I believe everyone who is devoted to business online knows the importance of content. It’s not a coincidence that you are familiar with such statements as “content is king” because it plays a crucial part in getting your website popular throughout the internet. This article is going to help you create link bait content that is helpful to your audience.
Yeah, the primary purpose of content is providing people with valuable information and, of course, to share a word or two about your brand.
Nevertheless, if your content doesn’t find any recognition and gains no backlinks – it is useless.
Why does it happen?
There are a bunch of reasons why it happens, but one of the most prominent is the absence of backlinks to your content.
Thus, it is strictly essential for you to focus your attention on creating high-quality and link engaging content. In other words, your content must be like a bait to catch the fish.
In this article, I’m going to share with you some useful knowledge on what link bait content is and tips on how to create such content.
OK, let’s roll.
SEE ALSO: 5 SEO Mistakes That Cost You Money
What is Link Bait Content?
As you might notice, the name of this content type is a kind of “charactonym.” It means that the main purpose of link bait content is to attract (and catch) as many backlinks as it can.
Just imagine, you’ve written an excellent blog post, and no one can resist but link back to it. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Well, this charitable act will improve your website’s ranking in search engines, you’ll get a new portion of traffic, credits as a writer and, of course, some revenue.
However, you should know what type of content works great in terms of getting backlinks. Let me introduce you the core content types that work for creating link bait content:
- Content with images, infographics, videos, and gifs
- Comprehensive guides
- Research
- Quizzes
- Content that perfectly resonates with the niche you are in
Taking into consideration these core types of content I’ve listed above, you’ll see that your content will be like a flower for bees. It is going to be hard for any reader to refuse to link back to your material.
It sounds awesome and promising, but you should understand why people link to other content. What are the reasons that make users more inclined to mention your material on various blogs?
Let’s find out!
Reasons Why People Link to Content
There is one immortal proverb “opinions differ,” and it is true. If you like some piece of content, it doesn’t mean that I will like it as well (or vice versa). Anyway, practice shows that a collective consciousness has general triggers, which tends to make people do the same thing. According to this fact, people tend to link to (or to share) your content if it performs the following tasks:
- Resonates massively (the material has been linked and shared thousands of time; do you remember what “crowd psychology” is? The same happens here)
- Brings value to people (your content gives some practical pieces of advice)
- Causes strong feelings among users (your content funny, sad or, even, embarrassing, inspirational, etc.)
- It is unique
Frankly speaking, it doesn’t matter what “trigger” you’re going to use. The important thing is to get backlinks.
Now it is time to check out actual tips that will help you in creating link bait content.
Think about what people like to read.
1. Content That Brings out Emotions
If you have a look at what people tend to share or retweet on their social media accounts, you will see that the majority of the content is some form of humor. People love something funny, easy-going, and things that bring out emotions.
There is nothing wrong if you try to be funny in your writing material. It is, even, great. But you should always remember that your content must be strict, to the point, and never be out of the niche you are in.
I advise you to understand your audience’s needs and implement some triggers to catch their interest. My own experience shows that humor in small quantity works awesome. And, yes, I encourage you to engage in conversation with your reader using direct communication, rhetorical questions, and sharing some doubts and emotions. I read articles as well, and I like when the content of the post is informal and finds common ground with the reader.
To sum up, I would like to say – you should create VITAL content, and you’ll find recognition by doing so.
2. Attractive Content Catches The Eye
I believe you would agree with me that textual content is boring. Moreover, reading the text forces our brain to analyze the information, and that is hard sometimes. Plus, people love visual elements within the body of the article – it makes a piece of content brighter and easier to engage with.
But before you start creating content with visual elements, you need to understand the process of creating a desire to link to your material. This process has a few steps:
- Reader notices your content (you’ve just uploaded your article, and web users stumbled upon it)
- Reader gets familiar with it (users click to your story and start reading it)
- Reader enjoys it (users liked all images, infographics, and videos you added to your content)
- Reader links to it or shares (as the result, readers are satisfied with your post, and they link to it)
There are more chances that your content will be read and linked if it is very visual. Simply because the first thing that a user does is scroll down the whole post and if he or she notices that this piece of content contains images, infographics or whatever else, the reader will memorize it and get back to it again. As a result, the user will link to it (if the post is valuable).
…and you know, a single infographic or image can be a reason to link to your article as well (even if the content of the whole post leaves much to be desired).
Thus, keep going using all the stuff that attracts user’s eyes.
3. Stick to the Content That Rocks
What is the aim of content? Right! Its purpose is to provide a target audience with useful and up-to-date information. However, because about 2 million articles are published every day (survey made by MarketingProfs), it becomes harder and harder to introduce something unique and valuable to your audience.
