Linkbaiting : The Basics Explained
To linkbait means to take action to specifically get other internet users to link to your website. Linkbaiting is very effective in terms of search engine optimization as you are able to increase the amount of traffic to your website and co-currently increase the number of backlinks to your website. More backlinks equals a higher search engine rank as most search engines base their ranking systems on the number of links that a website has pointing towards it.
So how do you set the bait? There are a number of ways you can create a linkbait, and those come under four main umbrellas, all of which are detailed below.
Controversy – Controversy, it has to be said, does not mean slander, abuse or racism. A blog post or article offering an opposing viewpoint to another article or opinion is a great way to gain backlinks. Remember though, a successful controversial article must have sound reasoning and be able to relate to a large proportion of the readers; otherwise people will not read past the first sentence and certainly not want to pass the information to somebody else.
Up-to-date content – The internet offers users immediate reports of events happening around the globe twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If you can offer a timely report on a current event and you can promote your article well enough, you will be able to generate traffic and backlinks as people read your article and create links to your website.
Funny, cool or crazy content – It has to be said that the most popular forms of Linkbaiting is by offering content that is either crazy, funny or cool. People love sharing jokes, amusing and strange videos and other odd content with their friends and co-workers. Though the problem with these kinds of linkbait is that the backlinks are generally of less value due to where they are posted (most commonly in the depths of internet forums), but every backlink helps!
Well written text – One of the most obvious ways to linkbait is to create content that is well structured and well written. If a reader takes pleasure in your article or content, then it is expected that they will want to share that content with other people. This is one of the more valuable forms of linkbaiting, though maybe not the easiest.
Innovation is the general basis for effective linkbaiting. If you can supply internet users with new content that is educational, funny, informative or just plain odd, then you will have a good start at creating a linkbait snowball.
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