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Is Linkbait Dead?

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The simplest definition of linkbait is a blog post that attracts people’s attention enough to get them to link back to the post. Getting links to a blog post is crucial for SEO.

Generally speaking: more links = better SEO. And better SEO = more traffic.

I’m simplifying, but the basic premise is there. For a more detailed definition you can check out these great posts about linkbaiting.

The truth is: linkbait works best when the content is great. It’s about writing great headlines and valuable content. So I don’t consider linkbait cheesy or inappropriate (although I’ve seen some fairly lame efforts at it.) Most of the time I consider successful linkbait to be about, “writing great content in a very smart way.”

Tad Chef has a great resource post (in and of itself a nice piece of linkbait!) – 45 Link Baiting Resources: Ideas, Techniques, Case Studies & Drawbacks.

I agree with Tad that the terms “linkbait” and “linkbaiting” are not used as much anymore because the concept has become the norm. But what I am curious about is whether linkbait is really relevant anymore? And whether it works as well as it used to?

I’m seeing less and less links to this blog. I suspect others are seeing the same thing. And one of the big reasons is Twitter.

Twitter is where more and more people are sharing the precious resource that bloggers’ crave: links. It’s so much easier to tweet a link than to write a blog post. And bloggers have made it even easier, using things like Tweetmeme to encourage the behavior. But the result is that you get less links from blogs. Tweets with your linkbait link are still valuable – they can drive traffic, buzz, etc. – but they don’t have the same SEO value by any stretch of the imagination.

So if linkbait doesn’t generate as many links as it used to because of Twitter (and I believe Facebook will have more of an impact on this as well), and this is only going to get worse in the future, the question is this:

Is Linkbait Dead?

Maybe we should call it TweetBait? You tell me! And feel free to link over … oh, and tweet too. Much appreciated!

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August 18, 2009 Posted in Blogging by

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  • http://seoroi.com/ Gab Goldenberg

    This is very true, but it's also dependent on the type of linkbait and the market. You and I are involved in internet marketing and tech geekery where Twitter adoption is higher. You can still work less nerdy areas decently.

  • yubacityphotographer

    I agree that this is true and this is a major part of the market.

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  • osurdival

    linkbait is alive and well. You could consider great content as linkbait! Encouraging user to link to your article…

  • makemylink

    No its not dead yet. Linking still helps you to ranking better in search engine and increases your PR and ultimately your traffic.

  • http://www.fix-your-credit-score.com pauly99

    First of all, I really dig your picture. I think that linkbait is just one of the many sources being used right now… and yes, Twitter has played a major part in seeing this practice transformed. So far as SEO goes, I think that people are trying different avenues (ie linkwheel) to bring in traffic.

  • pookie213

    And here I thought Twitter was a good thing,Excellent info ill definitely be using twitter more.Although I believe Link bait is still viable,I agree that we are seeing a decline.

  • pookie213

    And here I thought Twitter could only be a good thing,I agree with your post,although I still think Link bait is viable,its definitely on the decline.

  • CheapFlightstoJamaica

    How about in today's web 2.0 environment, the concept of a linkbait by creating linkwheels with the various social media websites in existence.

  • theatretickets

    Well, you say is “link bait” dead but when doing a search on Google related to link baiting I came across a separate site which then links to here in regards to link baiting. So it's proof in itself really that link baiting is far from dead?

  • lencarifin

    Actually, the SEO system is very god to discus here, till now, i'm still looking for the best solution to make more traffic at my blog, because i sell products, but there's ONLY trusted product and best seller product. I don't want my all customers disappointed cause several general error. You right about facebook make more backlink. It's good to post or write at your wall or your friends wall to make backlink, i have it, add me lencarifin@gmail.com, i also agree linkbait dependent from backlink from high PR websites/blog, correct my explanatin above if i have some error words… :)

  • http://guyro.typepad.com Guy Rosen

    The flip side is that, just like more people Tweet rather than write blog posts, more people are searching for what they need on Twitter. Hence tweetbait serves a purpose. Twitter is far from being the new Google as the go-to place for finding stuff, but search is Twitter's future.

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  • http://www.badcreditnic.com gilbertsoms

    Link Baiting could be considered as a black hat technique which is why most people wouldn’t consider it as a legitimate organic tactic.However link baiting is merely link building with a twist Rather than hunting out links, you are bringing the links to you through unique and popular site content.

  • http://www.joonbug.com/ will

    This is frankly a good thing in my mind. Shady practices that subvert the meritocracy of taste seemed cheap. the more we can judge on content alone, the better.

  • http://chinmow.blog.friendster.com/sitemap/ Chin

    heck no. I think linkbait now is more popular than ever. Only thing is now the standard has gone way higher. The conventional 2005 stuff no longer works. Link-bait with an eye to web2.0 still working.

  • maneeshbhati

    link baiting is merely link building with a twist Rather than hunting out links, you are bringing the links to you through unique and popular site content.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    Chin – Thanks for the comment. Care to elaborate on what you mean by, “Link-bait with an eye to web 2.0″?

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    I think “shady practices” will always exist, and I highly doubt that there's any less shady practices being used now than there was before. Content still rules the day and determines ultimately whether a site is successful or not.

    Will – what do you consider shady?

