Lead Generation SEO - How?

[milehighmuscle]

Hello Everyone!

I'm looking to expand my knowledge on SEO, particularly lead generation websites.

If I understand correctly you create a website and rank for local keywords for let's say " kansas city towing company". Then you can either send those leads to a local business and work out a payment per lead plan or even send these to a company that pays for leads and will then send them to local businesses that they have a relationship with.

I see some advice on line that to rank these faster and higher you could use PBN links. Of course, PBNs are frowned upon typically on affiliate/info niche sites.

I'm guessing if you plan to just sell the leads to a company that buys them that PBNs would be somewhat acceptable since you'll rank it for several months, pull in leads, sell them and move on to the next.

I was hoping to learn from some of you who have experience in this arena or if you could point me towards some resources/courses where i can learn more!

Thank you!

 

[UFO]

If I understand correctly you create a website and rank for local keywords for let's say " kansas city towing company". Then you can either send those leads to a local business and work out a payment per lead plan or even send these to a company that pays for leads and will then send them to local businesses that they have a relationship with.

Yes, and in my opinion, this is much more favorable than client SEO since you control the asset.

I see some advice on line that to rank these faster and higher you could use PBN links. Of course, PBNs are frowned upon typically on affiliate/info niche sites.

I'm guessing if you plan to just sell the leads to a company that buys them that PBNs would be somewhat acceptable since you'll rank it for several months, pull in leads, sell them and move on to the next.

Local SERPs can fly under the radar for more risky things, but why are you wanting to use PBNs specifically as opposed to other links? Cost?

I can't speak on the effectiveness of PBNs these days, it's been years since I've used them, and when I did it was on a national level. I own a local business and opt for higher-quality links. You could always use PBNs if your risk tolerance is high but why not just build for longevity and avoid possibly being outed by competitors? Also, depending on the location and the industry you may not need many links to see some results.

I was hoping to learn from some of you who have experience in this arena or if you could point me towards some resources/courses where i can learn more!

I learned local SEO from the guys over at Local Client Takeover years ago. Looks like they have a lot of their free courses still up. Get a Google Business Profile (formerly GMB) set up if you can and optimize it well.

Are you in Colorado (mile high in username)?

 

[milehighmuscle]

Yes, and in my opinion, this is much more favorable than client SEO since you control the asset.


Local SERPs can fly under the radar for more risky things, but why are you wanting to use PBNs specifically as opposed to other links? Cost?

I can't speak on the effectiveness of PBNs these days, it's been years since I've used them, and when I did it was on a national level. I own a local business and opt for higher-quality links. You could always use PBNs if your risk tolerance is high but why not just build for longevity and avoid possibly being outed by competitors? Also, depending on the location and the industry you may not need many links to see some results.


I learned local SEO from the guys over at Local Client Takeover years ago. Looks like they have a lot of their free courses still up. Get a Google Business Profile (formerly GMB) set up if you can and optimize it well.

Are you in Colorado (mile high in username)?

Thanks so much for the response and your expertise!

I do like that you own the asset. I wasn’t really even taking that into consideration. Thats a plus for sure!

I honestly don’t have any experience with PBNs and would prefer not to use them although they’re cheaper. I had just heard on a YouTube video briefly of a guy who uses PBNs to rank his lead gen sites.

I agree with you and believe it’s worth it to build a long lasting asset.

Do you have a particular place you buy good links for your lead gen sites?

As far as keywords/content what do you target? Do you need to write as many articles as an affiliate site to gain authority? Or is it as straightforward as several articles and good links to rank in certain cities?

Sorry for all of the questions but I truly do appreciate your time and knowledge! I also appreciate the resources you provided. I’m going to check them out!

Yeah, I’m based in Colorado! Are you as well?

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Sorry, one last question! Are the SERPS for lead gen sites as volatile and susceptible to Google algorithm updates as affiliate/info sites?

 

[UFO]

Do you have a particular place you buy good links for your lead gen sites?

With local you'll want to start with business citations, this will help boost your Google business profile. Bright Local can get the site submitted to the big local data aggregators. Scout your competitor's link profiles too, this will help you find niche and location-relevant citations. Depending on the location or the vertical this can get you pretty far. If I need more juice for a larger city or more competitive term I'll buy links from places like Web20ranker or Authority builders.

As far as keywords/content what do you target? Do you need to write as many articles as an affiliate site to gain authority? Or is it as straightforward as several articles and good links to rank in certain cities?

The big thing in local is optimizing to try to rank your Google business profile, so targeting your business category and other terms that cause Google to show the GBP at the top of the SERPs with the maps. You can then branch out into other related topics within your vertical as your GBP will pull terms from your site.

Then you can go more in-depth targeting long tails, and smaller surrounding towns/suburbs close to your main city that may not have the maps show in the SERPs. Some verticals and local areas are limited to how much traffic is there, but others have more. For example, an HVAC company that also does plumbing and electrical work would have many more terms to target compared to a tree service.

In the business that I'm in, we offer a few different product lines, and a number of different services, and each has its own styles, customizations, and unique set of features. Where we're located, these products and services are very popular, so I have an almost endless supply of long tail terms to target that have traffic, especially when you extrapolate out into surrounding towns and cities. This is a business we own so for us it's worth it to build out a beefy site to rake in as much traffic as possible, especially when we're going up against some big players. In other situations, you may not have that luxury or it may be overkill.

Sorry, one last question! Are the SERPS for lead gen sites as volatile and susceptible to Google algorithm updates as affiliate/info sites?

Not in my experience. The way that it's been explained to me is that the local SERPs are tied to specific locations (obviously), and maps so there's a lot less traffic than national/worldwide terms and they act as separate SERPs. I've never been hit by any of these big updates that the affiliate and info site guys talk about, but I'm not saying it's impossible. There have also been updates that were specifically for the local SERPs, like the Pigeon update.

Yeah, I’m based in Colorado! Are you as well?

Was born and raised in the Denver area, and lived there my whole life until almost a year ago. I live in Texas now.

Hope this is helpful and not too long-winded!