What Is Link Bait?

Are you tired of spending hours generating content only to have it fail to gain links?

Perhaps you’re searching for a strategy to assist you to create high-quality backlinks on a large scale.

Link building is a difficult task. In fact, there has never been so much rivalry from other marketers attempting to obtain connections from the same sources like you. But what if things had turned out differently?

What if you could confidently launch content that consistently generated authoritative links that people genuinely wanted to connect to? Content that provides so much value to a post or website that your outreach prospect would be insane not to link to it!

This article will delve deeper into what link bait is, why it’s important, how you can bait a link, how you can make a link go rival, and why you should do link-building.

Let’s jump right in!

What Is Link Bait?

The goal of link bait is to create awesome content that is so valuable that influencers, bloggers, and other content providers want to link to it. And we’re not talking about simply one or two connections. Often, this sort of content may result in hundreds of earned links.

Link bait is the process of producing linkable information that would be difficult not to link to if provided to someone. When done correctly, link bait makes it simple to gain authority links on a large scale, and these links may have a significant influence on organic search visibility.

Indeed, Google’s Webmaster Guidelines’ link schemes page verifies this: “The greatest method to attract other sites to produce high-quality, relevant links to yours is to develop original, relevant content that can organically gain popularity in the Internet community.”

Link bait is exactly what it sounds like: generating viral content that grows in popularity and is linked to because it is beneficial to readers.

And, while at a high level, we can define link bait as “great content that people genuinely want to link to,” there is more to it than that since not all material can be positioned as link bait.

In truth, the vast majority of link bait fits into one of many content types, including:

• Long-form beginner’s guides
• Visuals
• Assets that are interactive
• Case studies
• Data-driven research and other assets
• Controversial or topical material

There are exceptions, of course, but these styles generally make up the bulk of link bait content, which is a strong technique to obtain backlinks for your site; you just need to know how to utilize it successfully.

Why Is Linkbait Important?

According to a Moz poll, all three generations — Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers – prefer to obtain their knowledge through blog postings. Images come in second.

Link bait is a successful link-building technique since it is one of the few that can be used to generate authority links at scale, as well as one that can be scaled.

In comparison, broken link building is a strategy that relies on opportunities (in this example, dead links on other people’s websites) being accessible for you to take advantage of.

You have complete control over link bait. You only need to generate link-worthy content; how you scale this strategy up is entirely up to you.

That is why it is so effective: it is one of the few strategies that can be scaled without compromising quality.valua

It’s worth noting that these links don’t only assist the website that’s receiving them rank higher in the SERPs. These links also enhance your website’s overall authority by passing PageRank from your piece of link bait, allowing all of your pages to rank for increasingly competitive phrases.

Link Bait FAQ

Why is link bait important?

Link bait. It sounds like it came from a black hat SEO guide.

However, regardless of how it sounds, it is a vital element of today’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.

The act of generating excellent content on your blog so that others would find it valuable and wish to reference or link to it from their own resources is known as link bait. Great link bait may range from sheer amusement to a useful guide that establishes you as an authority in your area.

While any material can qualify as a highly linked resource, link bait is unique in that it was designed specifically to be a well-connected piece of content.

Creating link bait may work wonders for your website. Consider the traffic increase you may get from something people want to share.
And if you do it correctly, you won’t have to go out seeking links – they’ll come to you. You will establish yourself as the go-to person in your profession. What could be better than that?

How do you bait a link?

1. Videos

What if folks aren’t interested in reading a lengthy essay or viewing a stunning graphic? Videos and memes are used to address an issue in this case. You may now have your video produced based on any of the following criteria:

• Expressing your thoughts on a contentious issue
• Conducting an interview with a subject matter expert in your field
• Instructions on how to utilize a product or gain access to a service

2. Contests

Contests are another effective technique to generate link bait. You can hold a contest in which you award a free subscription to your SEO software (for example) to the person who writes the best blogs on a specific topic in your niche, or who creates the best tutorial video explaining some of the most important concepts of SEO, or who receives the most social shares on its blogs. This way, the candidates are more likely to connect back to your website. The best thing is that it doesn’t even cost much money.

3. Excellent content

Writing amazing and relevant content is hardly sure-fire rocket science. However, here are some suggestions:

• List posts: Nothing beats a well-researched list for increasing traffic, social shares, and bookmarks. They attract attention since they provide a one-stop-shop for all the information that users require. Furthermore, as compared to lengthier postings, they are considerably easier to read and connect with. The more extensive the post, the better.
• E-books: E-books are a great source of effective link baits because they are downloadable materials. This not only provides important information to users but also allows them to share it with their network, resulting in backlinks.
• Interviews: The greatest attention is drawn when you interview a well-known expert and pose the most contentious issue in your field. Nothing beats getting Matt Cutts to do an interview, believe me!
• Writing on a contentious issue: Nothing draws greater attention than an article that expresses personal opinions on a fiercely contested issue in your industry. But be cautious, since this might result in a slew of negative remarks. Choose a topic with care, offer your opinion on it securely, and wait for others to see it. You will receive a mix of good and negative comments, but in any case, there will be those who will relate to your views.
• Content that is timeless: This is an evergreen content bait. It is preferable to focus on timeless information rather than time-sensitive stuff. For example, if you write about “Link Building Factors to Consider in 2022,” it will be obsolete by the end of the year. “Link building aspects you should fully consider to smooth out your link building campaign,” on the other hand, will be beneficial today, next year, and the year after that (of course, other factors remaining constant).