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    Guy – I agree that search will play a big role in Twitter's future, and therefore having a strong Twitter presence will be important. I suspect we will measure targets for successful content less by its SEO value and more by its Re-Tweet value in the years to come.

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  • http://www.networkmarketingsuccess.ws mlgreen8753

    Absolutely link bate is not dead. Link bate will only be dead when content is dead and that will never happen. Content will continue to fuel advertising that attracts people.

  • http://www.searchenginemarketingltd.com/ online poker

    Absolutely linkbait is not dead and very well. And this article is so encourged every user. Link bait is alive now time in many sources.

  • Anonymous

    i don,t think that link bait is dead, i have a post with a lot of images and people still link to it, the problem i got is that the links are not related to the page subject or keywords and thats is not really usefull for seo

  • Anonymous

    This is all somewhat confusing to me, but thanks for the info!

  • http://www.searchenginemarketingltd.com/ poker

    linkbait! it is powerful source which is used by most. Ya you true that today twitters became more popular but Linking yet useful to rank better in search engine and increase your PR and ultimately your traffic. :)

  • http://www.DigBands.com/emo Emo

    I agree with you. The quality of the post and much interesting topics to your blog will have a great traffic the you wanted. Its a matter of quality content and the quality of promotion.

    Emo

  • uzaysitesi

    This is very true, but it's also dependent on the type of linkbait and the market.Yes…

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  • http://www.bildirir.com/ cevaplar

    How about in today's web 2.0 environment, the concept of a linkbait by creating linkwheels with the various social media websites in existence.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    Linkwheels are definitely interesting. I'd be curious about people's experience with them…any comments from others?

  • http://videosdeyoutube.co.cc/ Videos de Youtube

    LinkBait has translated to social media. The only way to do this

  • http://bestroadsideservice.com/ hanah

    The ease by which links can be shared through Twitter is reducing the number of links going to blog posts. This has to have an impact on linkbaiting, how it's done and why. Maybe linkbaiting should be called TweetBaiting?
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  • http://DCincome.com/blog Web 2.0 Chiropractic Marketing

    I still believe that linkbait is a great way to increase traffic on our website (if done properly), going to twitter.. its obvious that 90% of web owners are taking advantage of this social media “king”, it will be a blast if we done both linkbait and twitter..

  • tile_cleaning_kansas_city

    I think you're right. It seems that people are taking the easier route when linking to your posts. It's 10 times easier to post something on twitter than write it on your blog.

    My guess is that it's still easy for bigger sites to get links back to them, but for the rest of yes it's becoming more difficult. I guess we'll just have to find ways to be creative and work around this problem.

  • unique_gift_ideas

    It does seem as though linkbaiting is becoming a thing of the past. I agree that this is most likely due to the evolution of social media.

  • steveopti

    Building links is still more important for better page rank .. this will help to get better positions in SERP results.

  • bujes

    I think link bait is still alive, but you need something really quality or wird to get links.

    There is too many content all over internet and users think twice before they link to your website. It is better to sell link to spammy content than give it fore free.

  • lolabunny

    AI have a job a a link builder but I'm very new with this…they need no follow places to post the link (it's a tourism/hotel site) I don't know where to start…I tried to make comments in forums, but not spamming…like giving information people may need to their travel plans. That cost me a lot of time, how can I find places with no follow?? This issue is killing me! I'll be sacked if I do 10 links a day!

  • http://www.reliable-hosts.com/ web host directory

    Linkbait has a while left. Just my opinion. Thanks for the post

  • swapmycouncil

    Just like more people Tweet rather than write blog posts, more people are searching for what they need on Twitter.

  • http://guidesportal.blogspot.com/ ari

    yeah, link bait is the good way to make traffic and upgrade blog pagerank.
    (http://guidesportal.blogspot.com)

  • http://lifelessonsblog.net/ Life Lessons

    Nice article, Twitter seemed like a silly fad when I first heard of it but seems to have a lot of value.

  • lenroc

    I agree, link baiting works best when the content is great… and I have seen it raise the PR of blog posts all the time.

  • http://goseoservices.com/online-advertising-services Star Riley

    Twitter does get across to more people with less time as a search engine optimization method linkbait is relevant but micro-blogging appeals to the mass.

    I do both and as a result of your article being valuable to me I will tweet it as I have a following of targeted readers.

  • http://twitter.com/starriley Star Riley

    I really recommend both.

  • https://www.ezsmart.co.uk/ Medical Transcription

    Sorry to tell u ppl….but its true…. the linkbait is DEAD….

  • http://stumblerum.com/blog stumblerum

    Last piece of linkbait I wrote got well over 200 links, and a top 10 ranking for its keyword within 2 days (competition around 5000).

    Link bait is so so so far from dead.

    :)

  • http://stumblerum.com/blog stumblerum

    Of course, that competition figure was 5,000,000 – not 5000.

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About Ben Yoskovitz
I recently joined GoInstant as VP Product. GoInstant changes how we use the web, making it shareable like never before.

I'm also a Founding Partner at Year One Labs, an early stage accelerator in Montreal. Previously I founded Standout Jobs (and sold it). I'm a hands-on startup guy, helping companies grow successfully from the idea forward. You can reach me at byosko at gmail dot com.

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