Some of you out there may have heard of something called link baiting. But, what is it? The term Linkbait is used to describe viral, linkable content designed to attract thousands of links and is recognized as one of the most
effective ways to build links – and relevance for a site. So link baiting is really building link-friendly content. It’s just another name for it – or more accurately, a subset of it.
The traditional way of getting links circa 2004 and before involved contacting other relevant websites, emailing the webmasters and asking for a link. You’d contact people you know – vendors, partners, customers, suppliers and “reciprocate” links. You would carefully explain in your email that linking to you would be worthwhile for their visitors and beneficial to them as well…and you’d spend hundreds of hours doing it.
Why didn’t someone in the know just explain to them that all they had to do was write solid content and the links would come? Of course, you have to promote it too, but perhaps they were looking for the easy way out. Ironically, the easier way is to write high quality, very popular, link friendly content.
With link bait, you can do this. As all the experts will tell you – you need a good hook. This is the angle or the way of grabbing attention from the reader. You do it by capitalizing on something that’s really important to most people – security, money, respect, gossip, new ideas, a secret, etc…and give it a little sizzle.
Types of Hooks:
- Tying in to what’s relevant – the News Hook
- Going against the grain – the Contrary Hook
- Taking the offensive position – the Attack Hook
- Providing something important – the Resource Hook
- Making people laugh – the Humor Hook
Tying in to what’s relevant – News Hook
- Find out who reports the news to the news reporting agencies – and then jump on it.
- Calling someone or something out – if you can expose a fraud or flaw in a news story, and report on it, that content you wrote could be very link friendly. You could have thousands of links very quickly.
- Giving your opinion on a popular news story
- Don’t rehash what someone else already reported though – give it your own slant
Going against the grain – Contrary Hook
- Are you a natural contrarian? Put it to use! Be the one guy that finds something to not like about a story, a product or service and then go off on them.
- “Why ____ is WRONG about…”
- Find something that’s really really popular and then tear it apart. People will notice.
Taking the offensive position – Attack Hook
- Pointing out why a particular product or service is doing more harm than good
- Going after the government re. almost anything – they are a great target
- Standing up for an under-represented or disadvantaged group
- Choose a topic that has a fair degree of truth on both sides and then write away! Make it informed, smart and very controversial.
You have to be careful with this one – you don’t want to write the wrong thing about the wrong person. A good idea is to go after a company or product instead of an individual. However, if you’re gutsy, have some proof for what you are claiming and really want to gain some instant traffic, it can give you instant credibility and build your reputation like wildfire. Most people love controversy and when you use an attack hook, you stir it up.
Providing something important – Resource Hook
- Develop a comprehensive list of blogs in your niche – link out to them, and chances are they will link to you.
- Create a useful tool related to your niche that people like
- The list concept: How to do ____. Make it substantive and link friendly!
- A compilation of news stories on a theme that you in turn analyze and create a post for
- Example: If you run a hotel, discuss all the places to visit in the surrounding area
Making people laugh – Humor Hook
- Photoshop a funny picture or cartoon for the subject you are writing about and post it
- Post a list that takes a funny slant: ie “Top 20 Ways I’m Going to Work from Bed This Week”
- Post idea: “You know you’re a _____when…”
- Play off another funny bit that you came across: jokes, funny stories, etc
People love to laugh right? They also need comic relief from the craziness of life on the web. Or life in general. If you have a natural way of lightening things up through your personality, you may be able to write that way too. Give it a shot with your next blog post. You’ll create some link friendly content in the process.
