Linkbait Tuesdays will return to normal next week so if you want to get your site reviewed fill in the contact form and let me know.
In the meantime I wanted to discuss a few options for linkbait in relation to Rand’s article about Separating the Linkbait Wheat from the Chaff. Gone are the days when simply getting on Digg would get you some good links, now you need a really strong linkbait hook if you want some quality link juice to pass your way.
The method I always like to employ is to decide whether links are the priority or traffic. If my post idea is more traffic bait then I forget about the hook (unless it is easy to add one) and just make an effort on the social news sites.
Alternatively if the priority is to gain quality links it is important to go that extra mile in terms of adding a real incentive for people to link. Once you have added the hook then you can go all out and get to the front page of Digg. If you fail on Digg then send out polite email pitches to bloggers and hope that they like your article.
When you start thinking about hooks it is important to look at the article and decide who might link to it. The goal should be trusted blogs and news sites that are loosely related to your niche. So, if you write about gadgets you need to analyse the last 100 posts on Engadget and see who they have been linking to and why. If you can get on Engadget regularly your readership will skyrocket. Engadget are not going to link to your post about the Top 10 Funny iPhone Stories no matter how many thousand Diggs it gets. They will probably link to your breaking news story with pictures of a 3G iPhone leaked from somewhere.
Likewise if you are looking to get a link from Search Engine Land or a similar blog you might like to keep your post about the Top 10 SEO Plugins for Wordpress for later and instead write an in depth summary of how certain types of sites are seeing better rankings this month and finish off with your theory as to why this is happening.
It is very rare that I link to a linkbait style post on Blogstorm, that isn’t to say I don’t like them – I just don’t see much point in pointing people to top 10 lists when they probably already saw them on Digg. The posts I will link to are ones like the SEOmoz post about where I can add some value. The way I blog is pretty similar to everybody else out there – nobody wants to look lazy, everybody wants to provide maximum value.
Before you hit “Publish” on your next piece of linkbait think about why somebody might link to it.
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.
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Strong post with some great points. Linkbait for linkbait’s sake always seems doomed to failure for me anyway. Although I’ve nothing against the infamous ‘list’ posts, and use them myself on occasion, they serve as mere entertaining interludes between the meat and it is the meat that generates my links.
The more time I spend arguing a clear point backed up by fresh references, the more chance others will link to it. After all, a good blog is more than just a ‘joke of the day’, isn’t it?
Makes complete sense, great write-up
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