Much as the pundits want you to believe it, linkbait is not all sunshine and roses! There is also a heap of manure at the bottom of that flower bush, helping those roses grow. Linkbait is a great SEO technique – it works in perfectly with what Google wants, and will always want. But it does have a dark side…
Caught by linkbait
Linkbait for its own sake is worthless
Your linkbait content must support your overall internet marketing strategy, or it is almost worthless. The point of creating linkbait content is to get relevant links, pushing your site higher in Google’s estimation, and therefore presenting you earlier in the results when someone searches for your keywords. However:
- If your linkbait content is not relevant to your core business, you will get few ‘qualified leads’ clicking through
- If you encourage sites that aren’t relevant to yours to link to you, the worth of the links in Google’s algorithm is lowered.
So, you can’t just publish a controversial rant about Barack Obama as a linkbait strategy, if your company sells medical diagnostic equipment. You must think within the box!
Fake Linkbait could get you de-listed in Google
The best example is a story published at money.co.uk, titled ‘13 Year Old Steals Dad’s Credit Card to Buy Hookers’. This FAKE story got plenty of links … but it wasn’t made obvious on the page that it was fake. Matt cutts of Google indicated that the company would view that as dishonestly trying to create links (no matter what the writer’s intention), and could be added to the list of things that will get you banned from Google.
Linkbait’s ROI is unpredictable
This is the case with all activities in internet marketing – you must test and refine your techniques over time to be confident of getting a good return on investment. So just be cautious of investing a lot of money in linkbait content, without an *excellent* understanding of what makes the market tick.