Pay Per Click advertising is an easy, quick way to monetize a domain. However, lead capture is an often overlooked monetization strategy with bigger payoffs.

Why Lead Capture is Valuable

Two words: targeted eyeballs. Anyone who understands why targeted traffic is valuable will understand why companies value targeted, niche leads. Lead capture is a method to target individuals who have a specific need or interest such as mortgage refinance, auto loans or anything else an advertiser or individual specifically wants. The good news is there are several ways to do this and many, many different niches that any advertiser could seek. In addition, the pay outs are usually better than PPC and easier than generating sales as the advertiser will usually take care of the upselling process.

Outgoing Lead Capture

The most common type of lead capture is outgoing for lead brokers or affiliates. Dave Pelligrinelli of AFX owns and operates a series of networked domains for outgoing and incoming lead capture. One of his outgoing lead  names: MortgageOffers.com is designed to capture leads for individuals wanting to refinance or purchase a home. Other examples (owned by other individuals/companies) include InsuranceQuotes.com, LendingTree.com and Copier.com that take it a step further by delivering combined quotes from multiple companies.

One more great example is a network owned by Steve Lombardi; ExpertHub.com. Expert Hub uses several generic domains to capture leads such as PlasticSurgeons.com, LawFirms.com and Dentists.org (full list) for Legal, Plastic Surgeon, Dental and Chiropractor clients.

Incoming Lead Capture

Incoming lead capture has to do with capturing leads for your use. These leads can either be for a product, service or a type of partner you want to work with. Suppose you have a computer store that can ship parts anywhere in the United States. For incoming product leads, you can SEO the names: ComputerRepairParts.com , ComputerDirectory.com, etc. Suppose you want to capture leads of people who are interested in affiliating with a computer store. ComputerAffiliate.com, ComputerBusiness.com and even ComputerTechnicianBusiness.com are great names to promote and SEO.

Another site in Dave Pelligrinelli's network involves incoming lead capture for his business: Abstractors.com. He uses this one word generic to help find title abstractors based around the United States that he can hire to perform certain tasks for his company.

Domains for Lead Capture

The type of domain you choose for lead capture depends on several factors:

• Will it be used for incoming or outgoing lead capture?
• Will you need to sell leads as a combined database or on an individual basis?
• Is the domain short, clear and easy to remember?
• How much competition is there for the lead type?
• Are there any buyers for the lead type?
• How much type-in traffic does the domain have and is it sufficient?

One or two keyword generics work best for lead capture monetization. Brandable domains are not out of the question but the farther away you get from one/two word generic, the harder you will have to work to develop the domain.

Developing for Lead Capture

When you develop your domain: the less distraction you place on the page, the better. Adsense and links are a major distraction. The goal is to capture the lead, not deter the visitor to another page. A basic effective lead capture site includes: a few images, a paragraph or two of sales information and a form. That's it. An exception to this is if you're creating a database of some kind like Abstractors.com, developing a site in a highly competitive category such as adult domains or you want to build on top of existing type-in traffic.

As for the form: the less information you attempt to collect, the better. Only collect what is necessary. In most cases, that may only be a name and email address. However, only add other fields if this information is mandatory.

Furthermore, don't wait until you have a solution for lead capture before you begin capturing leads. A simple newsletter box will do in the meantime.

Tweaking Domain Development

You may need to experiment with your domains to find out what works and what doesn't for each particular type of name and lead. Sometimes a visitor needs  information before they will request more information. Sometimes, all you need is a simple search form like on Expert Hub's sites. The best advice I have ever received about promotion that rings true in development: if it works, it will work right away. Do not let six months go by before you try something new.

Lead Buyers: Affiliate or Broker?

There are different types of companies who purchase leads from individuals. Lead brokers usually want large lists of leads and include companies such as Leads.com and LeadPile. However, they are the easiest lead buyer to find. On the other hand, affiliate lead buyers can be any company interested in your lead type. For instance, if you have TampaLawyers.com, any law firm in the Tampa Bay area is a potential buyer for your lead captures. You can also develop Expert Hub's method of bringing the lead buyers to you with a network site.

More Information: Resources

• Marketing Secrets from salesforce: Step 2. Capturing Leads
• Stop Driving Traffic, Start Capturing Leads
• Five Lead Capture Tools & How They Work
• Ideas for Best Lead Capture Strategies
• Lead Capture Page Tips - the Money Starts Here
• MortgageLeadsGuide.com

More Information: Lead Brokers

• Leads.com
• LeadPile
• GoLeads.com
• infoUSA
• GoodLeads.com

Your Thoughts

 Have you developed domains specifically for lead capture? I'm happy to hear your thoughts below about lead resources, articles or sites you know about. You can also follow me on Twitter or on Facebook.

Comments (8)

Aron November 03, 2011

Some great thoughts here Tia. Very well done Aron

Samer November 03, 2011

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

don November 03, 2011

Would also suggest users check out cj.com (commission junction) and quinstreet, both offer various types of lead selling options.

lhf November 03, 2011

It sounds interesting,good article,thanks.

Duane

Good thoughts and interesting read. Although, I would not recommend using any of the above lead companies. Its the easy way but your leaving to much money on the Table. The hard work is finding someone to buy your leads, but it is very rewarding. Many do not realize the money which is made in lead gen with very simple sites or so called mini sites. I say mini sites because that is really all you need. 5-10 Pages with one single form or a few forms built in. And if you are able to recognize the right market, these leads can be sold for $ 50 , $100 , $ 500 or more. It all depends on the business and if you want to put in the effort (work). Once those babies run its a constant income.

steve

Yes very nice article. It was easy to read and had great knowledeg. I couldn't of wrote it better.

Tier 1 Development November 04, 2011

Your readers interested in a CPA lead solution should check out DomainPower.com. They've got some great stuff for debt, insurance, travel, mortgage. It's a good solution that can be set up for SEO as well.

Hal Meyer November 06, 2011

Great info, thanks.

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