Basic Steps to Build Your Own
Lead Generation Website
Buzzoodle enjoys working with clients to publish quality information and attract high quality, targeted leads to clients using online publishing as a magnet for people searching for products and services.
We also understand that start ups and solopreneurs do not always have a budget for lead attraction services, so we have created this page to walk you though the basic DIY steps to getting results.
Please keep in mind our services start at under $100 per month and we do everything for you – so if you want faster, better results consider purchasing our services.
Introduction: You can do this!
The first think to keep in mind is that this document is assuming you have NO technical skills. Don’t worry, you can still do this for a low cost. This document also assumes you will be either willing to do weekly work, or pay someone to do the work. Lead attraction takes regular publishing and promotion. Failure to do that will result in wasted time and money. But if you stick to it, the payoff can be huge for you.
Step by Step
Each of the steps listed are simple. However, if you are uncomfortable with a step, remember you can hire an outsourcer or find a YouTube video on how to do these things.
1. Keyword Research
You can skip this step if you want, but knowing which keyword phrases are more popular and have less competition will help you buy a better domain name, and write more effective articles. If you choose to do the research, get Market Samurai. They have an excellent tool and videos on how to do the research. The key is to know which phrases are going to produce results and purchase a domain relevant to one of the target phrases.
2. Domain Purchase
You should purchase a domain name for your lead generation site. Even if you already have another domain that is your main site, having an online publication that drives traffic to your core site is an effective way to generate traffic and value over time. Assuming you are following this list to the letter, modify your name server (settings in your domain) to ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com. Get a domain that is fairly short and relevant to good keyword phrases.
3. Hosting Account
If you do not already host a website someplace, Bluehost.com is a good host that is very affordable. You can put multiple sites on the server. They also have a one click wordpress install. You will need to add on your domain which you just registered and then install wordpress. If you need help with this step you should be able to hire someone on oDesk.com for under $20 to do this.
4. Customize WordPress
Purchase a premium theme – we like Studio Press. (Our clients get the theme free when we set up their site). Once you have added the theme you can customize it with links, banners, your call to action and sales pages. Remember this is an ongoing effort and do not worry about it being perfect at launch. It will take time to generate any traffic and it is important to launch quickly and be consistent. If you are having trouble customizing something search on the theme name + problem or hire a WordPress expert on oDesk.
5. Launch Your Magazine
You are ready to launch your magazine. Begin by writing feature articles. Do a minimum of one post per week of at least 250 words. Use at least one target keyword phrase 2-3 times in your article. You can experiment with hiring writers on odesk if you are having trouble doing this yourself. We have also seen very successful clients use existing staff for articles as well as hire writers directly.
6. Call to Action
As your online magazine begins to attract traffic and attention, you will want to either add a basic list building lead capture program like aWeber or use a full sales CRM like the Buzzoodle CRM ($50 per month and worth every penny).
7. Embrace Being a Publisher
Results take time. You need to embrace being a publisher and write every week, do back linking every week, promote your articles in social media every week and really focus on cultivating an audience, not just getting your task out of the way. In many cases, it will take months of effort to start seeing some steady results. It all depends on the competition in your market place. But people that stick to this have seen big transformations in their business.
Note: Even if you do your own site now, it is advantageous to have Buzzoodle do another site for you when you have the budget. Buzzoodle will increase traffic and ranking of your core website as well as help you dominate more top slots in search results after a while. Plus, we specialize in this strategy, which means we can do it at an affordable rate while getting better results.