The primary purpose behind linkbaiting is self evident: you are trying to capture more links for the sake of exposure. But what are the other reasons? As a basic marketing strategy, there are several other primary purposes behind using linkbaiting to bring in traffic for your site. Each one is a way of building on the original purpose, and when you keep them all in mind you will be able to create better content for the sake of backlinks. If you don’t keep them all in mind, you will lose several key resources, which means wasted time, and lost profits.

Establish a Base Audience

There is nothing so precious to a webmaster or company than having a group of people dedicated to their website/product. Not only will this ensure a group of regular visitors, but it will lead to users spreading the word about you. They will tell friends, create links, and provide a crucial network beyond that of which is provided by affiliates and standard marketing.

Some examples of this are websites that are notorious because of the users themselves, rather than by the site content, like 4chan. The content is provided by the users, and then word of mouth is extreme despite a lack of advertising. While you will likely not be looking to create a replication of this kind of message board, you can follow its’ example by creating a loyal fan base that will spread your reaches across the Internet.

Branding

Always one of the number one rules of business, establishing a brand is a necessity online. But many marketers fail to realize the potential of putting this into the context of linkbaiting. It is all about creating a reputation, and giving something recognizable as your own. This does not have to be dedicated to a product line. Instead, look at some of the examples that YouTube provides.

How often have you watched an amusing or informative video that provided a direct link to a website as it’s originating source? Over time you can continue creating videos that become popular under that banned, and will eventually lead the person to the website. They will be recognizable as coming from that site, and from that YouTube channel. You have just created a brand, and made yourself unmistakable to the public.

Develop an Indisputable Reputation

Along the same line of thinking, you can use backlinking as a means of enhancing the credibility of your word, as well as the word of your site. Plenty of marketers have been able to take advantage of linkbait as a means of becoming an authority on a subject. This leads us back to quality of content, as without it you will end up with the opposite effect. No one likes reading filler posts that have been created specifically for linkbaiting.

Creating Fresh Traffic

While targeting a reoccurring fan base is a tried and true method of gaining exposure, using linkbaiting to attract fresh traffic is the best way to gain profits. But this isn’t always easy, as once a linkbaiting campaign has been sucked dry those numbers will drop sharply. That is why new content has to be regularly rotated, and new sources have to be found. You should never go to the same well too often, or you will be left with nothing.

Instead, rotate where you host content, along with what that content is, in order to attract views without appearing to be blatantly advertising. I would recommend writing up intervals, and keeping a few weeks between posting on certain sites. Make sure to take advantage of those that are easily shared, like Digg, but stay away from constantly posting on article sites, like EzineArticles.

Offering Traffic Without Relying On Clicks

There is always a chance that visitors to your site will click on advertisements, especially if they are directly related to the service you offer. However, they probably won’t, as we all know from our own experience as consumers that buy from online sources. That is why you should never rely on pay-per-click to bring in profits. The point of linkbaiting is not to get your traffic to view other offers by affiliates or other people, they are to dedicate them to you.

Related posts:

• Viral Marketing & Link Bait Basics: Part VIII There is a general type of linkbaiting method that is...
• Viral Marketing & Link Bait Basics: Part VI Today I would like to talk about using linkbaiting as...
• Viral Marketing & Link Bait Basics: Part X We have reached the end of our series, and today...
• Viral Marketing & Link Bait Basics: Part IX Last week, we spoke about the use of certain types...
• Viral Marketing & Link Bait Basics: Part VII As you continue on the round to successful link baiting...

Tags: base audience, branding, Marketing, viral marketing

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 7:58 pm and is filed under SEO News and Analysis. 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.