Link baiting is a term referring to putting content on your site to obtain inbound links. There is no magic formula, but there are a few good rules of thumb:
- Are people searching? Just like any other content: If nobody is searching for you, nobody is finding you! One good way to find out what people are searching for is to look at what questions Google suggests when you type in a phrase like “what does” or “why do” and produce an answer for them. My favorite source of ideas is myself. Every time I use a search engine to answer a question, I consider providing a summary of my answer.
- A repeated problem? Does the problem you solve happen over and over again? This is important, because nobody links to something they never intend to use again. Free online tools are an excellent choice if you know how to write some code. Mortgage and insurance calculators and similar items are an excellent example, but they have been done to death.
- Are you the only solution? If you are the only person providing a solution to a problem, you will have a monopoly for a while. If you have competition, try to at least be better than the alternatives in some way. Make your solution look better, work better, have fewer ads, etc.
- Relevance? Are the inbound links relevant to your site? A million inbound links won’t help your law firm or church’s reputation if your link bait is about a bigfoot sighting or alien encounter. Then again, maybe it will.
Stay tuned to this blog for 10 practical link baiting ideas you can use today.
