Linkbaiting - a term not everyone likes - is one facet of link building. There are several types of linkbait articles (lists, resources, tools, etc.), but all serve to improve your website.

With list-style linkbait, aka listbait, readers get some valuable (or fun) information and you might, if you bait well, induce some links back to your website. These links come from other bloggers who enjoyed your listbait. Here are seven elements of a good linkbait.

1. Scannable structure.
   Listbaits should be easy to scan. This makes information easy to absorb. They can be fun or informative or both, and are influenced by two main sources:
   1. Magazine list articles (25 Easy Barbeque Recipes, 12 Ways to Please Your Boss).
   2. David Letterman’s Top 10 lists.
2. Catchy title.
   A good title has to descriptive yet brief, and has to tell the potential reader the benefit. Instead of saying more, I’ll refer you to a master of titles/ headlines.
3. Brief intro.
   Lead into your list with a brief introductory paragraph that summarizes what the article offers. Visually speaking, the intro should take up less vertical space on the web page than the list.
4. Numbered bullets.
   Listbaits are lists, plain and simple. Make it convenient for your readers by numbering your list’s bullet items.
5. Subheading.
   Each bulllet should have a bolded word or phrase summarizing the bullet. The full effect is a list that is easy to scan and absorb.
6. Summary.
   Follow up your bullet list with a summary paragraph to wrap up the article. You can do any number of things with a summary:
   1. Remind the reader what the article was about.
   2. Point out anything missing.
   3. Offer references to additional reading.
7. References.
   Without hyperlinked references, all you have is a list. When possible, try to link to a relevant article for each bullet item in your list. Link to both your archived articles as well as articles at other websites and weblogs. Doing so serves multiple purposes:
   1. Tells the reader, even just subconsciously, that you took the time to find supporting articles for them to look over, should they wish to. If they’re bloggers, that might earn you a link back from them. On social media sites, good links in a listbait improve your chances of being voted up.
   2. Increases the chances that the authors of the articles you linked to will link back to you.
   3. Increases the chances that a search engine’s ranking algorithm will attribute a higher rank to your article because you have linked to relevant articles.

There is of course more to linkbaiting than just these seven elements, including using writing hooks, offering truly valuable information, promoting your articles and more. But you can start practicing with these seven elements.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at 7:30 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 leave a response, or trackback from your own site.