Link Baiting: Getting Your Bait “Hooked”

Link baiting is the process by which a publisher creates a piece of content with the purpose of enticing others to link to it. This content can come in the form of an article, video, software, etc…

Why aim at creating link bait?

There are several reasons, but one of the main reasons is creating backlinks to your website. We all know that backlinks are people’s way of “voting” for your site. The more backlinks you have, the more you are perceived as an authority in your industry. This is the reason why it is also important to monitor and track backlinks.

Google and other search engines reward those who are authorities in their industry with high page ranks. So it is in your best interest to get as many backlinks as possible and link baiting is an effective technique to get the job done.

Other benefits:

Traffic, traffic, traffic! Isn’t that what we all want? Traffic brings in leads which eventually will result in sales!

Now that we’ve discussed what link baiting is and the benefits, let’s now discuss some tactics we can create that will not only attract visitors to your site, but entice them to link back to it.

Your first course of action is to create a plan. You can create the most amazing piece of content, but if you don’t have a plan on how you want to share it and enlist others in helping you, then you may not have the success you’ve wished for.

Here are some steps you can take to create your link bait plan:

• Decide what you want to create …and make sure it’s fabulous!
• Decide which are going to be the best vehicles/tools you can use to get the word out.
• Call in some favors with your alliances and ask them for their help.
• Decide on how you intend to track your results.

Here are some ideas on creating link baits to get you started:

• Create an open source plugin/software
• Write a rich, content-driven eBook and post it on your website with no opt-in required
• Create pillar content/tutorial
• Post a funny or cartoonish article and get people laughing
• Write about something controversial
• Cover a hot, trendy topic
• Create a list – “50 Tips to …”
• Create a Resources /Tools of the Trade Page
• Post an article of other informative and useful sites
• Do weekly/monthly live ustream videos and embed the videos back on your site
• Do a comparison review of the latest hot products
• Hold a contest and require the participants to link back to your site
• Publish an interview with an industry leader
• Post a blueprint or manifesto for a particular technique
• Create a video tutorial on a new technique
• Glossary’s are always useful

So you’ve created this great piece of content, now what?

Market the heck out of it! Go all out …and don’t worry about looking bad. If it’s a great piece of content others are going to want to link to it.

Take your time when creating this mouth-watering link bait. When you are ready to get the word out, be sure to create an all-out PR event around it and most of all be intentional and persistent.

Are you ready to ‘hook your bait’?

If you’ve had success with link baiting, please feel free to share your experience!