Link baiting is a new online term for a practice that has long been followed in old offline media.
It is a series of tactics that try to encourage Web site visitors to click on a link. It also is a form of “link building,” the term that describes ways of increasing the number of links to a Web site from other sites.
“On a meta-level, I think of ‘linkbait’ as something interesting enough to catch people?s attention, and that doesn?t have to be a bad thing,” says Matt Cutts, a Google engineer and well-known blogger.
Examples include writing about a controversial topic, giving away something or a variety of other methods to increase links or clicks to a site. Even writing a good document title and meta description can be a form of link baiting if it attracts a click.
“With link building there are essentially 5 types of ‘hooks’ or pages built to encourage links. They are: News, Contrary, Attack, Resource and Humor,” according to an article at Search Engine Journal.
Traditional media has used many of the same approaches to attract readers or viewers. Newspapers publish stories and TV stations air stories that are interesting, controversial, funny or provocative. Their promotional departments give away things for free as part of contests.
The unique twist to link baiting is not the tactics but the goal — to increase the number of links to a Web site, improve search engine results and ultimately grow audience.
More:
Promise Media provides