Links are a vital element of a good SEO campaign. They are the essential nutrients that will help your site’s growth in search engine ranking. They are also cursedly hard to obtain.

A lot of businesses have cottoned on to the fact that links don’t grow themselves. This has led to a focus on link-attractive content, referred to by a section of the internet world as ‘linkbait’ or other names. Viral campaigns have grown from this concept. This approach to linking is attractive because it can happen within your site, and can easily be worked into your search engine optimisation campaign.

While creating content to draw in links sounds a lot easier than going out and netting links, it has its own problems. Because a lot of companies have begun to use the tactic, the competition for links is strong. Internet users are very aware of the value of their links and often want something in return, whether it is a sense of community or reciprocating links. Also, not all links are of equal value to your site. Getting your content linked to at all can be a difficult task. Getting it linked by the right people is much harder.

There are things you can do to improve your chances when it comes to linking. Not all should be used on every piece of content

1. Be likeable. This is an obvious thing, but strangely hard to attain. Before you worry about the overarching problem of getting others to pick up your content, think about your basic approachability. If your business habit is to be austere and remote, it’s going to be a bit of work to sell a humourous piece of content.

2. Be topical. A lot of bloggers advise businesses to go for controversy in their content to attract attention. This is fine for an individual blogger, who often doesn’t have to worry about anything more than their site’s reputation in a debate. When it comes to a business, being the centre of controversy is not always what you want. Sometimes, however, having a definite opinion is enough to attract attention in a world where a lot of businesses sit on the fence. Your site can express opinions without disrespecting those of others.

3. Be formattable. Make your content as easy to pick up as possible. Although the content should be aesthetically pleasing to your site’s users, it should also be easily downloadable. Placing social bookmarking buttons within your content can also be helpful.

4. Be specific. People like reading and viewing information that features easily digestible facts. When you are specific, you also lend your content a tone of authority. For example, ‘83% of office workers enjoy numbered lists’ sounds better than ‘almost all office workers love numbered lists.’ Of course, in being specific, you should also research well, instead of simply making up a number.

5. Be pretty. Nobody likes cluttered content. Polish off your content with some quality design and images wherever you can.

It can be of immense value to get a professional on board when creating content specifically to attract links. If you are interested in content to boost your site’s links, talk to our expert consultants at SEO Consult.

Get Involved