Complete manual: Website Due Diligence before the integration (M&A)

The real problem in life

Imagine: You are an executive who has just closed the deal (M&A) worth hundreds of millions of baht. The company you bought has a beautiful financial face. And most importantly, there is a "website" that creates enormous traffic is like a good customer production machine. Three months have passed ... Disaster, come to visit The number of visitors to the website plummeted unknown reasons on Google is almost all disappeared. When digging deep, it was found that the website was full. "Technical debt" and low quality Backlink that is waiting for Google to punish you not buying digital assets ... But you are buying digital time bombs that have never been told you before.

This is not a composition. But it is a real nightmare with many companies that overlook the important procedures called "Website Diligence" in the M&A process. But instead evaluated The most important "digital assets" such as superficial websites Causing to have to deal with the big problem hidden under the carpet after paying

Prompt: The image showing a serious expression of an executive is meeting a computer screen that shows the traffic graph with a red warning symbol appearing on the screen. Conveys a crisis that has just been discovered after the merger

Why did that problem occur?

This problem arises from the "gap" in the traditional Due Diligence process. Naturally, the M&A team will consist of financial and law experts. In which they can check the balance sheet, signal or legal disputes sharply But when it comes to complex asset evaluations such as "websites", they often lack insights in inspecting things that are invisible to the naked eye. Due Diligence may just look at the top of the traffic roughly or look at the exterior design. But not deep down:

• Technical SEO health: How friendly website structure is Google? Is there a problem? Crawlability or Indexability? How is the website speed?
• The quality of Backlink Profile: Traffic is derived from quality references. Or from spam that is waiting for the punishment date?
• Technical debt: Is the technology used to create the website? Can you expand or extend in the future? Or have to smash it again?
• Owner and obligation: Who is the true owner of the domain? Does the plug -in or the code used to have a license correctly?

Overlooking these dimensions is the same as buying a secondhand car by just looking at the beautiful color on the outside. But didn't open the bonnet to see the engine at all Causing no knowing how hidden the real risk and cost of the hidden costs Read more about the overall picture at the article. Website inspection on our

Prompt: Infovic images, comparing iceberg The above water says "Traditional Dilignce (Traffic, Design)" and the part that is submerged, which is much bigger, written "Website Diligence (Technical SEO, Backlinks, Code Quality, Security)"

If left, how will it affect?

The neglect of Website Due Dilignce is not just a small mistake, but it is to open the door to financial and violent strategies. The consequences may be much worse than expected:

• Valuation Error: You may pay to buy at the price that "Exaggerated" because the assessable value based on the traffic and the revenue that is about to disappear soon
• Hidden Costs: You may have to spend an unexpected budget for "repaired" or "new", both websites that have never been in the plan. Understanding Website development account recording Will help to see the cost of this part more clearly
• Loss of rank and traffic permanently (Loss of Rankings & Traffic): If the website is Google Penalty, the ranking and traffic recovery is very difficult and takes a long time. Sometimes it may not be able to return to the same spot again.
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• Security and Legal Risks: Website may have a safety vulnerability that leads to Data Breach, which causes damage to reputation and may be punished under the PDPA/GDPR law.
• Future Growth Barrier: If the website is built on obsolete technology It will become a "bottleneck" that obstructs the development of new features. Or future business expansion Causing the strategic plan to intervene

In short, it is to overlook this step. May change the "assets" that you expect to become a "debt", which has entered all the value of the M&A deal.

Prompt: The first Domino Effect has the sign "No Website Due Diligence" and the next one fell over with the sign that "Overvaluation", "Traffic Crash", "Hidden Costs", "Data Breach" to show ongoing impact

Is there any solution? And where should it start?

The direct and most effective solution is to integrate the "Website Diligence" as part of the official M&A status inspection process. Like checking finance and law Which we can divide the inspection into 4 pillars that must be evaluated in detail:

1. Technical Audit:

• Speed and Core Web Vitals: How fast is the website in the eyes of users and Google?
• Mobile friendliness (Mobile-Friendliness): Is it good enough to use on mobile phones?
• Security (Security): Is it used to https? Is there a clear vulnerability?
• Site architecture: URL structure and reasonable connection?

2. SEO (SEO AUDIT):

• the Organic Traffic: Traffic from Google quality and sustainable growth?
• Backlink profile: link to the website from a reliable or spam?
• Keyword Rankings: Is the website ranked in the keyword that creates real business value?
• Cannibalization and Thin Content problems: Is there a duplicate or inferior quality content that holds the website?

3. Content checking and brand (Content & Brand Audit):

• The quality and consistency of the content: The content on the web reflects the expertise (EEAT) and match the target audience?
• Online Reputation: What is the brand talking about online? Is there a hidden reputation crisis?

4. Ownering and legal Audit:

• Owner of domains and digital assets: Domain, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, is it true of the target company?
• Legal compliance: Website has Privacy Policy, Terms of Service that corresponds to PDPA/GDPR?
• License (Licensing): Is the picture of the font or plugin used on the web has a correct license?

The best starting is to talk to the M&A team so that they understand the importance and allocate resources for experts to inspect this part, especially in Harvard Business Review , emphasizing the importance of checking the status in a field of deals.

Prompt: The infographic images are divided into 4 parts clearly. Each part has icons and topics as "Technical Audit", "SEO Audit", "Content Audit", and "Legal Audit" like a checklist that covers all dimensions.

Examples from the real thing that used to be successful

In order to be clearer I would like to lift the resolution cases that occur frequently in the Tech Startup industry: the company "Innovate Corp" is about to buy "Datawidget Inc.", a SAAS company that has a lot of Lead and has high traffic.

