Linkbaiting might have its share of detractors, but the truth remains that this particular practice can produce some great rewards in regard to incoming traffic and links. Whether it's legitimate or not really rests on how well or how poorly a publisher handles linkbaiting efforts. The truth is linkbaiting can be quite rewarding, very legitimate and a whole lot of fun to master.



Despite some bad reports, linkbaiting is actually one of the best ways to promote a website and its content. The only marked difference involved in linkbaiting over regular site building is that much of the content added or created for a campaign is designed with the idea of gaining incoming links at the forefront.

Working linkbaiting to its fullest advantage really does rest on having the ability to come up with the right content. Many publishers pick their site's focus area and then track the big "trends" to guide their writing and content focus. Sites like Digg.com, del.icio.us and Technorati can be very useful to watch to this end. Although this method of topic selection is pointed, it can be a great way to choose engaging suspects. The hook is making sure a site doesn't muddy its real focus while its writers and content producers chase trends.

Some publishers inadvertently linkbait during the normal course of business. Simply creating a relevant, interesting and useful site can produce all sorts of natural incoming links. If taking what comes normally and boosting its link potential is in order, consider creating lists, running interesting statistics, hosting contests or even crafting well-informed opinion pieces about the topic a site or blog focuses on. Negative pieces such as rants, controversy reporting and so on also are good incoming link generators.

Sometimes creating good content isn't enough to generate links. This is where a little self-promotion can come in handy. Consider sending e-mails to similar (and more popular) sites' owners asking for input on particular pieces. This tactic can result in some great advice and perhaps a link or two, as well.

Sites that involve social tagging or even popularity ranks can be wonderful tools to use, as well. Places such as Digg.com can have a huge impact on incoming traffic and links if a story is picked up. Some publishers create their own "Diggs" to take advantage of the supercharge of traffic this site can provide, but a lot of people find this too self promoting.

Linkbaiting is really nothing more than working to increase incoming links. The idea centers on increasing traffic, income potential, incoming links and possibly page ranking, as well. Page ranking can be a tangible spin off of a linkbaiting campaign that's successful.

It might have a negative image, but linkbaiting is a common practice that can produce great results. If the concept is approached with a careful touch, content is worthy and a little fun is had, it generally works out quite well.

It can be very rewarding to watch incoming links for a site continue to rise. This shouldn't be the only focus though. Just make sure the content created is useful, or the linkbait can turn out to be a big flop for future traffic. Relevancy, usefulness and quality should always be a top concern when trying to gain traffic from linkbaiting efforts.