My Guide To Building An Online Lead Generating Website

There's been quite a few discussions about online lead generation and where should one begin. So, I thought it would be great to have a resource page that gives the BP community a great starting point.

There are many different approaches to building websites and search engine optimization and I'm not here to argue about which one is best. Everything listed below is what I've done for my site as well as other investor sites and we've seen a decent to great return on the time and money invested.

Where do you start?

I like to start off with a great hosting company that has great customer support. This means that they have multiple ways to provide support via phone, chat, and email.

Tip #1 - There are hundreds of hosting companies but when you do a search you don't get the hosting companies website. You actually get affiliate websites that make commissions on your purchase. The best way to get the best price for hosting is to go direct to the hosting company.

Hosting companies that I've used

Hostmonster

bluehost

site5

godaddy

hostnine

I've got hosting now I need a domain

You should take a little time and put in the research for a great domain. The best domains are short and have keywords in the URL.

Now some people will tell you that the keywords in your domain don't have an effect on SEO but that's not true. I've ranked 50+ sites and if you have a keyword or words in the domain then it's much easier to rank.

In the last year or so branded websites have done well. My advice would be to make a list of keywords and then branded words. Now find a combination that makes a great domain.

Branded keyword domain example

Timbuysseattlehouses.com

timbuyshouses.com

Tip #1 - I would recommend that you have the location in the domain as well as houses.

Tip #2 - The only extra service you need when purchasing a domain is the Who Is option. This hides the ownership details of the site.

Themes

You're going to build your website on the wordpress platform but you're going to use a theme. Think of a theme as the skin of the site or the colors and layout.

By using a theme you get a ton of features right out of the gate and you won't need a lot of customization which saves you money.

Great places to find themes

studiopress.com - I use the following themes: Centric Pro, Going Green, Outreach Pro

woothemes.com

themeforest.net

I prefer studiopress and use it for all of my sites. It utilizes HTML 5 and your site is fully responsive which means it works on mobile devices from day one. They also give you some free stuff that comes in handy like social buttons, on page buttons, and background images. All of it is free with your purchase and if you need a designer they have a list of approved companies. Plus they load extremely fast which adds to your SEO.

Tip #1 - If your sites loads faster then your competitors then google will rank your site higher.

Tip #2 If your site is mobile responsive and your competitors are not then you'll rank higher in the mobile search.

Keyword research

There are hundreds of keywords that you can rank for and one of the best tools to start the process is the Keyword Planner by Google.  It's free and you can find it in your free Adwords account.  If you don't have an account then set one up and start discovering search terms.

Google Keyword Planner

Tracking

I always add Google Anlaytics to all of my sites. It gives your some powerful tools to see what customers are doing once they hit your page and there they came from. I could write pages about how to leverage GA but now isn't the time. The only thing you need to do is add the code that GA provides into your header. If you don't know how to do this then private message me and I'll walk you through it.

Once I finish linking Google Analytics I then link Google Webmaster Tools.

Plugins

Don't go crazy with plugins!  Most newbies try to find a plugin for everything which leads to slower load times and security issues.  Here's a short list of the ones I use.

Yoast SEO

Contact 7

Gravity Forms

On-page optimization

These are factors on your page that influence search engine results.  I've provided a list of what I believe to be the most important.

Title - Use the broad keyword in your page title

Meta description - These don't influence search engine results but they are critical for higher click through rates.  You want to be persuasive and ask questions.  Speak directly to your customer.  

H1 Tag - If possible use the keyword in the H Tag. 

Alt Images - If you have images on the page then make sure you edit the alt images section.  Use the keyword in this section.

Tip #1 - Do not keyword stuff in the content of the page.

Internal linking - You want to link all of your pages together.  This allows your customers to move around site.  Use the appropriate keyword to link to the appropriate page.

Tip #1 - I recommend that you link from your blog posts to your internal or home page.  Only link once and put 2-3 outbound links to authority sites in the same blog post.

Tip #2 - If you can find a relevant video then post that video to your blog post.

Social Marketing

Facebook business page - One of my favorites.  It's a great way to network locally and they tend to rank for keywords.

Google+ Page - Make sure you setup a G+ page and business page.  This adds authority to your site.

Twitter - Another great way to network with like minded individuals.  

LinkedIn - I will sometimes setup a business page on LinkedIn but not everyone wants their employers to know that they have a side business.  

Link Building

This is very important and you need to be spending most of your time building links to your site.  I'd recommend that you start with a BP Pro membership.  Then use your twitter account to find others on the web that will allow you to guest post and do an interview for a podcast.  

Here's a tool that I use to find links.  It's very inexpensive and gives you lots of opportunities.

http://linkprospector.citationlabs.com/

Here's another one that's free

https://app.buzzsumo.com/top-content

Local SEO

Lot's of opportunity for local SEO and these are usually the easiest to rank for.  Make sure you use a consistent NAP (name, address, phone).  

If you don't have an address then use a UPS box.

If you don't have a phone then I'd recommend Google Voice and have it forward to your cell.  This way you have a consistent number that never changes.

Tip #1 - Getlisted.org makes it really easy for you to setup your local citations.  It does cost a couple of dollars but it's well worth the price.

If you've made it this far then I think your ready to build a great site that will rank quickly.  I'd like to offer a free service as well.  If you need help with your On-Page Optimization then private message me with the link to your site.