The website leasing business model explained is creating websites with marketing value and leasing them to businesses that can capitalize on that value. People find websites through search engines like Google. In fact, there are 5.9 million Google searches every single minute. The majority 66% of web traffic goes through Google, according to SEMRush.
Google and other search engines use algorithms to decide which websites show up for the search queries that people type into the search bar. Ranking on the first page of Google for relevant search queries is one of the most efficient marketing channels to attract new customers. That's especially true if the search volume is high and the website has a relevant product or service to sell to the users that reach the website.
Look at the search term "Chicago plumber" as an example. This search term gets an estimated 500 monthly searches in the United States according the Ahrefs SEO tool. Top-ranked websites can reach hundreds of Chicago residents looking for a plumber.
Due to its marketing potential, the first page of Google is prime real estate. Websites that rank on the first page of Google are highly valuable. That's why there is a whole $68.27 billion industry called search engine optimization (SEO) that focuses on ranking websites in search. Instead of helping other businesses rank their websites, many SEO professionals prefer to rank their own sites. Then, they lease them to businesses who want a readymade marketing channel. This allows an SEO professional to create an asset, a piece of digital real estate.
James Dooley from the United Kingdom is one of the best examples of the website leasing business model. James Dooley, the CEO of PromoSEO, has ranked hundreds of website domains. By leasing this network of websites to real businesses, he has acquired an estimated net worth of over $100 million.
Over the last decade, I've also generated millions of dollars through the website leasing business model. In the following article, I discuss the website leasing business model in greater detail. I also outline 3 unique ways to use this business model to generate online income.
What is leasing?
Leasing is a contractual agreement that allows a party to legally use the asset of another party for a specified period. A lease agreement contains the two primary entities of the lessor and lessee. The lessor owns the asset, while the lessee buys access to the asset for the lease term. The basic concept of leasing is that one party owns something of value that another party pays to access.
An example of leasing in business is leasing equipment for business operations. Many businesses don’t have the funds to buy the high cost machinery required to run the business outright. Such businesses include construction companies, restaurants, and farmers. Instead, they use equipment leasing to access the machinery they need. There are many equipment financing companies that rent expensive machinery to businesses. The operating lease allows the business owner to use the equipment for a period while making monthly payments for the access.
Companies make money from leasing by collecting recurring payments. These recurring payments allow a leasing company to generate income from an asset they own. The leasing company makes a profit when the value of the asset they receive back at the end of the leasing term and the total amount of the recurring payments exceeds the value the company paid for the asset originally. Leasing companies can also generate revenue by charging other fees, like late payment fees and end-of-lease fees.
Leasing is a good business model because it allows you to invest in assets and generate recurring income to earn a profit. The lease business model provides stable monthly payments for reliable cash flow.
What is website leasing?
Website leasing is when one company pays to use another company's website. It's an online business model involving the temporary exchange of a digital marketing channel for money. A website is a piece of digital real estate. Similar to real property, digital real estate can carry value that other entities will pay to access if it can benefit them.
How does website leasing work?
Website leasing works by getting a website to rank high on Google, then renting it to a business that wants those top search results. You start by using SEO tools to find valuable keywords to target. Then, you create a website and perform SEO strategies to get the website to rank for the target keywords. Once you are ranking on the first page of Google, you reach out to businesses that can benefit from the organic marketing channel.
3 Unique ways to make money with website rentals
1. Rent the subdirectory of a high authority website
High authority websites can make money by renting out a subdirectory of their website to a content publisher. Google gives preference to websites that have been around for a while. Those that have proven the ability to publish high-quality content and attract backlinks. That means new content publishers are better off finding a high authority website to partner with than starting a site from scratch.
Forbes Advisor provides a relevant example of this. To the surprise of many, Forbes does not exclusively own the Forbes Advisory subdirectory on its site. Forbes Advisor is majority owned by Forbes Marketplace. Forbes Marketplace is a third-party company that uses the high domain rating of Forbes to more easily rank its content on the first page of Google.
Creating a high authority website and renting out a subdirectory of the site to a publisher is a way to generate income through website leasing. However, this model requires a more extensive timeframe. It takes at least 3 - 5 years to publish enough content and attract enough backlinks for the main domain to become strong enough.
2. Rent spots on a listicle post
Ranking a listicle post for a high value keyword and renting the top positions to businesses is a viable way to make money with website leasing. This model entails targeting Ecommerce keywords with high search volume. This is done by creating and ranking a listicle post on the first page of Google.
