Understanding  Linkbait

As a content marketer, you're always looking for ways to attract more traffic, engage your audience and increase brand awareness. One of the most effective techniques to achieve these goals is linkbait - creating content that's so interesting, insightful or entertaining it naturally attracts links from other websites.

In this post, we'll explore what linkbait is, how it works, and the various types of content that make for great linkbait.

What is Linkbait?

Linkbait is any piece of online content that's designed to attract links from other websites. In other words, it's content that's so good, people can't help but share it with their audience.

Linkbait can take many forms, including blog posts, videos, infographics, memes and more. The key is to create something that's original, valuable and engaging enough to capture people's attention.

How Does Linkbait Work?

When you create great linkbait content, people will naturally want to share it with their audience. This can lead to a significant increase in traffic to your website, as well as higher rankings in search engines.

Additionally, when other websites link back to your content, it can help build your site's authority and credibility - which can lead to even more links and traffic down the line.

What Makes for Great Linkbait Content?

There are a few characteristics that most great linkbait content has in common:

• Originality: Your content needs to be unique and offer something that can't be found elsewhere.
• Value: It should provide real value to your audience - whether that's entertainment, education or information.
• Emotion: People are more likely to share things that evoke strong emotions - whether that's humor, excitement or anger.
• Visual appeal: Content that's visually appealing (such as infographics or videos) is more likely to be shared than plain text.

What are Some Types of Linkbait Content?

There are many types of content that make for great linkbait, including:

• Infographics: Visual representations of data or information that are easy to read and share.
• Viral content: Memes, videos, or images that become wildly popular and get shared across social media.
• Listicles: Articles that present information in a list format (e.g. "10 Ways to Improve Your SEO").
• Research studies: Original research or surveys that provide new insights into a particular topic.
• Interactive content: Quizzes, games, or tools that engage your audience and encourage social sharing.

How Can You Use Linkbait for Link Building?

Linkbait is a powerful tool for link building because it naturally attracts links from other websites. However, there are a few things you can do to increase the chances of your content being shared:

• Share it on social media: Make sure to promote your linkbait content on your social media channels to increase its visibility.
• Reach out to influencers: Identify influencers in your niche who might be interested in your content and reach out to them directly.
• Create shareable assets: Make it easy for people to share your content by including social sharing buttons or embedding links in infographics.

Conclusion

Linkbait is a powerful technique for content marketing because it naturally attracts links from other websites - which can lead to more traffic, higher rankings and increased brand awareness. By creating unique, valuable and engaging content that's visually appealing and emotionally resonant, you can harness the power of linkbait to grow your business online.

References

• "Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals" by Bruce Clay
• "The Art of SEO" by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer and Jessie Stricchiola
• "Link Building for SEO: The Definitive Guide" by Brian Dean
• "Content Strategy for the Web" by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
• "Epic Content Marketing" by Joe Pulizzi.