What is Link Bait?

Link bait is a web page that is so striking that it compels people to share it. This kind of content should hook users and appeal to their emotions somehow. You aren’t just furnishing insights but also playing with the reader’s trigger points!

Read our blog if you want to master the art of link-baiting – a sure-short SEO strategy that drives clicks and credibility.

What are Link Baits, And Why Are They Fascinating?

Link baits are web pages that attract backlinks with little or no effort. These backlinks can be social media shares or citations.

1. Link baits can take multiple forms

  • Guides or How to’s
  • Free On-site Tool Page
  • Interview Pieces
  • Opinion Pieces
  • Infographic
  • Interactive Quizzes
  • Gamified Pages (Ones styled like games)

2. Link bait Motives and Triggers

  • Status Symbol: People share content pieces that make them look intelligent or passionate about the topic, such as studies, quizzes, or press releases.
  • Curiosity: Readers could share blogs on hot topics to see what opinions others have. They could also share quizzes, and gaming link baits with similar intentions.
  • Practicality: People share informative blogs to help their circle overcome specific problems.
  • Inspiring: If it motivates, an intense and captivating interview piece, story, or autobiography could be shared by millions.

3. Link baits VS Link-building Strategies

Other link building strategies, such as HARO or broken link opportunity pages, demand active efforts and even monetary compensation, but with link baits, your promotional spend reduces. As link bait meaning, you attract backlinks naturally without having to pay any party.

How To Do Link Baiting In SEO In 3 Steps?

How To Do Link Baiting In SEO?

Creating a well-optimized SEO link bait is like a journey. We will take you through all the crucial steps, from picking goals to promoting your linkbait and monitoring its efficiency.

1. Goal-oriented Linkbaits

The success recipe of linkbait will look different for all websites. Here are things that experts evaluate while choosing goals.

A. Based on the aims stated below, define how you want to impact readers

  • Entertain
  • Educate
  • Inspire
  • Attract
  • Convince

B. Pick Targetted Content Page based on Your Abilities and Resources:

  • Insider Information: If you have access to classified information owing to the nature of your business, you can publish slightly controversial pieces that rebuke existing beliefs or write informative articles that add to them.
  • Your Connections: If you are well-connected with other players in your niche, you could opt for interview pieces.
  • Internal Evaluation: If you have a highly skilled team and the proper budget, you can publish studies and utilize interactive elements (such as games, quizzes, and on-page tools).

C. Determine Link Bait Format Based On Goals:

  • Whether your chosen topic will surprise people or create controversy?
  • What would be the page format? – News, pillar page, supporting page, landing page, infographics, interactive elements (quizzes, tools, and games), etc.
  • How much information depth will you provide?
  • What would be the ratio of pictures, text, and interactive elements in your link bait?

D. Finer Details for Massive Gains:

  • Add catchy meta titles and descriptions that drive traffic with their loud words
  • If you include interactive elements or images, you must be especially careful about page speed.

2. Outreach Campaigns

If you have high domain authority, your linkbait will rank instantly and go viral, but as a small website, you may have to invest a little in promotional activities.

Method 1 – Finding Prospects for Link Building:

  • In this method, you log onto Semrush, insert your top keywords, and then hit the “Start Link Building” button.
  • Locate the “Prospects” tab. It will present a list of potential targets for your outreach activity.
  • Identify suitable prospects and add them to the “To in Progress” list. It will also provide you with the contact details of your prospects.

Method 2 – Finding Prospects for Link Building:

  • Conversely, in this method, you just sign into your Semrush, open the “Backlink Analytics” dashboard, and insert the competitor page URL.
  • You then click “Analyze” and visit the “Referring Domains” list.

Other Ways of Promoting Your Linkbait:

3. Monitor The Efficiency Of Your Link Baits

We don’t stop at creating link baits and promoting them! The next step is to monitor the efficiency of all campaigns and figure out what works best for you. Here are steps to conduct Semrush Backlink Audit.

  • Click on “Start Backlink Audit” to receive an auto-generated report of the domains referring to your linkbait.
  • The “Audit” tab shows you the exact pages that link to your bait and the anchor text they used.
  • The authority and toxicity scores will also give you an idea of the quality of their backlinks.

Other Tools to Analyze Link Bait Performance:

  • Google Analytics: This will give you a detailed breakdown of all the sources from which traffic is arriving at your link bait.
  • Heatmap: This intuitive map generates spots on all the places where your readers tapped or clicked on the device screen based on the heat generated by their touch. The spots hint at which sections garnered more or less interest from the readers.

6 Best Practices For Linkbait Page

No link bait is perfect, but it should disrupt the market! Here are ideas for you to adapt and add your twist to.

1. Dynamic “How To’s”

These are informative pages that describe in detail how things work. We have some tips to make your guide stand out.

  • Publish a page on a less-covered niche topic.
  • Search a keyword and see whether it has relevant pages and if the domain rate of those pages is lower.
  • See if you can leverage a content gap or add a refreshing perspective.
  • Add case studies or real-time examples.
  • Try reverse framing (e.g., “How Not to Write Content”).

