Link Bait: Everything You Need to Know

Are you looking to improve your search engine rankings? Getting backlinks from trusted, reliable sources is a fantastic way to show the search engines that your website provides value. 

However, getting those backlinks is often easier said than done. It’s no wonder that over half of marketers say link building is the hardest part of the SEO process! 

You can make getting backlinks a little easier with link baiting. Link bait is content that naturally drives backlinks – content so interesting and helpful that everyone wants to link to it. 

In this article I’ll show you how to implement link baiting on your own website. I’ll also share some examples of link bait I’ve used on my blog and how it delivered results. 

Key Takeaways

• Link bait is high-quality, informative, entertaining content that attracts backlinks from other websites. 

• The main advantage of link bait is that you don’t need to engage in lengthy link outreach campaigns. It also scales easily, meaning you can get several links from one piece of content. 

• Any piece of content can be link bait – as long as it provides value and is engaging. 

• It’s essential to do your research when creating link bait. Understand your target audience and what type of content your competitors publish.  

• Focus on in-depth content that’s full of visuals, offers cited sources, evokes emotions in your readers, and answers their questions. 

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What Is Link Bait And Why Does It Work?
• Link Bait: Examples In Action
  • 1. Why Your Cold Outreach Sucks
  • 2. Complete Guide To Affiliate Marketing
  • 3. Email Marketing Fundamentals
  • 4. Ubersuggest
  • Best Practices For Creating Link Bait
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What Is Link Bait And Why Does It Work?

Link bait is content that is designed to attract backlinks. This could be an infographic, a tool or quiz, opinion piece, or research study – anything that answers people’s questions, evokes emotions, and provides value. 

Here’s an example. In late 2023 The Verge published a 9,000-word feature about the state of search engine optimization (SEO) and what unscrupulous marketers would do to get to the top of the rankings.  

The piece was highly controversial and amassed nearly 6,000 backlinks in its first month of publication. 

Link building is an integral part of the search engine optimization process. Each backlink you get from a trusted website acts as a vote of confidence in your site.  

This shows Google that your site is authoritative and trustworthy, which leads to an improved search engine presence. 

The primary benefit of link bait is that it drives backlinks on its own. There’s no need to implement a link outreach campaign and email people asking them to link to your content. 

The other advantage is that it provides the most returns for the least effort. By creating one well-researched piece of content, you can get tens, hundreds, or even thousands of links. 

Link Bait: Examples In Action

I want to create content that provides readers with lots of helpful information that helps them become better marketers. Many of my articles use link baiting strategies to get visitors’ attention and encourage them to share my content. 

Here are four of my favorite link bait articles and why they work so well for getting backlinks. 

1. Why Your Cold Outreach Sucks

The best link bait elicits a response and evokes emotion in your readers. That’s why I chose this title for this piece of content – it grabs the reader’s attention and compels them to read on. 

As a result, this article has nearly 300 backlinks. 

While you want to get a reaction out of your readers, it’s important not to fall too far into clickbait territory. Overly sensationalist and misleading content or content that doesn’t solve your visitors’ problems will lead them to leave your page.  

It may also result in a Google penalty, meaning fewer people see your content. 

Another thing that makes this article an excellent example of link bait is the use of images. High-quality, professional images make the article more appealing, leading to more shares.  

2. Complete Guide To Affiliate Marketing

To create a good link bait article, you need to understand what your target audience wants to read.  

I always carry out detailed research before writing content, and the key thing my readers wanted to know about in this instance was how to get started in affiliate marketing. 

I used social media to ask my readers what questions they wanted me to answer, and I wrote this comprehensive article in response. Doing the research before getting started meant I could create content that was highly engaging and provided readers with reliable, credible advice. 

As a result, this article has over 19,000 backlinks and is gaining new backlinks even today. 

I also linked to many external sources in this article, like online courses and e-books. While this provides additional value to readers, it also offers additional backlinking opportunities.  

The benefit of providing a backlink to other websites is that these sites are likely to reciprocate by linking back to you. 

3. Email Marketing Fundamentals

Detailed, comprehensive articles that take people through how to carry out a task from start to finish are great for link baiting. In my experience, long-form content typically gets more backlinks than short-form content, as it provides more insight. 

My guide to email marketing fundamentals covers a lot of topics, including the benefits of email marketing, the terminology you need to know, and the metrics you need to monitor. I also refresh the article regularly to keep up to date with new trends and changes to regulations, ensuring it’s always accurate and up to date. 

As a result, it has received over 24,500 backlinks since I published it. 

This article also contains a lot of data from credible sources. This shows that the content is well-researched and authoritative, meaning people are more willing to share it on their own websites. 

4. Ubersuggest

All of the articles we’ve looked at so far have got impressive results when it comes to backlinks. However, my SEO tool Ubersuggest has over five million backlinks, which is absolutely amazing and provides a sure-fire boost in the search engine results! 

Why does Ubersuggest have so many backlinks?  

It provides an effective, actionable solution to a common problem people have – in this case, how to improve their SEO. The copy is lively, data-driven, and directly tells readers how Ubersuggest can make them better marketers. 

It also helps that there is a free plan and a lifetime plan available. Over half of marketers have seen their budgets reduced over the past year. As a result, I often see Ubersuggest frequently featured in roundups promoting low-cost and no-cost marketing tools. 

Best Practices For Creating Link Bait

Together we’ve looked at some ways you can create compelling, impactful link bait content.  

Here are a few more tips for building content people want to link to: 

• See what your competitors are doing. Before you create your content, look at what link bait they’re publishing and the number of links they’re getting. You can do this with a backlink checker like Ubersuggest’s Backlinks Opportunity tool. 

• Create unique content. When you stand out, you’re more likely to get those all-important backlinks. Share a different perspective on a common issue or provide exclusive content nobody else can offer.  

• Focus on evergreen content. While you can write successful link bait about trending issues, demand for this type of content fades far more quickly. Timeless evergreen content stays relevant for longer, meaning you see more benefits. 

• Be clever with your internal linking. Adding internal links to your link bait content can pass “link juice” onto these pages, giving them a small SEO boost. 

• Check your metrics. Regularly review your link bait to see how many backlinks you’re getting – I recommend doing this at least once a month. If you’re not seeing as many links as anticipated, refreshing or adding new content can help. 

• Don’t forget to promote your content. Advertising your link bait ensures the right people find it. Use social media, email marketing, and even pay-per-click (PPC) marketing to spread the word. 

FAQs

What is Link Bait?

Link bait is content specifically created to attract links from other websites. This can help improve your search engine rankings. 

What are Backlinks and Why Are They Important?

Backlinks are links from one website to another. Backlinks tell the search engines that your content is trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative.  

Getting links from high-quality, relevant sites increases your domain authority, making you more likely to rank high in search engine results. 

What are the Benefits of Link Baiting?

Link baiting means you improve your search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site – without relying on difficult outreach campaigns. 

It also means improved brand awareness and that people see you as a voice of experience in your industry. 

Conclusion

Link baiting is a great way to get backlinks for your website. Identify the problems your customers have and create content that helps them out. 

Let me leave you with one final tip for creating link bait that gets the right results. Regularly update your content to make sure it still provides value.  

Refresh the data sources you link to. Add new information that your viewers will appreciate. Interview industry leaders and add their thoughts to your content. This will show your readers, as well as the search engines, that your link bait is accurate and up to date. 

Follow this guidance, and you’re set to create link bait that your readers can’t get enough of.