Your Website Profit

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Publishing content that encourages readers to link to it is called link baiting. Link baiting can be seen as a way to build links naturally, since the ones linking are not (usually) paid for the links, nor are there any reciprocal links back from the page in question.

This makes link baiting one of the preferred search engine optimization techniques, because the links will look natural to search engines, and so are more valuable than bought or exchanged links. This post gives ideas on successful link baits, and ways to execute them.

Lists

Good lists on a topic are often consulted by those in need of help, and if help is found, it is natural to link to the resource. Good lists are helpful, and objective - instead of just listing the pros, also mention any cons. To be a successful link bait, a list should not have very much competition, so lists of article directories, or web directories will rarely earn many links.

Tools

Useful tools are likewise shared by those that found help. Some examples of successful tools are ip-address lookups, who-is query services and manual submission tools. All these already exist, so the best idea would be to come up with something different. Keep in mind that the larger the possible audience, the more potential for linking.

Controversy

Controversy sparks interest, and if the reader disagrees, he might write a rebuttal on his blog, or website linking to the source of controversy - you. Remember not to make anyone angry, as that might cost you readers. Current events, politics and religion are some oft used themes for controversial articles, but be careful with religion, as it has the highest potential to make someone angry.

Contests

Blogging contests often have linking as a requirement, so they are naturally link baits. Some other competitions manage to have a link baiting effect without stating it plainly. Any contest with a good enough price will spark enough interest to act as a link bait.

Popularizing Your Link Bait

It is not enough to post the link bait on you website, it you don’t have many visitors. Popularize it on relevant discussion forums, or post about it on other blogs. Use all the normal methods you use, when publishing you articles, and then some more. Social bookmarking is a great way to popularize your link bait, which is why every good link bait should have a ‘bookmark this‘ button in a visible place.

by Sutocu | August 31, 2007