Fill the Need: 5 Steps to Successful Linkbait

guest post by James Ged

It's been almost a year since Google's Panda update hit, and we're all still reeling a little. Although I work as an SEO strategist at a great marketing firm, I also work with a number of other companies during my free time, and I've seen many of them stop and retool their SEO strategy over the past year because they've seen their rankings (or the rankings of their clients) drop. Basically, Panda was a huge wakeup call to all those SEOs out there who were still relying on article spinning and keyword stuffing as a way to get good rankings.

Now the focus is on creating top-notch content, which often times means linkbait. The theory is that if you can make awesome content - articles, graphics, videos, and more - people will naturally link to you, and that's what Google likes to see: nice, natural link profiles.

Formulaic Linkbait

Unfortunately, many SEOs are approaching linkbait in the same way they were approaching article spinning. For example, they've figured out that great linkbait articles are usually 800 words or more, in list format, with pictures for each heading. So they commission 100 writers to write 100 articles with those vague parameters.

Seriously, in my freelance work, I've gotten plenty of requests for content with instructions similar to, "Write an article about car repair (800 words minimum). Must be in list format and contain at least 5 list items. Must provide a picture for each list item." And no other directions. Way to go guys, you have your formula dialed in, but I doubt you'll get much actual traction out of those articles.

Although these formulaic approaches can generate a lot of content quickly, the content is worthless unless you can get links to it. And in order to do that you have to build relationships and, frankly, be awesome.

I'm guessing that the firms looking for formulaic linkbait aren't thinking being awesome. They're just trying to get the highest ranking possible with as little work as possible. As a result, they're going to waste a lot of time and money, getting very little return. Don't get me wrong, they may get links, but they won't be many and they won't be worth much.

Crafting an Effective Linkbait Strategy

In my experience, there is a way to focus on fewer projects, but reap more links out of them by having a highest success rate. The key to being more effective at your linkbait is to carefully craft the content and outreach strategies to specific sites and bloggers. I follow four steps from my linkbait. And the only times my linkbait fails is when I fail to follow this strategy.

1. Find a Community

I've found that the most successful linkbait has been targeted at very specific communities. Don't just target "sports fans"; target "USC football fans." The more specific community you target, the higher the chance that members of that community will share your content. It also helps to evaluate the community you want to target. Active (bordering on obsessive) communities are the best. For example, before you approach the community to share your linkbait, find out if they are active. Look at twitter trends, tumblr tags, the number of websites devoted to the community, the amount of comments on those websites, and more. You want to target a community that is actively engaging with one another on a regular basis.

2. Find a Need in that Community

Next, do your research. What is that community lacking? Do they need an infographic that shows a correlation between the ages of football players and USC rankings? Look for a resource that the community is in need of and would be useful to a high number of members of that community. Maybe it's a how-to guide, an instructional video, or a downloadable spreadsheet.

3. Do Targeted Outreach

Once you've got an idea to fill a need in the community, talk to members of the community. Contact a handful of top sites within the community and ask them about your idea. Literally ask for their feedback and ideas. I know this sounds like you're giving away your idea. But the fact is that if these site owners had the ability to make this piece of linkbait, they probably would have done it already.

The benefit of sharing your ideas early is that you get members of the community involved at a fundamental  level with your linkbait. They will be much more likely to post it on their site and promote it if they feel like they've taken part in creating it.

4. Fill the Need

Lastly, create the linkbait like a boss. If you've already talked to members of the community and gotten soft commitments to post the linkbait on their site when it's finished, don't take that as permission to throw something together in Microsoft Paint. If you can knock the design and execution of the linkbait out of the park at this point, you'll guarantee success and a high number of awesome links.

A Better Success Rate

In this process, did you notice that you don't even create the linkbait until step 4? Successful linkbait isn't just about making something cool. If you really want to get links you have to build relationships with members of a community and give them something they need.

I realize that this process takes a little more time, but it's also much more successful. In the instance above, I may only target 20 websites. But 18-20 of those sites will post the linkbait. Whereas, if I threw together a formulaic piece of linkbait and sent a spam message to 100 websites, I may get 5-7 to link to it—and they won't be nearly enthusiastic enough to put effort into promoting it themselves.

If you're willing to take the time to research and connect with an online community, and execute your linkbait like a boss, you'll have better success rates every time.

About the author

James Ged is a writer and linkbait strategist at CableTV.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesGed.