Lead Generation Site Questions

12 replies
If I'm starting a local lead generation business, is it best to have a totally different domain for each client? Or can I have a main site with each city in its own page/category.

For example:

Using dog training --- is dograiningchicago.com better than dogtraining.com/chicago? I'd be using PPC ads, each client would still have their own trackable phone number and local targeted ads to their own page on the site. But then this turns into more of a "directory" than a unique site, right?

Thoughts? Suggestions? :confused:
#generation #lead #lead generation ideas #questions #site
  • Profile picture of the author ProSeomCo
    Originally Posted by scout99 View Post

    If I'm starting a local lead generation business, is it best to have a totally different domain for each client? Or can I have a main site with each city in its own page/category.

    For example:

    Using dog training --- is dograiningchicago.com better than dogtraining.com/chicago? I'd be using PPC ads, each client would still have their own trackable phone number and local targeted ads to their own page on the site. But then this turns into more of a "directory" than a unique site, right?

    Thoughts? Suggestions? :confused:
    Using a dogtrainingchicago.com limits your client(s) and Limits the target area to market in...

    Dogtraining.com allows you to grow in multiple locations across the country and build a brand at the same time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Evolve91
      Using an exact match top level domain for each city/niche will give you an unfair advantage in ranking your site on page 1.

      Only use .com, .org, and .net. If all of those are taken, then add the state after. ie plumberdallastx. com org net and if all of those are taken then put the word "in" like plumberindallas. com org net or plumberindallastx. com org or net

      Putting the word "in" or any other word in the domain will still work and get your site ranked but it will just take a little longer for it to rank. Make sure to put the terms of service links at the bottom of the site. Google will rank those first and Google wants to see terms of service on your site. There is a plugin out there that does it for you all you have to do is fill in the info.

      Using an exact match top level domain also allows you to sell the site outright if you wish. Many people will sell their lead gen sites to businesses who are already using pay-per-click advertising but sending their traffic to really crappy low-converting sites. You will find these businesses when you research your city/niche keyword stats and then go to Google and look at who is advertising for those keywords. Trust me, you will find people sending their clicks to crappy yellow book sites with no call to action or other crappy sites.

      Show them your site and offer pay-per-call, pay-per-optin, or the option to buy the site. Best to just call and say "I've got this site that's on page one generating leads. I seen you are paying for ads on Google and I know you are paying around XYZ based on my research......send them a link to the site and offer to sell leads or buy the site from you. But they won't want to buy it if it doesn't have its own exact match domain.

      The exact match domain gives the site more value and is worth the $10 to $15 for the domain.
      Your sites are real assets that have value when they are on page one of Google and with a top-level exact match domain they rank fast.

      As long as the sites have strong calls to action, they will generate leads. You can look at the competitions sites that show good marketing principles and model after those in your call to actions.

      Managing pay-per-click for clients is fast money but why not build real assets that you can one day sell for a real nice payday.

      Bottom line is it is worth the little bit of extra effort and cost to build sites each on their own niche/city domains because if you ever want to sell that business, you will have real assets. It wouldn't be hard to build 100 ++ sites in a year and if each site only generating $100 a month in profit you could still sell that business for multiple 6 figures.

      I build pay-per-call sites myself. I don't use a cloner and I manually install all my sites as its more secure. I sell some for instant revenue and I hang on to some. It's a part-time gig for me as I focus most of my time on manufacturing an online reputation for clients.

      Hope that helps. Good luck to you.
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      • Profile picture of the author IMBlest
        Originally Posted by Evolve91 View Post

        Using an exact match top level domain for each city/niche will give you an unfair advantage in ranking your site on page 1.

        Only use .com, .org, and .net. If all of those are taken, then add the state after. ie plumberdallastx. com org net and if all of those are taken then put the word "in" like plumberindallas. com org net or plumberindallastx. com org or net

        Putting the word "in" or any other word in the domain will still work and get your site ranked but it will just take a little longer for it to rank. Make sure to put the terms of service links at the bottom of the site. Google will rank those first and Google wants to see terms of service on your site. There is a plugin out there that does it for you all you have to do is fill in the info.

        Using an exact match top level domain also allows you to sell the site outright if you wish. Many people will sell their lead gen sites to businesses who are already using pay-per-click advertising but sending their traffic to really crappy low-converting sites. You will find these businesses when you research your city/niche keyword stats and then go to Google and look at who is advertising for those keywords. Trust me, you will find people sending their clicks to crappy yellow book sites with no call to action or other crappy sites.

        Show them your site and offer pay-per-call, pay-per-optin, or the option to buy the site. Best to just call and say "I've got this site that's on page one generating leads. I seen you are paying for ads on Google and I know you are paying around XYZ based on my research......send them a link to the site and offer to sell leads or buy the site from you. But they won't want to buy it if it doesn't have its own exact match domain.

        The exact match domain gives the site more value and is worth the $10 to $15 for the domain.
        Your sites are real assets that have value when they are on page one of Google and with a top-level exact match domain they rank fast.

        As long as the sites have strong calls to action, they will generate leads. You can look at the competitions sites that show good marketing principles and model after those in your call to actions.

        Managing pay-per-click for clients is fast money but why not build real assets that you can one day sell for a real nice payday.

        Bottom line is it is worth the little bit of extra effort and cost to build sites each on their own niche/city domains because if you ever want to sell that business, you will have real assets. It wouldn't be hard to build 100 ++ sites in a year and if each site only generating $100 a month in profit you could still sell that business for multiple 6 figures.

        I build pay-per-call sites myself. I don't use a cloner and I manually install all my sites as its more secure. I sell some for instant revenue and I hang on to some. It's a part-time gig for me as I focus most of my time on manufacturing an online reputation for clients.

        Hope that helps. Good luck to you.
        Wow! You sound extremely knowledgeable!

        Thank you for the great post.

        How much are you charging for the pay-per-call?
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  • Profile picture of the author CageyVet
    Evolve91 has some pretty good advice there...

    In my opinion, it all depends on your business model.

    Exact match domains...

    Allow you to sell the property out right to someone.
    You can lease/rent it out to a single client for a monthly fee.
    Adding extra services for that one client for more pay-per-call revenue is easier.
    The ability to clone the site to different cities.
    Easier to target and take advantage of mobile search/traffic.
    Looks more like an actual local business to Google.
    Easy to outsource management of them in segments to various outsources.
    MUCH easier to optimize for conversions for different businesses and locations.
    Currently still gives a bit of a bump in search engines.


    If you are looking to ONLY do pay per call, pay per lead, pay per optin, etc (so no leasing, selling, JV's, etc)....Then in my opinion, it does not matter how you set up your properties. The ONLY thing that matters is that you are generating calls, leads, optins...what ever. So if you find it easier to do a directory type site, a blog, local business niche site, craigs list, youtube, mobile...what ever and those properties are generating you what you need to get paid (leads, calls etc)...then it does not matter.

    If you can easily get leads from a website like www . dogpoopingvideos.com /chicago...then there is nothing wrong with that.

    Myself, I actually do both methods. I have single properties that I generate leads from, lease them and sell them to clients. I also have some sites that server multiple clients that I lease/rent them a specific section. So http :// www .KeywordCity.com/ Local-Suburb and they rent the local suburb page for their leads.

    Lastly, I have some strictly Lead Generation Clients that are on my Lead Gen Services Plan. This is strictly Lead Gen, so they have NO IDEA about the properties I utilize to get them leads. All they know is that they sign up for my service and I send them targeted leads. For these clients, I utilize anything and everything available on the Internet to generate targeted leads, PPC, Social Media, Video, directories, craigslist, owned websites...etc etc.

    This last type of client is actually the easiest for me to make money. They want leads, they sign up for my services, I send them leads every month and they pay me. Simple....How I get the leads is up to me..
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    • Profile picture of the author scout99
      Ba ha hahahhaahaa " www . dogpoopingvideos.com /chicago"

      Thanks for your honest input guys (and the laugh). I'm going to try a variety of each and see which works best for me. May I ask -- does this offline lead generation make you a decent income?
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    • Profile picture of the author scout99
      I suppose I could also test market which directory site pages/cities do the best, then create EMD's for those. Sounds very scalable and exciting!
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  • Profile picture of the author jaudet
    Cagey,
    Im about to start the same business as yours in my area.

    Do you go after high ticket business and charge a premium price to do so ? If possible, can you tell us how much you charge for that lead generation package to give us (me) an idea where to start.
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  • Profile picture of the author CageyVet
    In my lead gen business, I have a few different actual business models.

    Pay per lead - this is the typical get a virtual number and forward it to a client. They every time there is a lead forwarded to them no matter where it comes from, website, video, flyer, craigslist ad, etc.

    Pay per lead by method - this is an advanced spin on the pay per lead model. So depending on the niche and location, I sometimes break out my clients into methods in order to take on multiple clients. So one client will get leads from video marketing efforts, another from craigslist, a third from flyer marketing etc. They are all getting leads for the same service they offer, I am just using different lead sources for each. This is a good intro for a client into getting leads from me, since I charge less per lead than in the first model, because in the first model I am giving them exclusive rights to all the leads for every method. In this model, they do not get all and every lead I can generate, so it is cheaper and more of a door opener.

    Phone number leasing - I just setup a website, video, etc that collects leads and sends them to a client. The client pays a simple flat monthly fee for this service. Sometimes I do this with seasonal clients on a sliding scale. So in the off season, they pay a minimum to hold on to the site and in the high season, they pay a semi-premium flat monthly fee that is enough for me to make money and enough for them to still get lots of leads while keeping their monthly cost fixed(important for season business).

    Property leasing - Similar to the phone number leasing model but I part out my efforts between the different methods that I can generate leads. So I might have one client paying a flat rate of X a month for all leads generated by site A, a second client paying me for site B, a third paying me for all Craigslist ads, a forth paying me for all leads generated by a youtube channel and it's videos, etc. Again another nice foot in the door model that charges less over all per month for the leads but can be scaled to a larger amount of the client is hungry for more leads.

    If I am doing anything prior to speaking to a client, I am always going after high ticket/high value services. The reason for this is because the ROI value is good enough to make me and the client money even if there is a small number of leads trickling in a month.

    If I am approached by a client to do lead gen for them, then that is different and I work with them to figure out what services can warrant the cost of lead generation.

    In terms of charging the client. If you are just starting out a simple formula of Adwords CPC price X 10 is a decent but still low price for a pay per lead model. So if you have a landscaper keyword in vegas and the CPC cost for that keyword and a few similar to it is around $5.00 per click, then it is fine to charge $50 per lead. If you are doing leasing, then a simple formula is average searches per month * 10% * average CPC price. So a keyword getting 1000 searches a month with a CPC of $5, 1000 * 10% * 5 = $500 per month lease.

    If you are more advanced in the business, then you should really take the time to do the research on the services that you are generating leads for to find out the average initial customer value, the average customer lifetime value, the normal margins and the normal sales process(initial price, recurring price, etc). All of this will give you a much better idea of what each lead is actually worth to the client and usually will be a much higher number than the initial adwords x 10 formula. For example, "miami landscaping" gets 360 searches a month at a CPC of $2.41. Now with the formula you could get $25 bucks a lead, which is not horrible and could easily net you a few hundred to a few thousand a month depending on how well you can get traffic. The thing is a landscaping job can run anywhere from $300 to $30,000, with an average initial price tag of say $5000. Well that does not take into account the next 5 years of monthly/yearly upkeep at a price of $500 a month. Totalling $35,000 bucks. So to charge them $24 bucks now seems like an extremely cheap lead, which it is...so instead charging them $100-250 per lead is much more reasonable depending on the speciality of the landscaping client.

    Or if you really want to get adventurous, you can workout a commission model, a revenue share, a sliding scale, what ever works for you and the client.

    From my own portfolio, I have a commercial roofing company that pays me $1000 per commercial roof replacement lead, $150 per residential replacement, $350 per commercial roof repair/inspection, $100 per residential repair/inspection and $100 per flat roof snow removal lead. This client is on the per lead by method model, so they are only getting leads from a single Youtube Channel where I rank the videos. As a side note to that, I even got them to get the video footage for me of them on roofs.....

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaudet
    Great and detailed answer. Thank you, it did help. It clarify some questions I had in mind.
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