CC Image by radcarper.
Do you remember the term link bait or link baiting? While 2006 and 2007 link baiting was all the rage in recent years it seems people don’t talk or write much about this practice anymore. Has link baiting vanished? Not at all.
Link baiting is daily business right now, it’s the norm.
Indeed I would go as far as to state that link baiting is currently the most important link building tactic or strategy (depends on the bait really).
You can call me insane but I’d even argue that link baiting along with viral marketing are the only really scalable link building methods left. Link baiting allows you to get links while conventional techniques force you to build links.
Link baiting gets you real editorial links (that is links inserted by real people on their own blogs or sites) while most “built” links are low quality and in many cases easily recognizable by Google as set up solely for SEO reasons.
When you don’t know how to link bait you don’t know SEO.
Thus I collected a list of 45 link baiting Resources containing
- ideas
- techniques
- case studies
- drawbacks
among others.
This time I used the URLs itself in order to show you the sources and not to spam Google with keyword stuffing for the term link baiting. I’ve used this keword already too often in the preface.
Definition and Ideas
- http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-linkbait-and-linkbaiting/
- http://modernl.com/article/what-is-linkbait
- http://www.seoegghead.com/blog/seo/forget-seo-why-link-bait-is-worth-50k-a-pop-p114.html
- http://www.searchenginejournal.com/linkbaiting-for-fun-profit/2541/
- http://performancing.com/The_Art_of_Linkbaiting/
- http://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-baiting-effective-link-building/2797/
- http://www.copyblogger.com/the-history-of-link-bait/
- http://wiep.net/talk/link-baiting/link-baiting-which-hook-attracts-the-right-fish/
- http://searchenginewatch.com/3623287
Lists
- http://devbasu.com/link-bait-tips-for-small-business-marketing/
- http://www.famousagents.com/link-bait-success/
- http://www.jimwestergren.com/link-bait/
- http://www.seobook.com/archives/001936.shtml
- http://www.stuntdubl.com/2007/01/12/linkbaiting-hooks/
- http://seo2.0.onreact.com/7-most-successful-seo-bashings-in-recent-web-history
- http://calacanis.com/2007/04/27/new-calacanis-link-baiting-rules/
- http://www.logodesignworks.com/blog/23-common-mistakes-in-linkbaiting
- http://impnerd.com/the-twelve-best-articles-on-linkbait
- http://www.pachecus.com/34-ways-to-understand-the-importance-of-linkbait/
- http://unstuckdigital.com/meta-linkbait/
Techniques and other Resources
- http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/what-the-hell-does-lyndon-antcliff-know-about-linkbait/
- http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/seo-blog/index.php/linkbait-lyndon-antcliff/
- http://www.slate.com/id/2144785/
- http://www.copyblogger.com/viral-copy/
- http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/17-ways-accelerate-links-link-bait-linkable-content.html
- http://www.cornwallseo.com/search/2007/08/17/5-characteristics-of-successful-linkbait/
- http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/archives/2008/04/linkbait_chummi.html
- http://www.searchenginejournal.com/psychology-linkbait/8643/
- http://tropicalseo.com/2007/andy-hagans-ultimate-guide-to-link-baiting-and-social-media-marketing/
- http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-actually-get-links-from-your-linkbait
- http://www.pluginhq.com/ignite-your-linkbait/
- http://www.doshdosh.com/social-media-marketing-strategy-the-mullet/
- http://blog.venture-skills.co.uk/2008/01/09/soft-cloaking-for-social-media/
- http://www.distilled.co.uk/blog/seo/forget-ugc-discover-user-generated-linkbait/
- http://www.seoco.co.uk/blog/social-media-traffic/
Case Studies
- http://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-baiting-case-study-from-search-engine-journal/2823/
- http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/social-media/case-study-of-the-mullet-link-bait-strategy/
- http://florchakh.com/2007/09/14/seo-case-study-30-days-after-the-linkbait-driven-by-digg.html
- http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/bait-and-switch-a-case-study-of-sorts
Drawbacks
- http://blog.v7n.com/2007/01/08/link-bait-downside/
- http://searchengineland.com/doing-a-fake-story-for-linkbait-disclose-or-face-the-wrath-of-google-14056
- http://www.cartoonbarry.com/2006/08/how_much_is_link_bait_worth.html
- http://searchengineland.com/dont-call-me-linkbait-14076
- http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/archives/2007/10/can_link_bait_m.html
- http://www.ericward.com/articles/linkbait.html
So you probably noticed that many of the resources stem from 2006 or 2007 but some of them even from 2005. Nonetheless they are still valid. Some of them are all time SEO classics every SEO practitioner should read. Of course I added some gems from 2009. So make sure to scan this list een if you’re a link baiting pro.
This list surely won’t ever become complete so feel free to add more link baiting resources.
Killer roundup, Tad. Loads of quality content here.
Couldn’t agree more – the scalability of linkbait makes it well worth the investment of time and resources. Begging for links is like trying to drive a car up a cliff – very gradual climbing and half of the time you’re spinning wheels. Linkbait, when well-executed, is like strapping on a jet pack.
Thanks as well for the link to our post!
got some great linkbait from quality authority sites. Just need to add a bit more humor hook examples of pulling off some real media stunts for links beyond 101 resources to top 10 list.
Tad, amazing post which I’ll be sending to everyone I know. I didn’t see a Tweet This button anywhere so you had manually do it…jeez :D
Cheers!
WOW!!!Biggest fish!!!
how to catch it???
Create link worthy content and promote it! Seems simple doesn’t it? :-)
Bookmarked!
Was working with linkbait topics and articles for a few months last year and this list definitely would have been a godsend. Thanks!
PS–What kind of fish is that?!? Is that real?
This is a pretty awesome list, thanks for sharing!
@ Top X List Writer – That’s a carp. They get fat!
Perfect information very detailed. Thanks for making a great list.
And why do I feel like a fish with a hook in his mouth? This post is excellent link bait!
Fantastic blog post with a ton of information. I have gone through about 1/2 of it so far and look forward to the rest. The case studies are terrific. Thanks for the post.
men!! that is ONE rich post! Beyond fantastic! :)
thank you very much indeed!
not sure though what big fish got to do with link baiting :)
Thanks for the post, I love the picture but I love the links more, much appreciated. will take some time to go through.
Thanks for your list of links. I’ll try looking and checking some of these next time. They’re quite plenty but worth the time because they are very informative.
A very useful list that I have bookmarked. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
yep thats great, create good content and watch the magic with your listing on search engines.
Quite a big list thanks you for sharing read some of them but it will take time to read them all so far great jobs bookmarked and share
It’s really good that you share a lot of knowelege and examples for link baiting and i am impressed that you so many think about it i will surely try to use it soon.