The Pros Of Linkbaiting Are Undeniable

By Jeff Alderson | July 20, 2007

There’s a new word in the online world’s that’s gaining a lot of attention as of late. Linkbaiting has fast become a buzz word to describe a host of practices that can help publishers increase their incoming traffic. While the practice itself is a matter of contention in some arenas, the simple reality is the concept works and it isn’t always shady or underhanded.

The word linkbaiting is relatively new, but the practices it now defines are not. The term itself is used to describe a number of measures that publishers take to gain incoming links to their websites or blogs. Some of these measures are considered rather legitimate, but not all are. A few of the practices that fall under this new term’s focus include creating awards programs or contests, writing comments on high-traffic blogs or forums, giving other publishers tools or links to your site, creating high-quality content and so on.

The word itself might have a shady rap in the web world, but many of the measures involved are not bad. It’s a simple fact that most publishers enjoy earning incoming links since they can increase traffic. In turn, the traffic spikes can boost a site’s money-making abilities. Due to this, many search engine optimization businesses are even providing linkbaiting services to help their clients gain links. The reality is linkbaiting in and of itself isn’t good or bad… it’s all in how it’s used.

The reasons why linkbaiting has become rather popular, despite its reputation, are many. The biggest is the traffic gains. If traffic gains are high enough, revenue potential tends to go up along with it. Making money on the Internet requires traffic. It’s that plain and simple. Linkbaiting can increase traffic, so it’s practiced. A secondary and also big motivational factor for linkbaiting centers on this method’s ability to help raise page ranking status. When a site has more incoming links, it tends to rank higher.

Linkbaiting does have its benefits, but publishers need to know a few things about it. One of the most important is to make sure that any incoming traffic gains are not single-stop visits. To do this, one’s site or blog needs to be informative, useful or interesting. Boosting traffic on a site that doesn’t offer readers much of anything can be a real waste of time. For a linkbaiting campaign to be truly effective, incoming traffic should be enticed to return.

The techniques that constitute linkbaiting are quite extensive. Common ones involve creating tools and widgets other websites can use that link back to another site, hosting games, surveys and contests, writing solid pieces, scooping other sites on big news stories, reporting more deeply on a topic or even adding humor and fun to a site. Some of the best linkbaiting ideas involve nothing more than creating good content to engage and re-engage visitors.

Some of the undesirable methods for gaining incoming links can also be beneficial. These include writing attack pieces about other sites or issues, going for controversy or trying to drum it up, focusing on the shock factor and more.

It might be considered “bad” in some arenas, but the reality behind the linkbaiting concept is that it can work. Publishers that tend to flourish by using the method are those that actually provide a little meat for those who have been reeled in.

Author Jeff Alderson develops newbie-friendly SEO software. He is an expert on maximizing traffic and sales. Jeff suggests using Ad Word Analyzer to uncover niche keywords for your website.

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