4. Webinars

Because of the viral nature of this piece of information, it is highly efficient at gaining links. For example, when you publish a link to a YouTube video on Facebook, the full video gets played on other people’s feeds (they are easily embeddable). As a consequence, with the proper keyword utilization, ranking your videos on YouTube and Google video results is not far away.

5. Infographics

Nothing appears more appealing than essential information framed by a stunning visual design. Who would want to miss out on anything like that? You may be asking what is so great about infographics that they may be used as successful link baits. The response may be summarized in two aspects. The first is that it has a stunning graphic style that entices people to read. Second, it may offer the most complicated information in the most fascinating and simple style (easily understandable graphs and statistics). This link bait approach goes a long way in collecting links.

How do you make a link go viral?

Here are three of the most critical elements that will cause content to become viral and spread like wildfire throughout social media platforms:

1. Positive message: While outstanding content can be shared for a variety of reasons, pieces of content that elicit positive emotions outperform those that elicit negative emotions, having a greater click-to-tweet rate.

2. Elicit an emotional response: Content that elicits an emotional response is more likely to go viral. Awe, amazement, worry, grief, and comedy are examples of such emotions. This is where video and visual material excel, but other sorts of quality content, such as well-written thinking pieces or smart list postings, may also add value and wonder to social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter,  LinkedIn, Facebook, etc:

3. Practically useful content: After collecting information about the content on the Times home page to determine what factors were most frequently found in great content that went viral, the researchers concluded that content that is useful in a practical way has a high chance of going viral. This may include reorganizing your digital marketing plan such that valuable content comes first.

When it comes to the most shared visual material and images, a BufferApp study investigation discovered that viral visuals elicit surprise. This suggests that one of the major factors that cause photos to become viral is a sense of surprise.

Why do link building?

Here are five significant advantages of creating an effective link-building strategy.

1. Reduced bounce rates

Google defines bounce rate as “the number of single-page sessions.” In other words, the number of people that arrived at your site and then left without exploring the rest of it.

2. Links lend credibility to you.

Links boost your site’s reputation by acting as third-party indicators of your domain’s authoritative strength. Google’s goal is to offer consumers the most relevant results possible. It takes into account ‘authority’ in order to do this. The greater the number of high-quality links pointing to your site, the greater your trustworthiness.

3. Link building results in improved site metrics and SEO ratings.

If you’re familiar with SEO, you’ll recognize words like Domain Authority (DA), Domain Rating (DR), Page Rank (PR), Alexa Rank, and so on. By building backlinks, you will enhance these indicators and, as a result, the overall health of your website. This will improve visibility and exposure as well.

4. Increased income opportunities and sales.

Greater traffic and higher analytics imply more income potential. Your website will rank higher in search results, attracting more prospective consumers. This implies you’ll be able to offer more items and services while also generating new revenue streams.

5. Google ranks your website based on links.

Without link building, you are not accounting for more than half of Google’s ranking factors. Links are highly crucial to Google – in fact, it is nearly impossible for Google’s algorithm to rank your site if there are no links to it, regardless of how good the content on your web pages is. To rank higher than your competition, you must have more backlinks than they do.

6. Assist in establishing yourself as an authoritative figure.

Naturally, you want your brand to be at the forefront of your industry, and constant link-building may help you achieve that. As a brand leader, you will notice increased sales and revenue since people will regard you as a trustworthy person. You will be the firm that dominates talks in your sector as an authority voice.

7. A steady source of referral traffic.
Once you’ve established a permanent connection on an authority site, you should get consistent traffic from that link in the future. When compared to traditional advertising approaches, after an ad has run its course, it no longer generates visitors. You can ensure that your website obtains traffic from external sources in the long run by building high-quality backlinks.

8. Backlinks will enhance your site traffic.

Link building is one of the most successful techniques for acquiring relevant readers from industry authority sites. By targeting relevant demographics and niches, you will increase traffic from outside sources – and web traffic is a strong measure of the health of your website.

9. Better relationships in your niche

By following Google’s advice and focusing on developing links inside your business specialty, you will not only be creating relevant links – but you will also become more intimately linked with authoritative players in your field. This may pave the way for further possibilities of partnership.

10. Improved visibility and exposure

It may help with credible lead creation as well as increasing Google search rankings through link development. For example, if you wish to reach out to a new geographical target audience, link building will assist you in doing so by boosting awareness in that location. This may have a significant beneficial influence on your organization and help you establish yourself as a trusted brand rapidly.

Summary

Hopefully, this article has given you a better understanding of link bait.

Link baiting is something that can willingly generate quality backlinks for you. People will not link to you until you provide them a compelling incentive to do so. For this, focus solely on delivering the most value to your consumers, and you will eventually end up generating fantastic content to act as link baits.

Link bait may help you develop authority links at scale, which is what many link builders and SEOs strive for. All you have to do is effective keyword research and learn how to generate content that everyone wants to speak about, and you will surely experience success with this link-building technique.