Many marketers subscribe to a vague idea that “linkbait” is something to be avoided. Said the young male  owner of a wildly popular blog recently:  “What’s `linkbai’t? I always get it mixed up with `jailbait’. I end up imagining a hottie in a skimpy tank top.”

The disreputable air around the term ‘linkbait’ is illustrated even though he was obviously trying to be funny during a lively conversation. The practice of deliberately placing inflammatory writing on a blog which is specifically designed to create a firestorm of comments and backlinks is referred to as ‘linkbaiting’ so you can imagine why it is demonized by some.

But hold on… Isn’t that every blogger’s dream?

It may be but it still boils down to one important thing which is relevancy. This is the intangible but very real characteristic which separates good blogs with a solid reputation from the rest.

The sentiment on linkbait is not strictly black or white but has many shades of grey. Just like the Toronto Suns Sunshine girl is featured to attract a predominantly male reader demographic, some documents and blog posts are aimed at a particular audience.

Linkbait is nothing more or less than written content that attracts a buzz, comments and, above all, links.   Whether or not linkbait is good or bad, shady or perfectly ethical depends on two things:

1. The main purpose and intent of the blog
2. The target of the linkbait post and the submitter’s intent

A lot of linking is associated with these types of posts and content: Opinion pieces which take the opposite view of popular or universal subject; Guides that are definitive and filled with high value content; Submittals that are of the “exposure” type; Inflammatory pieces intended to defame an organization or person; titillating dishonest pieces designed to grab links and provocative sexual content.

Two definitions of ‘linkbait’ which are obviously not bad things are definitive guides and controversial opinions. Intelligent controversy not only stops people from becoming complacent but is also guaranteed because of the right to free speech in America. The definitive and high value content in guides is reason enough for this type to deserve links.

A controversial piece is only as praisworthy as the motives of the poster. If it is untrue and there to strictly create links it will quickly fall out of favor.

“Exposure” type pieces are sure-fire “bait”, as well as negative in focus. While this usually attracts passionate reader interest, both pro and con, it’s a risky maneuver; one which can result in a sharp loss of subscribers after the initial reader obsession… Or, possibly, a lawsuit.

As far as contoversial pieces  go inflammatory posts are on the lowest rung of the ladder. No matter how you feel about them, if you have ever read tabloid headlines then you should be familiar with this technique. And provocative sexual content seems to make page ranks plummet.

There is a point to all of this and that is, that yielding to the shadier temptations associated with “linkbaiting” is playing with fire. The online world is changing fast and furiously and only one strategy will still draw a steady stream of reliable back links in the long run…

Personnally written, original high value content.

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