How To Find Rank & Rent Clients? 10 Steps To Secure Tenants for Local Lead Gen

The steps to find rank and rent clients are:

1. Select a niche and location for rank and rent
2. Perform rank and rent keyword research
3. Analyze ranking competition on Google SERPs
4. Build a list of potential rank and rent clients
5. Generate leads for rank and rent prospects
6. Cold email rank and rent prospects
7. Cold call rank and rent prospects
8. Visit rank and rent prospects in person
9. Attend business events for rank and rent client prospecting
10. Be your own rank and rent client

Rank and rent is an online business model that entails ranking digital properties and renting them to service businesses. Finding rank and rent clients starts with performing the proper due diligence to find a suitable rank and rent opportunity. After choosing a niche and location to potentially target, you want to validate that there is demand for that service in that city and then check whether you’ll be able to rank on the first page of Google without investing too much. If your research indicates a good opportunity for a rank and rent property, see which businesses in the area could monetize your leads well.

Start by cold emailing these businesses, then try cold calling if they don’t answer. If you can’t reach a business remotely and you live in close proximity to your rank and rent, visiting businesses in person is an option. Attending business events like the NAHB International Builders’ Show and National Home Performance Conference & Trade Show are excellent places to find rank and rent clients beyond the internet.

I’ve been doing rank and rent for over a decade. I’ve experimented with finding rank and rent clients through every method you can imagine. In the following article, I’ll walk you through the exact process for finding rank and rent clients successfully.

1. Select a Niche and Location for Rank and Rent

Start by selecting a niche that has high demand for local services. The best rank and rent niches typically fall under the umbrella of home services, where the service provider visits the client’s home to perform the service. Some of the best niches for rank and rent include:

• Plumbing
• Roofing
• HVAC
• Lawn care
• Flooring
• Driveways
• Cleaning
• Decks

Next, choose a location that has low enough competition to rank on Google without investing too many resources and high enough demand to generate sufficient leads. Cities with populations ranging between 100K - 300K typically fit these criteria. Wikipedia has a list of the top US cities with populations greater than 100K.

Choosing the right niche and location is critical because it directly influences how quickly and effectively you can rank your site and generate leads. A niche with high demand ensures that there will be a steady flow of customers looking for the services you’re offering. Home service niches specifically perform well because 84% of home owners use Google to choose a home service contractor, according to Hook Agency.

A strategically selected location allows you to avoid the extreme competition of larger cities, increasing your chances of ranking higher and attracting paying clients. By finding a location with moderate competition, you give yourself the best chance to dominate local search results and turn your rank and rent sites into consistent revenue-generating assets.

2. Perform Rank and Rent Keyword Research

Validate your rank and rent idea by researching whether people are actually searching Google for the keyword variations of the niche and city. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to identify the search volume for relevant keywords in your chosen service area. Start with the short tail keyword variations like “[location] [niche]” or “[niche] [location]”. These have the highest search volume.

Then look for long-tail keyword word variations. These keywords have less volume but are often much easier to rank for. An example of a long-tail keyword variation is “[type] [niche] [location]”, such as “residential plumber Tampa”.

Keyword research is crucial because it ensures that there is sufficient demand for your chosen niche and location. Targeting keywords with sufficient search volume enables you to find rank and rent clients in profitable markets.

3. Analyze Ranking Competition on Google SERPs

Look at the competition on the first page of Google for the different keyword variations. Start by checking the review counts of the businesses ranking in the Google Map Pack. This group of businesses is typically at the top of the SERPs and gets approximately 44% of clicks. You want to see if there are businesses ranking there organically that have review counts of 50 or less. This is one sign that a rank and rent opportunity is low competition.

Next, check the websites that are ranking in the organic results. These websites get 29% of clicks, according to Red Local SEO. First, see if any of the businesses ranking in the Google Local Pack are also ranking in the organic results. This shows they have a strong position in Google SERPs and it will be challenging to outrank them.

Second, use an SEO tool like Ahrefs to check the overall strength of the websites’ ranking. With Ahrefs, you can see the amount of referring pages (RP) a website has and the overall domain rating (DR) Ahrefs gives the site. Referring pages are backlinks. Generally, the more backlinks a website has, the more difficult and costly it will be to outrank that website. According to a study by Ahrefs, the average cost of getting a backlink from an existing web page is $361.44. The average price for a guest post link is $77.80, without considering content creation costs. Check out my affordable, high DA backlink packages to outrank your competition.

Analyzing the competition before pursuing clients allows you to avoid wasting time in high competition markets. When just starting out, it’s essential to land your first deal to start generating income online. This validates to you that the business model works and you’re capable of being successful with it. That’s why we train our new students to target low competition opportunities.

4. Build a List of Potential Rank and Rent Clients

Once you’ve performed due diligence on a rank and rent opportunity, start building a list of potential clients to contact. Start with the businesses that are running paid Google Ads for your target keywords. These businesses typically appear at the top and have the word “Sponsored” next to the result. Google Ads shows that a business is already willing to pay for placement on Google, which is why these businesses should be at the top of the list of prospects to contact.