Jacky Chou of Indexsy talks about doing this on his YouTube channel. He claims he was able to rank his article on the first page of Google for the keyword term "best protein power". According to Ahrefs data, this term gets approximately 120K global searches per month. An article ranking on the first page of Google for this term is highly valuable to protein powder companies. As such, Jacky Chou claims to charge protein powder companies upwards of $50K/month for placement at the top of his list.
3. Rent a website to a local business owner
Ranking a website for a local service search query and renting it to a local business owner is the easiest way to generate income with website leasing. Also known as rank and rent, this online business model entails using local SEO to rank service websites in low competition local markets. This process usually takes between 6 weeks and 6 months. Once the site is ranking, it can be rented to a real service business for $500 to $3,000/month.
This is the business model I use to generate over $50K/month from website leasing fees.
What is rank and rent?
Rank and rent is a specific type of website leasing that entails ranking a website for a combination of a location and home service keyword. For example, the keyword "Dallas plumber". Then, leasing the website to a real home service business owner in the location where the site is ranking.
Is rank and rent legal?
Yes, rank and rent is legal. A website owner can legally offer their website to another business for monetary compensation. However, there are legal requirements that all business websites must follow to operate legally. As such, rank and rent websites should include all necessary pages to operate legally. These pages include privacy policy, disclaimer, and cookie policy.
Even so, Google has tried to crack down on some aspects of the rank and rent business model. One common aspect of the rank and rent business model is using Google My Business (GMB) profiles. Google My Business profiles are a Google service. They allow a business to better manage their online presence in Google search results and the map pack. In 2023, Google sued two businesses that were promoting the setup of fake Google My Business profiles in a public Facebook group. These businesses were showing group members how they had set up thousands of fake Google My Business profiles. They also used fake Google reviews to enhance their presence on Google. In the lawsuit, Google claimed these were fraudulent activities that were against their terms of service. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Fortunately, there are ethical ways to work with real business owners to get these Google My Business profiles. Furthermore, many rank and rent websites earn profits without using Google My Business profiles.
What are common rank and rent niches?
- Plumbing
- Concrete
- Asphalt
- HVAC
- Appliance repair
- Cabinets
- Carpet cleaning
Why is rank and rent SEO easier than standard SEO?
Rank and rent SEO is easier than standard SEO because it relies on local SEO instead of international SEO. Local SEO faces lower competition than international SEO. Local SEO involves outranking business owners in a specific geographic location. You can rank a website with local SEO for as little as $50. On the other hand, international SEO involves outranking major global brands. International SEO projects can cost tens of thousands of dollars and require a much more refined strategy.
To make rank and rent SEO even easier, I offer a series of local SEO resources through this website for ranking local websites. For example, you can use my SEO content writer tool to create content that ranks for local search queries.
Rank and rent websites: 2 Examples
1. Tree service rank and rent
Here is a tree service website I ranked in Lansing, Michigan over 8 years ago. The site cost me around $500 to set up and has paid me a rent of $2,000/month since. The site typically produces between 30 - 50 leads for the business owner each month.
2. Pool cleaning rank and rent
Dan Klein created this pool cleaning rank and rent almost a decade ago. It produces between 40 to 70 leads per month, paying $650 in rental income.
What are the customer retention strategies for website leasing business model?
What online courses teach the rank and rent website leasing business model?
Rank and rent course by Dan Klein
The rank and rent course by Dan Klein has taught over 7,400 students how to make money online with local lead generation. It's the longest standing course of its kind, having been around for over a decade. The course incorporates a series of expert coaches to teach the latest sales and SEO tactics. Learn more about Dan's rank and rent course.
Digital Leasing by Joshua Osborne
Digital Leasing is a rank and rent course by Joshua Osborne. Joshua originally learned the business model from Dan Klein's rank and rent course before creating his own version. Digital Leasing comes with 8 training modules, live coaching, and a private Facebook group.
Digital Rental Method by Sean Kochel
Digital Rental Method is a beginner rank and rent course by Sean Kochel. Sean learned the rank and rent model from Dan Klein's course. Digital Rental Method includes training models on ranking websites and running PPC ads.
Conclusion: Can you make passive income from a website?
Yes, you can make passive income from a website. The rank and rent business model in particular is one of the easiest ways to make passive income from a website. That’s because a rank and rent website can remain ranking on the first page of Google long after the initial SEO work is complete. As long as a business owner is getting value from the website and paying to retain their access to it, a rank and rent website owner makes passive income. The site is already ranked and the leads can be set up to get forwarded directly to the business owner. The rank and rent website owner doesn't need to do anything.
I've been doing the rank and rent method to generate passive income online for about a decade. I've scaled up my business to earn over $50K/month passively. Learn how to earn passive income online with the same rank and rent course I learned the model from.
