Dave has posted an interesting analysis of linkbait and asks Is Linkbaiting Overrated? Here are my thoughts.
The problem with linkbaiting is that no matter how good the linkbait is lot of the links will come from blogs that are less than 3 years old. This means that the links probably don’t count for very much compared to a link from a really old and trusted site. There are some blogs that are a year or two old that have lots of trust with Google but they are few and far between.
How many blogs have ruined their ability to pass PR by doing things like paid posts and selling links recently? How many blogs rank highly for really competitive terms? Lots and not many are the answers.
If you want great rankings from linkbait you need to be getting links from the Gizmodos and TechCrunch’s of your niche. Personally I’ve baited links for clients from the likes of the Guardian, CNBC, Wired and the Times in the past few months and my belief is that they are worth 100 times more than a link from your average blog.
Having said this I always recommend linkbaiting blogs for two reasons. First of all e-commerce clients need to have defensible links – Daves clients might not have better rankings but they now have lots of natural links whereas most of the competitors are relying on the sort of links Google is trying to devalue which is not a good position to be in.
Secondly links from blogs are like a fine wine – they get better with age. So in 5 years time the effort e-commerce sites put into linkbaiting is going to give them very strong sustainable rankings.
In summary I agree that linkbait isn’t a quick fix. However if you are prepared to develop a long term sustainable strategy for linkbaiting and can get links from some really trusted sites then it will pay off in the long term.
Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Leeds based digital & SEO agency Branded3. Patrick also runs Blogstorm.You can get our blog posts delivered for free by email every day - simply add your email address to the box below or alternatively grab the RSS feed.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Great Post! Whenever working on PR you always have to consider it for long term needs because its not like it will be affected overnight anyways…
I see many people falling off google search lists lately. I have to wonder if google is not cutting off their nose to spite their face. If they penalize what I am actually looking for and I can’t find it, why would I use it?
This is great commentary and tips! Especially…
“Daves clients might not have better rankings but they now have lots of natural links whereas most of the competitors are relying on the sort of links Google is trying to devalue which is not a good position to be in.”
This is a really important note, given Google’s tremendous ability to just “knock you down” by making the changes that they make.
Gives mind to being “rounded” and “balanced” in every strategy chosen, whether link baiting or otherwise.
Great blog!
Maria
Hey Pat, Hi!
Er, here is my take on this. Linkbait is only part of the linkbuilding equation…the quantity part. Great linkbait earns lotsa links. But Google et. al. likes both quantity and quality. To get the quality links requires disciplined networking and relationship building with Internet Mavens (kudos to Malcom Gladwell), those trusted content builders. Build relationships and offer them content that the Mavens’ audiences will find valuable and you get quality links. Quantity + Quality = High Google Rankings.
Tom
Why do you say that links from a blog get better with age? Don’t blog posts get quickly buried thus making the links less worthwhile?
Find me on Twitter
Most blogs are still quite new (less than 3 years old) and are gaining links and trust every day. A blog that has very little trust and low rankings today might grow into a much bigger blog in 6 months time. Thats why links from real sites are so much more valuable – you can be sure that they will become more trusted with age.
You are right that blog posts move off the front page and get buried but as long as the blog has some kind of archive system and the post maybe has some inbound links this doesn’t really affect the link juice that the post can pass.
More comments from Patrick AltoftI wouldn’t say overrated. I’d say there are a lot of mediocre linkbaiters (if you still can call them that) that have reduced the value of this work. I have personally received links from CNN or BBC. So the market is still quite good.
{ 2 trackbacks }
Leave a Comment (registration is optional)