SEO and Link Baiting

The term linkbait is often used in SEO circles but not many people are actually aware of what it means. If we were to define ‘linkbait’ we would say: ‘Linkbait is when you place content such as an article, blog, picture, post, or any other content on a web page with one purpose in mind – to gather links form as many different sources as possible.’

With the increasing popularity of blogs and social bookmarking sites all that is required is one interesting piece of content on a web page which catches the eye of someone. They then share the link with others and before you can blink you have gathered many links form many different sources and sites. Both the quality and quantity of incoming links to a site are metrics used by a search engine ranking algorithm to determine a website’s rank within a set of search results. Using this method can greatly improve your SEO strategy.

What are popular forms of linkbaiting?

These are just some popular linkbaiting techniques:

• Use informational hooks as these provide useful information to the reader. Include tips and tricks which you think will benefit others and encourage them to create inbound links

•  Use news hooks. Provide content that includes fresh news information a current topical matter, this will cause your content to spread quickly.

• Use humour hooks as these powerful to entice link building. Use a humorous image as these tend to spread through the grapevine quickly.

• Use tool hooks such as useful programs or apps that people will recommend to others.

• Use unique content hooks. These are generated when a third party requests unique content from you and it is this content which contains a link back to your site. Since it is necessary for good SEO that on site content be unique, the creation of this content is a popular among companies who do not wish to create their own content or are unable to do so.

When you are choosing your linkbait method, remember whichever method you choose you need to ensure it is an attention grabber. Remember all publicity is good publicity and this is critical to linkbaiting. Your ultimate aim is to create a buzz about your content online so people talk about it, share it and link to it.

Image credit – outdoorPDK