Linkbaiting Isn't A Bad Word
by Jeff Alderson
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.
While the word itself is gaining a bad reputation among web publishers, it is in and of itself, not necessarily a bad thing. Most web publishers want to gain incoming links to increase their own traffic. Doing so can be incredibly helpful for revenue potential. In fact, many SEO businesses are now offering linkbaiting services to help boost their clients incoming links. The simple fact of the matter is linkbaiting on its own isn't good or bad - it's all in how the measures are used.
The reason for linkbaiting is rather simple. It's all about gaining traffic. If traffic is increased, revenue potential generally is too. When it comes to making money on the Internet, it's often a numbers game. Since linkbaiting can and does result in traffic increases, it's a popular practice. Another motivation for the practice involves a site's potential search engine ranking benefits. The more incoming links, the better as far as page rank is concerned.
Before diving into a linkbaiting campaign, it's a good idea for publishers to understand a few things. The first is that an increase in traffic is great for a website. The second is an increase in traffic that sends people to pages that are not useful, interesting or informative is not. For linkbaiting to really pay off, new traffic needs to be encouraged 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.
Linkbaiting itself is not really a bad word. Although the term can describe some methods few enjoy using, the idea behind the concept is a good one. Those who tend to do very well when using some of the practices are publishers that happen to offer something for a visitor's trouble in stopping by.
Author Jeff Alderson develops search engine marketing tools. He is an expert on maximizing traffic and sales. Jeff suggests using Ad Word Analyzer to uncover niche keywords for your website. Click here for other unique 'link popularity' articles.
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