Your Guide to Backlink Generation Using Linkbait
When most people hear “linkbait,” they think it’s a spammy title linked to worthless content. Only sleazy marketers would try to use ‘bait’ to get someone on their website, right? Actually, that’s not the case at all.
Linkbait, not to be confused with clickbait, is an incredibly useful tool that websites can use to drive traffic and improve their domain authority. In this article, we answer the question, “What is link baiting?” so you have a better understanding of its purpose. We also give some actionable advice on how to do link baiting in SEO and how to get backlinks.
First, let’s define our terms.
What Is Link Baiting?
Linkbait refers to content that’s so interesting or amazing that it catches the attention of all kinds of content publishers who can’t help but link to it.
What is link baiting? It sounds like a bad thing, but link baiting is simply the process of creating shareable content with the purpose of getting others to link to it—you aren’t tricking anyone. Linkbait sells itself; people link to it because of its perceived value.
Linkbait aims to attract as many inbound links (i.e., backlinks) to your website as possible. When done right, link baiting attracts the attention of authoritative websites (e.g., Forbes) that include a link to your linkbait within their content.
How to Do Link Baiting in SEO
Types of linkbait that successfully earn backlinks include:
Data-driven studies
Evergreen content (e.g., long-form guides)
Breaking news
Fun, entertaining posts
List posts
How-to posts
Infographics
Controversial or talking-point content
If you want to know how to do link baiting in SEO, simply begin writing blogs using any of the content types above. Unfortunately, there’s no magic method to creating linkbait.
Our advice is to search for your content idea on Google and review what other sites say about it. As you research, notice what kind of topics/titles are showing up on page one of search results. Then, use these competitor posts to guide how you structure your own content but improve upon it to make it even better. It should go without saying, but don’t copy and paste!
How to Get Backlinks: 4 Proven Strategies
Backlinks are one of the top search ranking factors for Google. The more high-quality backlinks a website receives, the better chance it has of ranking higher on search engine result pages (SERPs). Think of backlinks as a “vote of confidence” from one website to another. High-quality backlinks are important for SEO because they signal to Google that another site finds your content valuable enough to link to it within their own content.
The strategy behind the question, “How to get backlinks,” is called link building or backlink generation. Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks—links from other websites to your own—to improve your site’s SEO.
Here’s a list of four ways you can begin procuring backlinks.
1. Share Linkbait
The best way to earn backlinks is by creating linkbait. However, generating content that’s link-worthy is no small undertaking. It’s a very time-intensive process, but if you can get linkbait right, the results will make it all worth it in the end.
Use your industry expertise to write a long-form blog. It can be a list, guide, how-to, or another value-added piece of content. People use search engines to find answers and information, so ask yourself how you can add value to users browsing through search engine results.
2. Create an Infographic
Infographics make complex topics easier to digest by communicating them visually and are another great way to acquire backlinks. Data-driven blogs perform well, but a visual representation of data is even better. Use eye-catching graphics, images, charts, and text to create an infographic.
When you share helpful content like infographics, you’re bound to receive backlinks. Other content creators will likely use your visual creation in their blogs and give you credit via a backlink. And you don’t need to be a designer to create an engaging infographic. Free tools like Canva.com have templates that you can use to make your own visual aid.
3. Start Guest Blogging
Guest blogging isn’t a very scalable backlinking tactic, but it’s a tried and true SEO strategy. Writing content for another business widens your reach by tapping into their audience, which drives more traffic to your site and earns you a backlink; it’s a win-win.
You can easily find guest blogging websites by searching on Google. Type in the topic you want to write about, followed by “guest article,” “write for us,” or “contributor” to the end, then review the results. Reach out to relevant sites that accept guest posts and pitch a few different topics you could write about. In your email, explain what you would cover in each article idea and the benefits it would provide to readers.
4. Partner With an SEO Agency
At Veivos, we write weekly blogs for our clients and acquire high-quality backlinks for each one. The way in which we do this is by writing relevant content for other websites that post our guest blogs, including a backlink to our clients’ sites. Additionally, we use what’s called the keyword golden ratio (KGR) strategy to ensure our client’s blogs end up on the first page of Google.
KGRs are long-tail keywords that have more searches than results on search engines. The benefit of this strategy is that blogs using KGRs rank on the first page of Google much faster than 3-6 months. When a blog is on the first page of search results, it’s often seen as authoritative, which makes it good linkbait. The majority of search traffic doesn’t click past Google’s first page, so content creators are more likely to link to first-page articles.
Start Link Building Today With Veivos
Now that you know everything about linkbait and backlink generation, it’s time to partner with experts who know how to execute these SEO strategies.
Veivos is a search engine marketing agency that helps mid-sized businesses get on the first page of Google by driving relevant traffic to their websites. As experts in search engine optimization, we use a four-part strategy to improve our clients’ online presence and help them outrank competitors:
Integrate relevant keywords into web pages and blog posts
Write and publish SEO-friendly blogs regularly
Implement link building strategies
Monitor overall website health
We’ve helped numerous companies in various industries enhance their digital marketing strategies to land more leads and increase sales—are you ready to be one of them? Schedule a discovery call today to learn more about how our services can help your business grow.
