Link Baiting

Should I try using link baiting? Well, With so much information on the internet, it can be a real chore to try to increase web traffic. Link baiting is a fresh way to lure your prey in and catch them with a popular and attention-getting hook. The main ways people hook links is through a news hook, a contrary hook, an attack hook, a resource hook, or a humor hook. There are pleasant ways to approach this method, and there are adversarial ways to get attention.

The News Hook
If you happen to be fortunate enough to be on the scene of a major news event, you can use that information to draw a lot of people to your site. If your niece was the first baby born in the New Year, you have a great opportunity to jump on that news story and make the most of it. You can also use the news hook by putting together information about current news that shows it from a new angle, or exposes flaws in the reporting. Anything fresh and new is material for this type of link baiting.

The Contrary Hook
Using link baiting this way can backfire, so be careful to walk the fine line between gaining attention and making enemies. By taking a contrary stance about a popular subject, you can stir up a hornets nest that makes people notice you and link to your site. Whether you are disagreeing with a popular politician, or disliking a great movie, you can touch a nerve with people and draw them to you.

The Resource Hook
Depending on your market, the resource hook can cover a lot of areas. Like useful articles, it can provide tips and information that pertain to your websites areas of expertise. This is a safe and useful way to attract links and get more web traffic. You may be providing some information on your site already. Just be sure that you keep it new and lively, so that it will stay attractive for link baiting.

The Humor Hook
I am always amazed at the way a goofy little web clip can blow up into an international sensation and becomes a part of our collective consciousness because it was kind of funny. We are all looking for something funny. We pay money for people to make us laugh on television, at the movies, in books, and in comedy clubs. What a great way to get people to your site! If you have it in you, put together something witty enough to spread around the internet, gathering links to your website as it goes and giving you more website traffic.