We've all heard of link baiting at one time or another. Some consider it to be pure spam and can hardly say the words without their nose curling up. Others think of link baiting as their favorite secret technique. Whatever side you're on, this guide will explain how link baiting works and how you can use it to improve your traffic and search rankings.
But first, let's define what link baiting is. Most often it is referred to as posting something "viral", outrageous, useful, cool, or shocking that other websites can't help but discuss (thereby giving you a link). The first section of this guide will explain the different types of link bait and how they can be used. The second area will explore how to get other websites to actually take the bait and post a link to you.
Setting Your Bait Given that it's called link "bait" let's use a fishing example. There are two simple steps: first you set the bait and second, you get a bite and reel in the fish. That is exactly what we will be doing with link baiting. So - what types of bait can we use?
Blog Posts - Most often, the bait is a blog post that breaks some type of news, posts some viral media, or says something that is totally outrageous. This is my favorite type of bait to set. It is clearly the easiest to create and it has the biggest likelihood of success. All you have to do is write something that you know will get a rise out of people. Ideas? Break a story that no one else has, post a viral video/picture, talk badly about someone else, or make up some story. (Those last two might get you sued, but then you can talk about your lawsuit and it'll be an even bigger link bait story!
Give Something Away - People like to get things for free. If you create a quiz, blog template, or widget that they can use - they will post it on their site with a link back to you. Spend some time figuring out what people in your industry might want and then make it for them. You can easily get hundreds of links this way.
Be a Nice (or Mean) Guy/Gal - If you donated $1 million to charity, or stole $1 million from someone, you would surely get your website linked from hundreds of sites. When you do something out of the ordinary (whether good or bad), you become a story, you become interesting, you become link worthy. A common example is when someone either gets sued by the big boys or sues one of the big boys themselves. If you have a lawsuit with Google, people will link it up.
Reeling in the Catch Now we need to explain how you will get others to take your bait. The first thing you need to do is, of course, create this bait on your website. If you have a breaking story, write a blog post about it; if you got sued by Yahoo, do a press release and/or blog post; if you made a widget, create a nice download page. Getting to that point is the hard part. The rest (getting the links) is easy by comparison.
At this point, all you want to focus on is getting the ball rolling. You should Tweet your bait, send it to other bloggers in your industry, Digg it, Stumble it, Facebook Like it, etc. etc. - do everything you can to get it in front of as many people as you can. That way, you have more opportunities for Diggs, likes, Retweets, etc. The more people hear about it, the more inclined they are to post it on their own blog.
Now, you are basically done. You can sit back and watch the viral power of the internet work it's magic. Within 2-3 days, you should have dozens of links. And, if your bait was a dud (it happens to the best of us), that's fine, just rework your strategy and try it again with a new piece of bait.
Link baiting can be one of the easiest ways to get a large influx of links and popularity, especially for a newer blog looking to grow. In addition, it is one of the cheapest (you can't beat $0) ways to market your blog, website, or product. If you need more traffic, readers, followers, fans, or customers, follow this guide and give link baiting a try today.
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