A lead magnet is a trade. Your visitor gives you a name and an email address, and you give them something useful straight away. That’s all it is. The hard part isn’t the idea, it’s the plumbing: a form, a file that can’t just be shared around the internet, an email that arrives, and a place to see who signed up.
Here’s how I do it on WordPress with LeadMagnet, the plugin I built for exactly this. The free version covers everything below.
What you need first
- A WordPress site (5.8 or newer) you can log in to as admin.
- The thing you’re giving away. A PDF, a spreadsheet, a zip of templates. Anything you can upload.
- Ten minutes.
If you don’t have the thing yet, read lead magnet ideas that actually get downloaded first and come back.
Step 1: Install the plugin
Download the LeadMagnet zip from the LeadMagnet page. Then go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the zip, install and activate. A new LeadMagnet menu appears in your dashboard.
Step 2: Add your resource
Open LeadMagnet → Add Resource and fill in:
- Title and short description. This is what the visitor reads before deciding to hand over an email address. Say what they get and what it saves them, in plain words. “A one-page checklist for launching a blog post” beats “Free resource”.
- The file. Upload it, or paste a URL if it lives somewhere else.
- Cover image and category. The cover image shows on the form and in your library grid.
Save it. The Resources list now shows an ID number next to it. You’ll need that next.
Step 3: Put the form on a page
On any page or post, add this shortcode, with your own ID in place of 5:
[leadmagnet id="5"]
Publish and open the page. You’ll see the form. If you have several resources and want one page that shows all of them with search and category filters, use this instead:
[leadmagnet_library]
You can also narrow it, for example [leadmagnet_library columns="2" category="Templates"].
Step 4: Test it like a visitor
Open the page in a private browser window and fill in the form with your own email. Two things should happen: the download starts, and an email arrives with the same link.
That link is signed and works once. If someone forwards it to a friend, the friend gets nothing, and they’ll need to use the form themselves. That’s the point: the file isn’t sitting at a public address that anyone can find and share.
If the email never arrives, it’s almost always your WordPress mail setup rather than the plugin. Install any SMTP plugin and send a test. This is the single most common problem with every form plugin on every host.
Step 5: Set up the three things that matter
Open LeadMagnet → Settings and do these before you send traffic:
- Consent text. If you add a line here, the form shows a required tick box. If any of your readers are in Europe, add it.
- reCAPTCHA v3. Add your Google site key and secret key. Without it, once you get a bit of traffic you’ll start collecting junk addresses from bots.
- Notification email. Decide whether you want an email every time someone signs up. Handy at the start, noisy later. You can switch it off.
If you want more than name and email, LeadMagnet → Custom Fields lets you add a question such as “What’s your role?” Every extra field costs you some sign-ups, so add one only if you’ll actually use the answer.
Step 6: Look after your leads
LeadMagnet → Leads & Downloads lists every sign-up, one row per person per resource. You can mark each one new, contacted, converted or junk, add private notes, and export everything to CSV that opens properly in Excel.
If someone asks you to delete their data, there’s a “Right to be forgotten” box: enter their email and it removes everything stored about them.
What makes people actually download
The plugin can’t fix a weak offer. Three things I’d check:
- Does the title promise a specific result? “Invoice template” is fine. “Invoice template that gets you paid in 7 days” is better, as long as it’s true.
- Is the page about one thing? One resource, one form, no sidebar of distractions.
- Does the file deliver in the first minute? If the first page is a long intro about you, people leave.
Where this goes next
Once the free version is working, you may want to sell some downloads rather than give them all away. That’s what the Pro add-on does, using Razorpay for payment. I’ve written that up in how to sell digital downloads with Razorpay without WooCommerce.
Frequently asked questions
Is the LeadMagnet plugin free?
Yes. Lead capture, gated downloads, the library, leads list, CSV export, custom fields, reCAPTCHA and the consent box are all in the free plugin. Charging for a resource through Razorpay is part of the paid Pro add-on.
Will the download link work for anyone who has it?
No. Each link is signed and can be used once. A person who wants the file has to submit the form, which is how you get their email.
Why did my download email not arrive?
Almost always because WordPress’s default mail isn’t set up on your host. Install an SMTP plugin, set up SPF and DKIM for your domain, and send a test. Check spam as well.
Can I export my leads?
Yes. LeadMagnet → Leads & Downloads has a CSV export that opens correctly in Excel and Google Sheets.
Do I need a developer to set this up?
No. If you can upload a plugin and paste a shortcode, you can do all of it. The shortcodes are [leadmagnet id="..."] for one resource and [leadmagnet_library] for all of them.
Is it GDPR friendly?
It gives you the tools: a consent tick box with your own wording and a “right to be forgotten” delete by email. What you write in your privacy policy and how you use the emails afterwards is still your responsibility, and I’m not a lawyer.