Link Building is an integral part of any SEO Strategy but not all link building effort results into links. This is because human or webmaster gives links and links are sometimes given based on a lot of reasons. One creative way to get links is to use a technique called linkbaiting.
Linkbaiting is a sure method of getting links by creating content so interesting that people will want to link to. Linkbaiting is not without potential perils, but the time honored tradition of being contrary, in order to get attention is well proved, and if done right, can be a killer way to break into a new area. There are also safer ways of link baiting, they’re just less fun.
In order to bait a link, you need to offer something the other person find its difficult to resist. Think of it in terms of hook. Hooks come in variety of flavors, some of the more popular would include:
- News Jacking hook
- Opinion Hook
- Offensive Hook
- Resource or List Hook
- Humour Hook
If you look at the list , you will find that two main types of hook in there, the nice hook, and the nasty hook. I’d say in most cases you can get away with a contrary viewpoint, but not an attack. No one likes an ass-hole, so there’s no real benefit, as sure you may get a ton of links from outraged blog peers, but they’ll likely ignore anything else you write which might hurt your reputation in the future but if you don’t mind that, you are good to go.
Even though at, that it’s a judgment call. You can slam someone on a blog, but you need to be able to judge very well. Go just a little too far, and you’ll do more harm than good.
The easiest and safest is the nice hook. And when I say easy, I mean it. Have a look at some examples of each type of link bait are listed below:
Resource Bait
- If you can create a list of 200 blogs in your niche and link out, some if not all of the links will come back. Those who are mentioned will even help promote your post on social media which will lead to more growth for your blog.
- Create a practical/useful or even fun tool related to your niche
- Write a How To knowledge based on your niche
- A compilation of news stories on a theme. Sprinkle a little analysis in there, and you’re good to go.
News Bait
- A genuine Scoop, If you can get to the news first
- A compilation of news, as above, it’s a resource as well as a news hook.
- Expose a story for a fraud, or to be flawed. You really have to know your subject to do that, but links flow like water if you can debunk a popular meme
Contrary Bait
- Be the only one in your niche to find something to not like about a story, or like about a story/product.
- On the same theme, post “Why <insert prominent blogger name here> is WRONG about…”
Attack Bait
This works much the same as the contrary hook; you just get to be much, much ruder. It’s a tough one, because just posting about such a thing could land me in hot water. But then I’m not here to play nice, I’m here to talk about gaining traffic, and whilst an attack hook is 99/100 NOT the way to go, sometimes it’s absolutely killer, and can gain you credibility and reputation overnight.
Tread carefully with this one. It can just as easily go the wrong way.
Humor Bait
These kinds of hooks are just too easy.
- Find something funny e.g a picture of a cute dog. You can search flickr, or photoshop a bizzare pic of your subject
- Post “10 thing i hate about…”
- Post “You know you’re a <insert here> when…”
Funny thing is, those things always get links, it’s like people never seem to tire of them.
Give and thou wilt receive…
All of the above is utterly useless without being seen by your peers though. Cultivate the habit of linking others in your post and build a relationship with other bloggers in your niche.
Learn how to carry send an outreach emails, post to delicious, bloggers community etc – just make sure that at least one prominent blogger in your niche reads and links to you and the rest will follow.
What other types of link bait do you use?
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