FreeBSDs workflow of compiling source does not differ from Linux; But that doesn't mean that the code can be compiled on FreeBSD, too. Also your workflow will often fail even on Linux, because there exists none defined standard…
The "normal way" is to check if there's anywhere a documentation available from the developer itself; That's the only person who can tell you how a software has to be compiled - otherwise you have to examine the source.
Finding out how to compile something can be a lot of work, and often require a good portion of knowledge - and even then you might fail. That's the job port maintainers doing for us. Thanks for that!