue) Affiliate programme transfer policy confirmed with programme terms

Content

Content recency audit — no major section with content >3 years old and unupdated No evidence of bulk AI-generated content (check publication date clusters) Thin page count assessed — pages under 500 words with no clear purpose flagged Topical coverage map reviewed — content coherent and focused Author attribution and E-E-A-T signals present where required (YMYL niches)

Technical

Google Search Console access granted — no manual actions Core Web Vitals: LCP, CLS, INP within acceptable thresholds Crawl errors and coverage issues reviewed in GSC Hosting provider and migration complexity assessed CMS version and plugin/theme security status reviewed

Legal & Operational

Domain ownership confirmed in registrar — transfer initiated or confirmed possible All included social accounts accessible and transfer agreed No outstanding DMCA notices or content disputes Existing content contracts or contributor agreements reviewed Email list (if included) — ownership and ESP transfer confirmed Handover period agreed — minimum 2 weeks operator availability post-transfer