Organic backlinks is still the best kind of backlinks since they are freely given by site owners/writers and you don’t have the go through the process of researching sources, outreaching, or buying links.
However, getting backlinks organically is not so easy but it is possible. One way is through link baiting.
What is link bait? Does link baiting work? How do you create link bait content that would get people to link and/or share your content?
In this article, we talk all about link baiting and also provide different ways on how you can craft link-worthy content.
Here is what you will read in this article:
Link bait is the development of content that is aimed to naturally attracts backlinks.
There are different types of content that are considered link bait.
These include controversial content, data-driven content, guides (such as ultimate guides and top lists), visual pieces, interactive pieces, and viral content pieces.
The link bait content must be high-quality and valuable that journalists, writers, bloggers would find value in the information provided and would link to in naturally.
Link bait not only aims to get one backlink, but numerous links from different sources, more importantly, from authoritative sites that have domain authority, with the purpose of ranking in organic search results.
Link bait works because it is a “free” tactic to get sites to link to your content by providing high quality, informational, and valuable content.
Setting your site up as a source for valuable content also increases the chances that more and more people will see your site as a valuable resource and will also link to different content that you may publish in the future.
However, high-quality, valuable content does not automatically mean that you will get a lot of backlinks.
In fact, an analysis by Moz and BuzzSumo has found that 75% of over 1 million page has no backlinks at all!
This is why creating link bait content is important.
Now that you know the importance of creating link bait content, the question is, how do you build content so good that people naturally would want to link to your content? Here are some best practices for creating link bait content.
Which do you prefer to read and share, content that is composed of just text or content that has images and videos in it?
Visual content attracts more links than long-form text content.
Nowadays, people have shorter attention span and seeing visuals instead of long blocks of texts is preferred by most people.
Your content do not need to be purely visual, you can combine both text and visuals.
The important thing is to make the content easy to read and understand and this is where the visual elements come in.
Complete guides win for one reason - they are “complete”.
They have everything written out on the topic, it is one complete resource that one can read through, without going to multiple sources just to get the whole deal on the topic.
Controversial content needs to be thread on lightly.
You could have a lot of people linking to you but it could be for the wrong reasons.
Some controversial content end up building a firestorm and gaining a lot of links, but then cause damage to your reputation.
Create controversial content with data to back things up and stand by your beliefs.
Not just controversial content for the heck of gaining a lot of links.
While you do get a lot of links, it could end up causing issues down the road.
Data driven content gain a lot of links cause there is data to back up claims and information.
In the SEO world where a lot of things is guess work, trial and error, and testing, information that has data to back things up is highly favored.
Not only in the SEO world, but in everything.
Data in content also leads other writers, bloggers, etc.
to link to you as a content and information source when they are writing up their own content.
Thus, more backlinks from other sources.
One thing to keep in mind is to make sure your data is accurate and also cites a source for validity.
If it is your own study, make sure that the complete details of the study is also stated.
Overtime, this will build your authority and people would look to your site as a trusted resource, and in turn, gain you more backlinks.
People search because they need something and when it comes to information, they prefer information that are useful and actionable.
For example, articles that includes actionable tips, step by step guides are bound to gain more visitors and links as information needed is provided outrightly, information that is useful for the reader and they can apply without going through a ton of content to get what they need and how to do it.
Publishing content on a topic while it is still the hot topic or while it is a viral content is a way for you to piggyback on the timeliness and virality of the content.
Talk about the content and provide your insights, add more related information, gain the attention of people interested to learn about the topic and you are bound to get links to your content.
The best way to know what people are linking to is to study your competitors and look at what content they have that other people are linking to.
Then, replicate the content and make it better.
Not only can your content, with the right optimizations, surpass that of your competitors when it comes to rank, people are bound to link to your much better content.
Rely on this list on how you can make your content better – make a complete guide, with visual elements, and has data to back things up!
So you have created an awesome complete guide, complete with actionable tips and step by step guide, with visuals and data to back things up.
What’s next? Will you just let it be and wait for the links to come in? A big, resounding NO.
There are thousands, even millions of content published.
Even if your content is amazing, if you don’t promote it, no one would be able to see it and link to it.
Promote your content by sharing it on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
If you have a budget, you can boost your posts on Facebook and Twitter, reaching more people.
If you have an email list, you can also mail out about your new posts.
Press releases are also another way to promote your content.
Outreaching to other blogs or sites related to you is also a way to promote and gain backlinks to your content.
Check out our article on broken link building as a way to gain quality backlinks to your content.
Creating high-quality link bait content is a great way to gain organic backlinks to your site.
With our tips on how to create link bait content, this should be enough to get you started.
Creating high quality link bait content consistently would help you build your authority with regards to other bloggers, writers, and journalists.
This would help you gain their trust and you would be deemed as a reliable information resource and in turn, they are bound to look at your other content and link to them, too.
Check out our other articles on content development, such as our content audit and content gap article to help you find topics to write about that will surely gain you more clicks, traffic, and help you rise up in search.
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