The second page of Google is another good place to find potential clients. These are businesses that care enough about digital marketing to set up a website but aren’t skilled enough to rank on the first page. Only 0.63% of Google searches click on something from the 2nd page, according to Backlinko. As such, businesses ranking on the 2nd page and beyond likely aren’t getting much business from Google and so are likely to pay for first page Google placement if offered it.

Next, check local directories like Angie’s List and Yelp. Look for businesses that don’t have websites on the first page of Google. Although it’s free to get listed on Angie’s, many businesses pay for more visibility on the platform. Therefore, many of the businesses you find on Angie’s are already paying for leads. As such, there is a good chance they would be open to paying for leads from a rank and rent website.

As you build out your list, record important contact details, including:

• Business name
• Owner name
• Business primary location
• Business phone number
• Business email

Building a list enables you to contact rank and rent prospects efficiently. You can get into a flow by staying focused on the one activity of prospect outreach.

Esteemed sales professional Jeremy Miner mentions how he uses Prospect Time Blocking (PTB) as a key strategy for staying productive and meeting his sales goals. During PTB, he sets a specific time in the day where he focuses solely on the income producing activity of sales outreach.

5. Generate Leads for Rank and Rent Prospects

Before reaching prospects, start generating leads for your target keywords. You can generate leads by using SEO or using PPC advertising.

Generating leads with SEO entails creating a website that targets your niche and city combination. It typically takes between 6 weeks and 6 months to rank a website on Google using local SEO. These websites can cost anywhere from $10 - $1,000+, depending on the competition.

Alternatively, you can start generating leads with Google Ads to secure a client before committing to a rank and rent SEO project. We call this the “Go Fast Look Sexy” method in our lead gen training program. Google Ads allows you to start generating leads for your target keywords immediately.

The reason you want to have leads before contacting potential rank and rent clients is because it enables you to close more sales. Offering a free sample is a common and effective sales tactic. In fact, conversion rates are 30% higher when the prospect gets to sample a product before buying, according to Snack Factory. As such, providing prospects with free leads in advance is a powerful tactic for landing rank and rent clients. It allows you to start building a positive relationship and proves you can provide the business owner with a valuable service.

6. Cold Email Rank and Rent Prospects

Warm up an email inbox for cold emailing if you don’t already have a designated email outreach inbox. You can warm up an email inbox for rank and rent outreach by:

1. Purchasing a new website domain
2. Setting up the email authentication protocols SPF, DKIM, and DMARC under DNS settings
3. Sending 5 - 10 emails to close friends and colleagues who will respond or remove from emails spam each day for the first week
4. Scaling up email volume, sending 20 - 30 emails/day week 2 and 40 - 50 emails per day in week 3, aiming for open rates between 20% - 30% and reply rates between 10% - 20%
5. Sending cold emails to rank and rent prospect list

There are many email marketing software to support sending cold emails in bulk to a list of prospects, such as Woodpecker, GMass, and Mailshake. However, these services cost money. A free bulk email solution for Gmail users is to use the Mail Merge function in Google Sheets. Mail Merge allows you to populate rank and rent prospect data in Google Sheets and then bulk send an email to your entire list of prospects.

An effective cold email includes:

• Short subject line of 5 - 7 words relevant to the prospect
• Opening sentence that grabs attention
• Value proposition—Why should the prospect care and respond to your email
• Call to action—Request a phone or video meeting

Cold email is a convenient and non-intrusive method to start building relationships with rank and rent prospects. Cold emails can also be highly effective with minimal effort. Cold email open rates are approximately 23.9% on average, according to Mailmodo.

It’s essential to designate and warm up a separate email domain for cold email outreach. This is because sending cold emails from your primary agency domain can negatively affect your primary email inbox. Your emails can get flagged as spam. That’s why it’s essential to create a new domain for email outreach and warm it up to avoid spam filters and actually land in your prospects primary email inbox. Only 2% of emails in the spam inbox are opened, according to Backlinko.

7. Cold Call Rank and Rent Prospects

Prepare to cold call rank and rent prospects by creating a cold calling script to help guide your conversion. Research shows that cold callers with a script boast a conversion rate up to 5 times higher than those without a script, according to CloudTalk. Key questions to ask when cold calling rank and rent prospects include:

• Are you speaking directly with the business owner? Or, at least someone who is a decision maker for the business?
• Does the business serve the location your website is ranking?
• What specific services within the niche does the business owner provide its customers?
• Is the business owner looking to increase their revenue?
• Which marketing channels, if any, is the business currently investing in?
• Is the business open to receiving some free leads?

Once you’ve prepared and practiced your rank and rent cold calling script, simply go down your prospect list calling each phone number.

If your rank and rent prospects don’t respond to cold email, the next best option for reaching them is cold calling. The purpose of cold calling rank and rent prospects is to gather information and convince potential clients to receive free leads to start building a positive relationship. Cold calling can be highly effective if you can reach the prospect. It takes an average of 8 call attempts to reach a prospect with cold calling, according to The Tech Report. Data from Cognism shows that the average cold call success rate is 2.3%.

