Link baiting
Link baiting is a link building strategy that puts an emphasis on 3rd parties wanting to link to you versus you approaching others and asking them to link back.
Sounds good. What exactly are we talking about?
Link baiting is merely link building with a twist: Rather than hunting out links, you are bringing the links to you through unique and popular site content.
Link baiting works like fishing (not phishing!). Rather than chasing through the internet you provide some fresh and interesting content and wait for others to pick up and link to it.
Performancing has a very good summary on link baiting. We will follow their path.
There are various "hooks" or pages that can be built to encourage links. Here are five popular examples:
News hook
A News Hook reports on industry news. Ideally you are making the news - then you should also be the first one to have it.
Examples: XYZ launches a new product | XYZ has reached a milestone | Expose a story
for a fraud, or to be flawed.
Contrary Hook
A contrary hook reflects on the news of someone else. You are contradicting someone in the industry. That is often enough to be newsworthy itself. Don't be shy. Contradicting can be doe in a stylish manner and should be part of our democratic culture.
Examples: Be the only one in your niche to find something to not like about a story,
or like about a story/product
Attack Hook
Attack hooks are similar to contrary hooks but are taking it much further. You are clearly trashing someone here. Careful with this one. It will get you in the press but in many cases you will be better of with a contrary hook. Sometimes the tree needs to be shaken pretty hard. Think about it three times before using it!
Examples: Why XYZ is wrong about... | XYZ has no idea what he is talking about
Resource Hook
Resource hooks are some of our favorites. These are highly informational pages that are meant to stay and be of use for visitors within or outside your industry. Writing these pages takes a lot of time and effort.
Examples: A How To based on your niche
Humour Hook
You know what humor hooks are all about: A lot of people roam the web and like to be entertained. Don't underestimate that crowd and share some of the stories that make you laugh.
Examples: 10 thing I hate about… | You know you're a XYZ when…
There are many blogs specializing in each of these "hooks" who will be happy to republish your content. That's what link baiting is all about.
Interested?
Does online marketing appeal to you? Do you have a project coming up where it could be implemented? Why don't you get in touch with us..
