Hook 'em with Link Bait

Link bait has been the talk of the “internet town” for the past year. We hear these questions all the time, “What is link bait? How can we create link bait? How do we market link bait?” Link bait is all about the wow…does it have the appeal that users need to want to send it to someone else?

Link Bait Definition:
Link bait is any content or feature within a web site that somehow baits viewers to place links to it from other web sites. Matt Cutts defines link bait as anything “interesting enough to catch people’s attention.” Link bait can be an extremely powerful form of marketing as it is viral in nature.

Although there are no clear-cut subdivisions within link bait, many attempt to divide them into types of hooks. This is a short list of some of the most common approaches with brief descriptions:

Although there are no clear-cut subdivisions within link bait, many attempt to divide them into types of hooks. This is a short list of some of the most common approaches with brief descriptions:

• Informational Hooks – Provide information that a reader may find useful. Some rare tips and tricks or any personal experience through which readers can benefit.
• News Hooks – Provide fresh information and obtain citations and links as the news spreads.
• Humor Hooks – Tell a funny story or a joke. A bizarre picture of your subject or mocking cartoons can also prove to be link bait.
• Evil Hooks – Saying something unpopular or mean may also yield a lot of attention. Writing about something that is not appealing about a product or a popular blogger. Provide strong reasons for it.
• Tool Hooks – Create some sort of tool that is useful enough that people link to it.
• Widgets Hooks – A badge or tool that can be placed or embedded on other web sites with a link included.
  

There is a great article that has been circulated in the online world titled “21 Keys to Link Bait.” It’s an excellent break down of what it takes to make a link bait successful. So many intriguing articles, games, videos, etc. have caught the attention of online users that link bait is even harder to accomplish than before. It’s like in High School when the boy you like is now more popular than ever and you’re faced with competing for his attention all over again with even more of those snobby girls.

Link bait is a natural way to build link popularity that will ultimately build your search engine rankings. You don’t have to be a well known brand or a big budget company to build link bait. All it takes is some creative thinking. Fresh, logical, creative ideas. One way to create link bait is to get ranked well for phrases that will become popular in the future. Link bait is an excellent tactic if one of your goals (it should be every company’s goal) is to be ranked high in the search engines. In January 2006, there were only about 25 results for the term “link bait” but today there are 404,000 results. Everything ranging from articles to news releases to companies interviews on how they have tried and made headway on the link bait bandwagon.

Here are some examples of past link bait success stories:

• The Onion | Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory
• Wikipedia: Flying Spagetti Monster
• Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge

Great forms of link bait…remember when those reports come out each year of the “Fattest Cities, Most Fashionable Cities, etc.”…these are all appealing articles not because it’s important information to know but because it’s interesting and relatable. Even if you think you aren’t fat or fashionable you still want to know if you live in either one of those cities. Those kind of reports sparked new more humorous articles such as “The Best Cities to Get Shot In” or “The Top 10 Worst Drivers Cities”. These are excellent examples of link bait. If you spent some time thinking about it, I bet you can come up with even more enticing forms of link bait. Happy thinking!