8. Visit Rank and Rent Prospects in Person

The final option to reach businesses on your rank and rent prospect list that don’t respond to your cold emails or cold calls is to show up at their business address. Introduce yourself and pique their interest by telling them you have free leads for their service. Ask qualifying questions to determine if the business would be a good client for your rank and rent property. If the business meets your criteria for a satisfactory partnership, obtain their best phone number and email address so you can start forwarding them leads.

Although in-person sales isn’t always convenient for rank and rent prospecting, it’s a powerful strategy to find clients. A study by Cornell University found that face-to-face requests were successful 80% of the time, while video calls were successful only 57% and phone calls 44%.

9. Attend Business Events for Rank and Rent Client Prospecting

Enable yourself to meet potential rank and rent clients by attending in-person business events like:

• Trade shows and expos - Large industry-specific events where businesses set up booths to attract new business. Some trade show and expo examples are The International Roofing Expo for roofers and the AHR Expo for HVAC professionals.
• Networking events and meetups - Small, local gathers meant for business owners to network and build relationships. Women’s Business Alliance: Rosie’s On The Roof hosted by the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce is an example of a local networking event.
• Industry conferences - Large events that include aspects like speakers, workshops, and panels to pass along industry knowledge. An example of an industry conference is the Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference in Las Vegas.

After you’ve exhausted your prospect list, business events are a great way to expand your search beyond the internet. Live events are highly effective for B2B sales. In fact, 68% of B2B marketers agree that live events generate the most leads compared to digital strategies, according to Marketing Charts.

I recently had a conversion with one of our students during one of our weekly coaching sessions. This student said that some of their best clients have come by attending business expositions, showing the effectiveness of this prospecting method.

10. Be Your Own Rank and Rent Client

Instead of selling your leads to another business, you can perform the service for your leads to realize all the profit yourself. To become your own rank and rent client, you must first obtain any relevant qualifications or certifications to legally perform the service. For example, to work as an electrician you typically need to have a high school diploma, attend trade school, complete an apprenticeship, and get a license. Once you can legally perform the service, equip yourself with the proper tools to successfully provide the service to your leads.

Becoming your own rank and rent client allows you to take full advantage of a business’s success. You perform all the work of marketing and operations to maximize your profit potential with the opportunity. However, you have less lifestyle freedom because you need to spend more of your time working in the field.

One of our rank and rent students recently shared a story in our group about how they became their own rank and rent client. They got a lawn care website ranked and rented, but eventually lost the client and couldn’t find a new tenant. Instead of letting their rank and rent property go to waste, they went out and bought their own lawn care equipment to service their leads. This has turned into an entire business for them with consistent clients.

Is Rank and Rent SEO Worth It?

Yes, rank and rent SEO is worth it because:

• Rank and rent websites can earn $500 - $2,500+/month
• Rank and rent websites can go through periods of generating passive income
• Rank and rent is lower competition than other leading online business models because it targets local traffic instead of global traffic
• Rank and rent is a low risk investment that costs a couple grand to get started

How Much Can You Make With Rank and Rent Websites?

You can make $0 - $100K+/year with rank and rent websites . Rank and rent websites don’t offer guaranteed income like a job does. As such, it’s possible to make $0 with rank and rent. This usually happens only to those that give up on the business model after a few months. Many of the students in our rank and rent community of over 7.5K people generate enough income from rank and rent websites to replace the income from their full time job. That means their making anywhere from $60K - $90K+/year from rank and rent websites.

I’ve been able to consistently earn $50K+/month from my rank and rent business. James Dooley, owner of Fat Rank and PromoSEO, is estimated to have accumulated a net worth of over $100 million from hundreds of rank and rent websites set up across the United Kingdom. The amount you can make with rank and rent websites is essentially limitless because you can scale as large as you want.

Conclusion: What Is the Best Way to Get Started With Rank and Rent?

The best way to get started with rank and rent is to join our rank and rent program. Our rank and rent program is the largest and longest running of any rank and rent program available. We’ve helped over 7,500 students start successful rank and rent businesses over the last decade.

Although you can start rank and rent without the help of a rank and rent program, the probability of failure is higher. That’s because discovering which opportunities to go after requires trial and error. Instead of wasting money and time experimenting with dozens of rank and rent websites to find the right formula, you can use our proven process for market research to only target the opportunities with the highest chance of success. This process incorporates the knowledge and experiences of our top coaches.

Our rank and rent program equips you with the right skills, software, and community you need to be successful with the rank and rent business model. Our online course and weekly coaching sessions equip you with high level digital marketing and sales skills. We offer custom built software like Snapps to streamline rank and rent processes. Our active, private community fosters networking and coordination so that students succeed together. Most importantly, other students sharing their successes can show you what’s possible with the business model and help keep you motivated to keep going during challenges.