What is Link Baiting? [+ 7 Types of viral content to generate more links]

What is Link Baiting?

Link baiting is a strategy for creating pages and digital content that attract natural, high-volume backlinks to a domain. 

This practice increases the chances of being linked to other websites.

In addition, as it is a good SEO technique, it improves search engine ranking, allowing you to reach a higher volume of users and, thus, a large number of potential customers.

Right now, you may be asking yourself: “How much will this cost me?” The answer is: nothing!

Paying for promotional content, after all, does not guarantee effective achievements and often results in wasted time and money. 

The idea of link baiting is to be able to make the most of the opportunities that are presented organically.

Later, we will show examples of successful link baiting strategies that you can apply in your business.

However, the main idea is to create pages that generate value for the user until they say: “Okay, this content has highly qualified information and deserves to be shared with the world”.

Link Baiting vs Link Building: What are the Differences?

If you search for information about link baiting, you will certainly find another related term: link building. However, these are not the same.

The goal of both concepts is similar: to be linked. 

However, link building is responsible for seeking them “actively” through actions such as guest posts, partnerships with influencers of a particular niche and promotion on social media.

In other words, link building requires an active effort of website owners to be linked by other external pages.

Link baiting does the same but in a “passive” way.

It is based on the virality of the content, generating information, exposing creative ideas, and creating innovative and unique content that meets the buyer persona’s needs.

This way, it attracts the target audience’s attention, who will share or link to the content because of their affinity with it.

However, these techniques are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, if you use them together in a Digital marketing strategy, you will have better results.

Knowing their differences and how they complement each other is fundamental.

How to Create a Link Baiting Strategy?

Every link baiting strategy is different, as it depends on the type of link you want to achieve. For example:

• Do you want to go viral? Ask users to share your content on social media.
• Do you want more authority? The best option is to get a referral within a corporate blog.

So, how do you achieve an effective link baiting strategy? Here are two tips to get you started.

Statistical analysis

In Marketing, statistics are everything. With them, you can:

• Analyze keywords using SEO tools — for example, SEMRush — for which you want to receive backlinks.
• Investigate the competition to produce original content that outperforms them. You can also use the SEMrush tool, suitable for this type of task.

Defining the goal and format

It all starts with a goal. Do you want to:

• Attract?
• Entertain?
• Inspire?
• Educate?
• Convince?

Once you’ve defined your goal, it’s time to establish the appropriate format to spark the buyer’s interest. 

For example:

• Pillar articles: these are extensive contents that cover a topic in a complete, in-depth manner. They are usually used as references in blogs in the same area, so they must contain helpful and valuable information.
• News and interviews: perfect for getting backlinks from social networks and traditional media.
• Controversies, comparisons, or debates: these have high levels of visibility and consequently generate many backlinks.

In general terms, you should focus on an attractive idea with a well-detailed purpose and a visible and interesting format.

In link baiting, the value is in the content itself which is responsible for creating the audience or target audience. This, in turn, contributes to the creation of content and adds value to brands.

Following this, you can plan the content promotion which starts with identifying the type of content that will work for your business.

Want to learn some examples? Keep on reading!

7 Examples of Successful Content for Link Baiting

In this section, we will list 7 types of content that work very well for link baiting with practical examples.

1. Interactive content

Before planning a Digital Marketing strategy, we all ask ourselves the same question, “What is the best format to attract and retain users?”

One of the most accepted answers today points to interactive content.

It is an innovative and original way to generate engagement through creative content that leads to social media sharing and referrals.

This type of content enhances user experience, impacting consumers through attractive and optimized visual elements that provide valuable data, leading to conversion.

Check out some types of interactive content that can help you achieve your marketing goals:

Infographics

Inforgraphic are a very good way to direct the lead according to their stage in the buyer’s journey. 

An excellent initiative is to work with content designed for the top of the funnel or awareness stage.

It is fundamental that you know that this material usually does not get a high conversion rate. However, it is educational and contains valuable information for the consumer.

2. Surveys and market research

Performing a market evaluation with our own resources allows us to generate reliable and relevant information about the company’s sector.

This content piece is worthy of being used as link bait. This report is an accomplishment for Brandz as it profiles pertinent and relatable data.

3. News and materials with updates

To start, you should find a current topic that fits your niche and be one of the first to publish content with your expert opinions.

This type of link baiting content is effective if you know how to find authentic information quickly.

This way, you can arouse curiosity about something new and position yourself ahead of your competition when it becomes a trend.

Let’s consider the geek universe, for example, with the successful smartphone application Pokémon Go. A few years ago, it has changed the way Pokémon lovers see the world.

The first ones who wrote about this phenomenon received countless mentions and shares.

This is also a common strategy in more specific sectors of economic activity. 

4. Lists as an informative resource

The effectiveness of lists is related to our ability to choose any subject and turn it into a list. 

The best part is that those titles usually have the most impact, sparking the reader’s interest and encouraging them to click on a link and read the article.