2. Free Online Tool Pages

These pages are easily accessible and tend to help users. Your tool webpages can be based on the following.

  • Easy Use Tools: Plagiarism checker, Generative AI, Page speed, etc
  • Template Generators: For presentations, brochures, posts, etc.
  • Calculators: For Investments and Returns, Weather Forecast, etc

They are helpful in terms of:

  • Improves Engagement Rate: These tools increase user retention by demanding inputs before generating results. In the process, they also provide interesting behavioral insights!
  • Makes Your Brand Unique: Tools use classified information and skills to generate results, so they can’t be duplicated easily.

3. Ego Baiting And Hype

This technique involves interviewing someone to get a backlink in return. Here’s how you can generate a buzz around your interview piece.

  • Ensure they are relevant to your industry
  • Mention their credentials to evoke trust.
  • Give a glimpse of what readers can expect to learn from this interview.
  • Provide an exciting background elaborating on their struggles, successes, and solutions.
  • Make your pitch more powerful by incorporating words like “seasoned professionals,” “leading experts,” “best,” etc
  • You can later update your interview pieces with the responses that they garnered on social media or within comments.
  • Interview as many subjects as you can to position yourself as an expert.

4. Create Visually Appealing Infographics

Images are a creative and powerful way of delivering a message. They shouldn’t only look good but also visually narrate a story! Here are places where you can use infographics.

  • Findings: Present your observations as charts and graphs.
  • Checklists: These would be useful for actionable insights.
  • Flow Charts: These visuals can help break down a complex process for the readers.

5. Interactive Quizzes And Games

Google Developers use quizzes to address doubts and frequently asked questions of readers. For every wrong or correct answer, the reader learns why things are the way they are.

Pages can incorporate a racing, strategy, or puzzle game. Upon reaching checkpoints, the reader is educated about something related to the topic.

They take up the entire attention span of users while making learning a fun experience for them.

6. Controversy Generating Pages

You can be sensational and decent at the same time! Your link baits can create controversies and make headlines, but without breaking laws!

  • It’s ok if they refute or challenge certain beliefs, but it’s better not to take it to the point of defamation.
  • You can target products or service industries but do not highlight any brand.
  • You can comment on stagnancy or growth in certain professions without targeting specific individuals.
  • Avoid the usage of offensive language or jokes. It should challenge norms or beliefs without being crude.
  • We advise writers to navigate socio-political and legal regulations.

4 Examples of Effective Link Bait

We have analyzed four link baits. Here are our insights.

1. Semrush’s Viral Study – Informative

Semrush’s Top 100: The Most Visited Websites in the US garnered 8 K backlinks from around 1 K referring domains.

Details that instantly catch attention:

  • Interactive table: The table shows the top 20 websites so viewers don’t have to scroll too long. But there is also a “Show More” option if readers wish to see more.
  • Interactive Graphs: There are also graphs divided into different categories. So, people simply have to choose a category before seeing website growth in those segments.
  • Trend Analysis: It’s one thing to inform readers which websites saw growth. However, the article also tries to explain whether this was a restricted or an industry-wide phenomenon and why (regarding the content they provide and what categories the users tend to lean towards).

2. IDRlabs’ Test – Interactive Quiz

The IDRlabs’ Food Disgust Test had become a viral sensation and gained 4k backlinks from 300 referring domains.

Details that instantly catch attention:

  • Accessibility: This test and its results are available in multiple languages.
  • Credibility: Google’s EEAT algorithms crave it, and readers love it! This page covers the involvement of all Ph. Ds.
  • Unique: No other competing page has launched a similar tool.

Areas for improvement:

  • There are too many questions, and few have a similar meaning, so the number of questions must be reduced.
  • The result section elaborates on people’s triggers—not whether those food triggers are genuine red flags!

3. Neomam’s Most Visited Landing Page – Infographics

Neomam’s Why Your Brain Craves Infographics received 75.3 K backlinks from approximately 1.5 K referring domains.

Details that instantly catch attention:

  • Visuals: A lot of statistical information has been presented in the form of pictures or symbols to attract readers.
  • Credibility: This webpage also mentions the reference links from where the information was sourced – They are also reputable research papers.
  • Interactive Elements: When you scroll, you see animated objects, and towards the end of the page, you even see a live tracker that highlights the time you have been on the page!

4. Mozbar’s Beginner-friendly Guide – How To Guide

Mozbar’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO got over 2600 tweets and 2059 domains that refer to them.

Details that instantly catch attention:

  • Hot Topic: As digital marketing continues to become popular, this topic has attracted much attention.
  • Accessibility: SEO concepts and strategies have been segregated into various chapters and mentioned in the top menu bar.
  • User-Oriented: They educate users about outcomes they can expect. They even promise certificates and videos to encourage them.

Conclusion – Is It Easy To Link Bait?

With the strategies discussed in this blog, we are confident that you will succeed in creating a trendy link bait. But it’s equally crucial to figure out your target audience, resources, and goals. However, if you find SEO to be way too overwhelming, then you can always approach professionals.

Author avatar
Samruddhi
This website stores cookies on your computer.