If you have put content on a website but aren’t really doing anything with it, one of the easiest ways to generate some extra income is to become an Internet landlord who uses a website lease agreement to rent your site (or part of it) to a business tenant.
What Makes Website Leasing Different
Unlike site flipping or domain name speculation, website leasing takes a long-term view because you’re interested in retaining ownership but generating passive income from your lessee.
Types Of Website Leasing
The content of your website will often determine the type of site leasing you’ll want to do.
For example, if your website is about New York City orthodontics, a natural fit would be to find an orthodontist in the Big Apple who is willing to pay you a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual fee for the right to put advertising for his practice on your site.
On the other hand if your site is more generic, such as a site about your hometown, you may want to segment your website and lease sections by content on your site. For example, your web pages related pizza, you’d lease to a local pizza restaurant, pages about buying and selling cars would be leased to a hometown car dealership, etc.
Website Lease Agreement Issues
When renting a website to one or more tenants, here are some issues you will want to discuss with your Internet business attorney.
1. Will the lease be exclusive to one tenant?
2. If the website is being rented to more than one tenant, will you lease parts to competing businesses (e.g. two competing pizza restaurants)?
3. Who owns the content the tenant will post on the site?
4. What will be the term of the website lease (monthly, annually, etc.)?
5. Will your site’s lease automatically renew?
6. How much rent will you charge?
7. When and how will you get paid?
8. Who is responsible for putting the tenant’s content on the site during the term of the lease and taking it down at the end of the website lease?
9. Who is responsible for any copyright or trademark infringement claims?
10. How will any disputes be resolved between you and your website tenant?
There’s no “right” answer to these questions. However, working with your Internet lawyer, you can put together a website lease agreement that protects your interests while generating passive income for you in the process.