Lots of experts state that two types of content will always hit the spot – “How-To” and “List” articles. Nevertheless, if you can nail any topic and craft the article properly, I would like to introduce you all possible types of the content:
- “How-To” articles. (cover any idea you like, share your own experience, create content that is full of useful data and is engaging.)
- “Case study” articles. (a kind of content where you can introduce some survey you’ve made; case studies are always good to read, especially if they contain infographics, numbers, and diagrams)
- “Review” articles. (it is going to be a good choice for you because this type of content tends to answer the questions users might have)
- “Lists” articles. (introduce your readers to a list of tools or services along with all the pros and cons they have)
As I’ve already said it is up to you what type of content you choose but be convinced that it will resonate with your audience perfectly.
4. Make Sure Your Content Brings Value to Your Readers
The first thing I would like to say is that sense of value is subjective. Some information might bring lots of value to you, but it doesn’t mean that I will appreciate it as well. As far as link bait content, it must be useful to your audience. Your primary goal should be its value.
I know everyone wants to be a pioneer in terms of covering some new topic. But wait, it is not easy to intrigue with a brand new topic nowadays (especially, when evergreen content prevails.) You shouldn’t even try to waste your time with new topic ideas. The best solution is to present the topic that rocks from your own angle of view.
You see, those topics that always pique interest can be covered over and over again under the stipulation that you will add something new to it. I want to underline that adding something new doesn’t mean to write a bigger piece of content. No. It means you can run a small survey that might be used as a core element for the entire post.
Furthermore, if you believe that you are like a “unique topic factory,” you will be able to gain as many links as you deserve (obviously, if your content brings benefits).
5. Newsworthy Content Works Great
The news is one of the main sources of information we have. That’s why news websites are a perfect target to focus your attention on. Why? Because if you attract some big news website’s attention, you will get awesome links.
Have you ever heard about the “newsjacking” strategy?
“Newsjacking is the process of leveraging trending news to elevate your brand’s message.”
Put simply; you need to mix an already popular trending event or story with your own brand’s service.
Yeah, I am sure you’re a bit confused with this. No worries. I will give you an example of what it means.
Do you remember a TV series called “Supernatural”? There are 12 seasons of this fantasy horror show today. Yep, lots of fans around the world stick to the TV screen watching the adventures of the Winchester brothers.
Some blog contributors haven’t left this show out in the cold, and they attempted to combine it with their own ideas. Here is an example:
You might say “nothing special on this topic”…perhaps, you are right in the context of the niche this material has been published. But the entire idea of using “Supernatural” as the basis is pretty interesting and worth linking.
Now I am sure you have a couple of ideas on how to make your content newsworthy and link attractive.
6. Link out First
I must say this tip won’t take lots of time to explain. I am pretty sure you know what mutual assistance is. When it comes to talking about earning backlinks, it means you should be proactive and search for potential resources you would like to get a link back from. But here you must link to them first.
In other words, expand your connections, link to various resources/content in your niche and wait a bit. You will see that people won’t forget your charity and link back to you as well.
7. Outreach
I feel certain of the way to gain backlinks through outreach. Yes, it looks like an “impudent” promotion of your content, but it works great. The main trick here is to follow a step-by-step process and use the approach to connect with the person you want to get a backlink from.
Let me advise you how to do outreach properly.
- Find people you want to reach out to. You can do this step without any problems using Ahrefs Content Explorer tool. Let’s presume your niche is eCommerce and you want to get backlinks from other representatives. Just pick up a few of your competitors’ articles and see what backlinks they have:
This content has 628 backlinks, and it is a good sign for you. You will have to look through all these opportunities and choose only those that are relevant.
- Find recipient’s personal email addresses. I recommend you using FindThat.email and Voilanorbert tools (these two are leaders when you need to find emails)
- Prepare personalized email templates. Please, discover more personal information on the person you’re going to reach out (hobbies, interests, past publications) and try to combine your findings with the direct purpose of the message you want to send.
- Never neglect to send follow-up emails. Be prepared for the cases when your messages are not replied to (or ignored). It might happen due to various reasons. Thus, don’t be afraid of sending follow-up emails.
Outreach is one of the most powerful strategies to promote your content and, of course, to bait links.
Conclusion
Taking all the aforesaid into consideration, I can say that any link bait content strategy involves three main components:
- Having outstanding content
- Having the right target audience
- Having ways to promote your awesome content
Accomplishing these aspects will help you hook the links that you want to get.
Today I proposed seven tips to you in this article that will help you get the results you need. You can bet your dollar on it!
SEE ALSO: How to Improve Brand Signals For Better SEO
What do you think of the link bait content strategy? Let me know in the comments below!
