(In this section of my site I rotate through my older articles for your reading pleasure. For my most current content, subscribe to LinkMoses Private.)
I always get bummed when I don’t clearly state my position on a link building topic and it gets blown out of proportion. I had the pleasure of being a guest on the SEO Rockstars podcast last Friday, where among the topics discussed was linkbait as a link building tactic. To be funny, I mentioned industrial ball bearings. A listener (well known SEO pro whom I greatly respect ) thought I implied linkbait was not possible for certain sites about certain topics, and went on to blog about me in a way that I feel needs clarification.
Use this Category Navigation List to quickly move through my site
Newsletter
Private Strategy Session
Services
Linking Strategies
Blog posts
Greatest Hits
Just to be clear, I never said you couldn’t link bait certain types of content. Id be wrong and that would be silly for me to say, since that’s how I got started in 1994 when I suggested to a local coffee company that they run an online special Christmas offer, which back then was unheard of. The site is gone, now, but here’s the original post. A few months later a local boat company (Sea Ray) with a vanilla web site went with the idea of giving 360 degree views of the boats and interiors. That’s linkbait circa 1995. Site gone, but bones remain.
Don’t pin your hopes for business success
solely on linkbait. Use it as part of a larger strategy…
Like anyone, I can sit here and think up endless types of link bait. Girls in bikinis for ball bearings. Yep, no brainer. That’s sort of what Ridgid tools has done in the offline world forever with those calendars you see in auto shops. They make an unsexy topic sexy. And by the way, pssst… hey Ridgid.com, what are you waiting for? You are sitting on a vein of linkbait gold and all you give us is this? With no real online linkbait you managed to get quite a few mentions and links. Imagine if you actually tried.
So again, I NEVER said you couldn’t linkbiat any given topic. I said it may not be the best approach for every site, and if you DID do it, remember it’s just one piece of an overall link building strategy. I’m not out to bash anyone or any tactic. But please don’t misunderstand me. Yes, you can link bait for any type of site.
Linkbait Directions:
Step one, create site.
Step two, add bikinis.
Bingo.
Link and share wisely,
Eric Ward
