We're in the process of selling our startup and our traffic stats aren't all that great to say the least. What other types of variables could be used to help value the company(registered users, proprietary market research we'd hand over, etc.)?
Look for the areas of your business which are complementary with theirs. For example, maybe you are able to monetize traffic at a higher CPM than they are - if they were able to drive traffic from their existing properties to your site, what would be the improvement in their total profitability? Maybe your service could increase engagement with their existing properties and drive more total page views. Etc etc. In theory the acquiring firm should be willing to pay for some of the value that would be created as a by product of integrating your site into their business.