The starting situation: In the first M&A, the Innovate Corp team assesses the value of Datawidget Inc. at 500 million baht, based on the beautiful income and numbers on Google Analytics.

Correct decisions: Fortunately, Innovate Corp's CFO had had a bad experience before. He therefore decided to hire a team of experts to do a website Due Diligence.

Discover:

• SEO: The inspection team found that almost 60% of the traffic came from the Google in the Backlink Network (PRIVATE BLOLINS - PBNS), which is a black technique that is at risk of being punished by Google.
• Technical: Platform that the website created is a Custom Code, which lacks documents. (Documentation) and the old developers have resigned Making the amendment or extension in the future is almost impossible without all new investments

The results of Due Diligence: Innovate Corp have brought clear risk information and evaluating the cost of solving problems. (Both the creation of new websites and SEO rehabilitation) return to negotiate with all new Datawidget Inc.

Summary of deals: Finally, the Innovate Corp can reduce the purchase price of nearly 80 million baht to cover the cost and risk. This deal closed reasonably and transparent. Investment in Website Diligence for a few hundred thousand baht on that day. Helps the company save enormous money and avoiding disaster.

Prompt: Comparison of the BEFORE-AFTER of the M&A Bidding document. The picture shows the price "500 million baht". After showing the price "420 million baht" with a red stamp, written "Price Adjusted After Diligence".

If wanting to follow, what to do? (Can be used immediately)

You can start the preliminary inspection by yourself using the following checklist as a guideline. Although in -depth inspection may require experts But having these programs will help you see the overall picture and ask the correct question to the other party.

Technical checklist

• Speed test: Use the Google Pagespeed Insights to see the core web vitals score.
• Check Mobile-Friendly: Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.
• Check the SSL/https status: URL. Start with https: // and have a picture of the padlock?
• Check the Robots.txt: Go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt. To see if there is an incorrect access to Googlebot access
• Analyze Sitemap: Go to yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml To see how the data collection structure of the web is

Checklist check SEO (SEO CHECKLIST)

• Requesting access to Google Analytics and Google Search Console: This is the first necessity to see the real information.
• Analyze the source of traffic: on Google Analytics, see acquisition> all traffic> channels. The proportion of organic search should be reasonable.
• Check the Backlink Profile: Use tools such as AHREFS or Semrush to see the quality of the link. Is there a link from the website or an unrelated website?
• Search for brand names on google: Try searching for "brand name" and "Brand Review" to see if the search results are in a positive or negative direction.
• Check the Index: Go to Google and type "Site: YourDomain.com" to see how many pages have already collected the web page.
• Study the management of Crawl Budget: If it's a large website Understanding the Crawl Budget Optimization will help to see in -depth problems.

Checklist Inspection of ownership and law

• Request evidence of ownership of domain: Who is the registrant that is shown in Whois?
• Check the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions page: available on the website or not. And how much the content covers?
• Inquire about licenses: Images, videos, fonts or software used on the web. Is there a document confirming the rights?

For complex projects, such as moving platforms behind the M&A, having a manual for moving e -commerce platforms or checklist. Prepare early Will help reduce the risk a lot

Prompt: A large checklist image that readers can clearly see the main topics, such as "Check Page Speed", "Analyze Backlinks", "Verify Domain Ownership" with some green marks in some channels.

Questions that people tend to wonder And the answers that are cleared

Q1: How long does the Website Diligence process take?
A: The duration depends on the complexity of the website. In general, for medium-sized websites, it may take 2-4 weeks to inspect in detail and create a summary report. But for enormous large websites It may take longer than that.

Q2: Do we need to use external experts or not or let the internal IT team do?
A: Although the internal IT team is good at techniques But they may not have expertise in SEO or in -depth digital strategy. The use of external experts (UNBIASED) will give a straightforward and more comprehensive perspective. Especially the SEO risk assessment, which is a very specialized matter

Q3: Is the cost of making high diligence?
A: When compared to financial risks that may occur from the evaluation of the value or the cost of repairing the website in the future The cost of Due Dilignce is considered "very little". It is an investment to "buy information" and "reduce risks" which are always worth the problem of the problem at the end.

Q4: If the problem is detected Should I give up deals?
A: It's not always necessary. The information obtained from the inspection is "Tools to negotiate" You can use the risk and cost information. To request to reduce the purchase price Or set the conditions for the seller to solve those problems before closing the deal

Prompt: Image images of people are chatting with question marks and answers (Q&A). The head is clear about the solution clearly and friendly.

Summary to be easy to understand + want to try to do

In the era of digital driving business The merger (M&A) is no longer just a trading of physical assets or numbers in the account. But is a purchase "Digital assets" that may be both treasure or bombs. The "Website Due Diligence" is not a "option" but is a "necessity" that will help protect your investment.

In -depth examination of technical health, SEO, content, and legal status of the website Is to change from "belief" to "truth". It helps you see the true picture of what is going to buy. Accurate value assessment And plan the strategy after confidently merger Don't let ignorance today Became a big problem next day

It's time to integrate the digital assets as part of your M&A seriously. Start with the checklist that we provide correctly. And don't hesitate to ask for help from experts Because investing to reduce risks Is always the most worthwhile investment

If you are planning a M&A and want a professional team to help take care of the complex website Due Diligence or need advice for Website improvement (Website Renovation) Our team is ready to give advice. Take a look at the details. Corporate website development service Ours to build a strong digital foundation for your new business.

Prompt: Pictures join hands to close business deals. With the background as a digital dashburn that shows a transparent website and a green graph that grows stable Convey the correct decision based on data

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