Linkbait is defined as creating unique, interesting, and/or controversial content that other people will link to. The main purpose of linkbaiting is to generate incoming links to your website or blog.
The first thing you need to decide with linkbaiting is the type of linikbait you want to create and then stick with that. There are various ways to linkbait and so you must pick a premise. Do you want to be funny? Informative? Offensive? Make sure it stays consistent throughout. Don’t try to write a post that generates controversy and then change your mind halfway through and start gossiping. You will lose credibility very fast. Readers pickup on these things more than you would think.
Things you want to think about when linkbaiting: is this something that other people want to talk about? Will this generate controversy? Am I breaking a news story here? If you’re not providing riveting or informative material, why would anyone want to link to it?
One of the main goals in driving traffic to a blog should be to get your blog up on other sites through link exchanges. There is one surefire way to do this: Make your content relevant and interesting. Of course YOU may think it's interesting, but what about everyone else? You want to ensure your blog is making money, so don’t become one of the ones that isn’t!
Many people choose to do “Top 10” type lists to create linkbait. For example, Unibrow, a popular comedy site on Uber does daily comedy Top 10s. Through these Top 10 lists, Unibrow has established relationships with Guerilla Mask, College Humor and other comedy sites. With these relationships, Unibrow is almost guaranteed a certain numbers on a daily basis. Of course you don’t have to do 10 items, you can do top 5s, etc. The idea is that there is a lot of content based on one central idea.
Being controversial is often the easiest way to go because not everyone can be creative and we can’t all be experts on a topic. However, if you are going to present controversial topics, have the information and witty commentary to accompany your post. Otherwise you’ll just sound like another person trying to stir up trouble. People like to start arguments and state their opinion and a controversial topic is a great way to get this going. This is also a perfect way to get comments on your blog. It’s hard for people to sit by and not comment when the topic is something they feel passionately about.
Another great way to create linkbait is by providing tutorials. People are always looking for easier/better ways to do things and if you can provide them the means to do that, they will return again and again to see what you’re offering. This is perfect for keeping consistent links going with other sites. You want to have new content up all the time so that a site feels good about linking to you. It isn’t about creating one piece of interesting material to get a site to link to you and then just letting the rest of your posts trickle along. Keep the posts coming and more people will want to link to you!
And remember, the #1 thing to keep in mind at all times: what are you offering that will entice people to link to you?
