SEO Consult Blog

SEO tends to include a number of hurdle that website owners need to overcome in order to see their own pages rank highly in the search results. One such obstacle is finding genuinely useful methods of building links to web pages on a consistent basis. Links need to be from relevant pages and include relevant keywords within the anchor text of the code and it is this combination that makes it difficult source links on an ongoing basis. For these reasons, a lot of people try methods such as paid links or reciprocal links in order to generate SEO links.

Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal links were once the preferred technique of many an SEO. Two web pages would link to one another and both would be rewarded in the eyes of the search engines because they have themselves an inbound link. However, it was soon realised that this devalued the use of links in identifying good quality websites because reciprocal links were not rewarded on the basis of the quality of a website but on the willingness simply to offer a link back.

The Practice Still Exists

Even though search engines have greatly devalued the benefit of reciprocal links many websites and reciprocal link programs still exist and still have a lot of partners. While it is conceivable that a little weight is offered to good quality reciprocal links, more than likely determine on where the links are placed and other factors such as how many outbound links appear on the page, your link building efforts may be better spent looking for organic methods of building links.

Paid Links

Paid links were also very popular for a time, but Google particularly has stated that if it identifies a link as having been paid for then that link will not get the value it would have if it had been offered freely. Just how much attention Google and the other search engines pay to finding paid links is unclear but it’s reasonable to assume that the ever vigilant purveyors of quality content will take at least some step to try and identify paid links in a bid to cleanse their index.

SEO Link Building

The search engines attempt to diminish the value of link building practices that award links based on factors other than the provision of high quality content. This has led to reciprocal links and paid links being considered worth a lot less than they once were and when compared to the links had they been generated using organic methods. That doesn’t mean that these methods do not provide some value, however.

So Should You?

Paid and reciprocal links should not be considered a form of SEO link building but each link considered on its own merit. If it will generate its own surf through traffic and the exchange or price is reasonable then it is certainly worth considering. The search engines only devalue the links and will not penalise a site for attempting to build links to their website using either of these methods.

This post could have realistically been called linkbait vs link building but that wouldn’t have conformed to number 5 on the list would it?

Link building is the technique of “artificially” (replace with the word “aggressively” as you see fit) building links to a website; a practice which has gone on since time immemorial, or at least since inbound links were considered an indication of a site’s value by the search engines. With the advance of a more natural Internet, greater precedence has been given to more natural methods of SEO - including garnering links for your website using more natural, less aggressive methods.

Linkbaiting then, despite sounding suspiciously unethical in its title, is the process of creating high quality content on your website that will naturally (there’s that word again) attract links. Search engines may not be able to immediately tell that a link was created using linkbait but they’re developing more effective techniques of discovering those that are created artificially. Linkbait also has the advantages that it can help to build reputation, develop a relationship with your visitors, and continue to attract links long after you post the content.

So, below is a list of 12 linkbait ideas that may prove effective for your website. Not all methods will prove effective for all sites and the sites that will enjoy the greatest success will be those that put in a little of their own effort to adapt the ideas to their own ends.

1. Offer Insightful, Useful, Unique Content - If you’ve got something to say that nobody else has ever said then you’re on to an instant winner. In reality, you should probably be looking to add your own slant to an existing topic or finding something that very few have said before.
2. Break It First - Write a breaking news story and get it published on your site and into the wilds of the net as quickly as possible. This is kind of similar to number 1 except that it concentrates largely on topic news stories and citizen journalism that requires very timely work as well as very good quality work.
3. Be Controversial - But be careful. Controversial content may well get you a ton of links but it can also lose you even more in respect and credibility with your potential market. Be controversial in arguing with widely accepted theories or beliefs (although steering clear of religious beliefs might be an idea) without alienating too many people.
4. Be Funny - Be funny, satirical, sarcastic, and even caustic in your content. If you’re a grief counsellor or a funeral director then you should probably give number 4 a wide berth but there’s humour in most things around us so take advantage of that and wring every last bit of linkbait out of it.
5. Write A List - Something like, for example, 12 Effective Linkbait Ideas. Lists work and that’s why there’s so many of them all over the Internet. Valuable information is broken down into a manageable form that is easy for readers to digest. We all know the difficulties of reading on a computer screen to reading on paper and offering a useful list here and there helps to counteract some of these problems.
6. Hold A Regular Competition - A one-off competition may get you a few links and then a reasonable number of visitors that are slightly peeved that they missed the competition. Offer a regular competition and then stick to your own time frame and you’ll get more links, more visitors, and more kudos.
7. Offer A Free Ebook Or Ebooks - A lot of people love information and they love to read on a topic that interests them. In fact, one of the few things many of your readers will like more than an informational ebook is a free informational ebook. The only thing they’ll like more than a free informational ebook? Five of them. You get the picture.
8. Free Software - Create an application that’s useful for your potential visitors and if you can’t do it yourself have one created for you. Most websites have some potential software in them that can be created inexpensively, branded properly, and distributed widely. If you already offer commercial software then you need to be offering a free version of that software.
9. Free Software Plugins - There’s many a popular application already in use; if there’s one in particular that lends itself to your website or your business then offer a free time saving or useful plug in for it. Offer a free Firefox or Wordpress plugin or extension.
10. Offer Virtually Anything You Can For Free - We’ve already bestowed the benefits of free gifts to some extent and if you can’t offer free ebooks, software, or plugins then find something that you can offer and give it away. Brand it and distribute it; if it offers genuine value of some sort then you’ll start to develop links in no time.
11. Use Social Media Platforms Effectively - As well as offering downloadable software and plugins, offer applications and widgets on the social media sites. Facebook has literally (well, almost literally) launched a lot of businesses into a whole new stratosphere of fame and popularity thanks to their application framework. Make the most of the opportunities that are presented to you and ride with them; especially if it allows a link back to your main site as well.
12. When All Else Fails Sex Sells - Whether you agree with the principle or not, it’s a fact that sex sells pretty much anything. Newspapers know it, television companies know it, and advertising companies milk it like it’s the only way to market any type of product. You don’t need to go overboard, obviously, and like many linkbait ideas it may not work for your site or be a desirable technique for you but it’s a technique proven across many different forms of media and over a very long time.

The key to creating and using linkbait really is to be as creative as possible. The more creative you are, the more unique your content and the greater the chance of attracting links to your site. Take these and any other methods of linkbaiting you can find and add your own take on them to enjoy the greatest benefits.