You have a plan for building your website’s authority and have decided that you need linkbait. You’re either going to write it yourself or hire someone. But one piece of linkbait is not always as successful as another. Why? Well that’s what this article is about. Here are some common mistakes that you might commit in either writing or buying linkbait, which will reduce it’s value and effectiveness.

1. Not researching your niche.
   If you are planning a long-term linkbaiting campaign, you should know as much as you can about your niche. That allows you to think outside the box and write completely unexpected but successful linkbaits.
2. Using poor titles.
   If you follow Copyblogger at all, you know that the title of your articles can make or break their popularity. If you’re not good at titles, Lyndon at Cornwall SEO offers 200 killer headlines for your niche for a price that’s worth every cent. If you spend several hundred or thousands on the article, make sure there’s a good title to go with it. If you do it yourself, spend sufficient time doing so.
3. Not giving credit.
   If you “borrow” ideas that were clearly introduced on a given blog, you need to give credit by linking back. Don’t let poor research techniques hinder you.
4. Poor research process.
   If you plan to write linkbait long-term, use an efficient research and bookmarking process for storing URLs you plan to link to. Try whatever works for you, and don’t be afraid to change:
   1. Browser bookmarks.
   2. Social bookmarks.
   3. Text file.
   4. Mindmap.

   I use a combination of these, as my mood or requirements dictates.

5. Not deep-linking.
   Bloggers with no scruples or no understanding of copyright will republish your linkbait verbatim. So deep-link into your existing archived articles from within every linkbait. That way, you’ll at least get some backlinks.
6. Not linking back.
   Just writing a linkbait article is not sufficient. Link back to it from future articles on your blog. Vary the anchor text. Sometimes use the title of the bait; other times use relevant keywords/ keyphrases. This helps both your linkbait and your site gain some authority in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
7. Forgetting entertainment value.
   Provided your linkbait isn’t about a serious topic, you should consider writing to entertain readers. Injecting references to the pop culture of your region can be all that you need to achieve this.
8. Not using storytelling hooks.
   I learned a lot about writing and compelling readers when I spent three months writing nothing but short fiction and novellas. My best linkbaits (read highest Diggs and backlinks) were the ones where I applied storytelling hooks to compel readers through a massive list of items.
9. Ignoring content hooks.
   There are also different types of content hooks you can use, to make your linkbait more cohesive.
10. Forgetting your choices.
    Problogger lists twenty different types of linkbaiting techniques. You don’t always have to write lists.
11. Talking down to the reader.
    Never write as if you think people reading your articles (linkbait or otherwise) are stupid, or at least not as smart as you. Write for peers, always, in terms of tone and approach.
12. Rushing it.
    Trying to write a linkbait in a single sitting will drain you and you’ll grow to hate the work. Plan as many weeks ahead as you can. I was fortunate enough to have one client that assigned me three months of weekly work all at once. So I had lots of time to plan and accumulate references on a daily basis.
13. Poor formatting.
    Not all “linkbait” articles have to be lists, but all of them should be well-formatted for easy scanning. Use one or more of the following typography or visual elements to generate whitespace and break up text density:
    1. Sub-headings.
    2. Numbered lists. Use several, with sub headings, for longer lists.
    3. Bold text.
    4. Italicized text.
    5. Blockquotes.
    6. Images.
    7. Diagrams.
    8. Maps.
    9. Slideshows.
    10. Videos.
14. Link spamming.
    If you have a linkbait list of, say, 50 items, it’s probably fine to link out to 15-35 web pages elsewhere, plus 2-5 of your own archive pages, if appropriate. But if you start inserting lots of links to irrelevant sites that you (or your client) own, you’re asking for nasty Digg comments. Check out Smashing Magazine for other golden rules of linkbaiting.
15. Not doing SMM.
    Social media marketing, i.e., posting to a social news, voting or bookmarking site, is a necessary part of promoting linkbait. Some sites don’t like for you to submit your own articles, so respect that.
16. Not delivering the goods.
    Are you offering quality content? Are you getting angry comments that your linkbait sucks? Maybe it does. This could be due to several reasons:
    1. Promoted in the wrong category of a social media site.
    2. Having a really catchy linkbait title but not delivering what’s promised in the rest of the article.
    3. Having a really catchy title and description on a social media site but doing a poor job in the article.
    4. Poor or no references.
    5. Erroneous “facts”.
    6. Not spell-checking.
    7. Using poor grammar.
17. Not being first to submit.
    It’s a good idea to get someone you trust to submit the article to a social media site. That way, you can control the quality of the title and description. If someone you don’t know does it, they might do a poor job.
18. Not being first to comment.
    This isn’t absolutely necessary, unless you have a very controversial article. In that case, being the first to comment can set the tone for comments to follow. This is a tough issue to describe. You’ll have to judge for yourself.
19. Not hiring an SMM.
    If you plan to do a long-term linkbaiting campaign, you need someone with a lot of friends in their social media profile to do promote your linkbait. That increases the chances of success, if you have a good article. This goes back to #15 above, not doing SMM. Your hired SMM, even if only part-time, should be your primary story submitter. You should, however, change the submitter from time to time.
20. Not enough content balance.
    A blog full of only linkbait might get overwhelming for readers. Use a mix of regular articles and linkbait.
21. Publishing haphazardly.
    Linkbait articles are most effective when you’re publishing them at least once a week.
22. Forgetting to upgrade hosting.
    If you have a budgeting hosting, you’re just asking for trouble. Upgrade before you start publishing linkbait content, especially if you’ve gotten the hang of SMM traffic triggers.
23. Having thin skin.
    The more linkbait you publish and promote, the more likely you’ll get nasty, energy-draining comments, especially on Digg, and sometimes just from stray visitors who feel like making everyone else miserable. I’m not going to expound on the why of it, but if you have thick skin, you’ll get through to the value of social media traffic.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Link building, better blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.