Lead magnet on a static site: a file for an email
A lead magnet is something useful in exchange for a contact: “leave your email, get the checklist”. It is how experts build a list: psychologists, nutritionists, coaches, course authors. The trouble is that on a static site this mechanic is usually built the wrong way.
The usual setup, and why it fails
The file sits behind an open link next to the form: “fill in the form, and here is the download button”. The result is predictable: people download the file without the form, the direct link spreads through chats, and you get no contacts. Or the owner answers every submission by hand, which lasts about two weeks.
The other route is a mailing service with an automated funnel. It works, but for a single email you sign up for one more paid service, embed someone else’s scripts and move your clients’ contacts into someone else’s database.
How it works on Tuqo
From the Start plan, forms have an auto-reply that can carry a file:
- Attach the file to the form on the site’s Forms tab: a PDF, image, zip or text file up to 50 MB. The file is not reachable by a direct URL, so nobody can download it without submitting the form.
- Write the email: a subject and a couple of paragraphs. The “Send a test auto-reply to myself” button shows the email the way the visitor will see it.
- The visitor submits the form and gets the email right away: your text and a “Get the file” button. The button leads to a delivery page with your branding; the link lives from 1 to 60 days, as you set it.
The key consequence: the file goes only to a real email address. The email with the button is sent to the address from the submission. Type a made-up one and you get no file. That is more honest than any “email verification” and needs no captcha or confirmation step.
The subject and text of the email are yours, in any language, and are sent as written.
The service parts of the email (the download button and the footer line) and the delivery
page follow the site’s language. Tuqo detects it on every publish from the start of
index.html: Cyrillic in <title> means Russian, otherwise <html lang="ru"> or
<html lang="en"> decides, and anything else leaves the language as it was. To fix it,
use Language of pages for visitors on the site’s Settings tab.
What the owner sees
- the auto-reply status in every submission card: sent, or why not (for example, the form had no email field);
- counters: how many auto-replies went out this month and how many times the file was downloaded. That is your “submission to download” conversion;
- email volume is capped by the plan’s monthly submission quota; there is no separate limit to track.
The delivery page is a place for an upsell
Under the download button goes your text: “I also run a course, here is the link”. The person came for a free resource and sees a paid offer at the moment of peak interest. That turns a free checklist into the start of a funnel rather than its end.
FAQ
Can the link be forwarded? While it is alive, yes, just like the downloaded file. This is a “contact first” barrier, not copy protection. For materials that need access control, use gated access to the site.
What if I send emails through my own service? Then you don’t need the auto-reply. Put the materials on a separate site behind a password and paste the link and the password into your own newsletter: see gated access with a site password.
Is this a newsletter? No. It is one transactional email in reply to a person’s submission. There are no follow-ups or sequences; dedicated services exist for that.
Plans and prices are in rubles; the pricing page shows approximate dollars and euros.