TopRank Online Marketing
Thomas McMahon

Session : Link Baiting & Viral Search Success

Comments | Posted by Thomas McMahon on Dec 6th, 2006 in Online Marketing, Search Engine Strategies, Social Media, Viral Marketing

Sitting in on the link baiting session the presenters made it sound so easy. Rand talked about how, on average, a front page Digg post or exposure on Techcrunch can get you 2000 new inbound links. That’s an astronomical amount of links and the good thing is, everyone can can do it. Here are some things to consider.

  • If trying to build link bait, brainstorm, research and find a good, unique idea.
  • Design matters. Use that Web 2.0 look.
  • Self submission is ok, but only submit what others will think is good. Not everything.
  • Get connected with others in your industry and possible top posters at Digg.
  • The social sites do watch IPs so don’t try to spam them or trick them.
  • Know that your site can handle the excessive amount of traffic when it comes.
  • Subscribe to Digg feeds and other ‘buzz’ sites to see what’s popular and how titles are formatted.
  • Write interesting and eye catching titles.
  • Manage your buzz.
  • Watch comments, blog posts and other coverage you may get. Respond to blog posts and comments.
  • Track your success with Technorati, analytics and overall search exposure.
  • Leverage competition buzz. If they do something bad, say how your company does it good.
  • Turn bad buzz into good buzz with a good spin on the story.
  • Manage your page effectively so that people can link to your content and don’t get diverted to places like YouTube. You don’t want to miss out on the links.
  • CGM is fastest growing media today.
  • Play off others egos.
  • Comment on other blogs to help build your repetition.
  • Viral can blow away marketing campaigns.
  • Have tough skin because there may be those that do nothing but complain.
  • Contests are good, but you can do a lot without giving something physical away. People like links too.
  • Give related bloggers free software, products and demos to see if they’ll review them.
  • Invite only ideas, like Gmail was, builds a lot of buzz.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if your link bait is well planned out or just accidentally created. Anyone in any industry can create it, but you also have to remember to track and manage it so that it says positive and helps increase your brand.

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  • Looking forward to seeing the results of Rand's study. BTW - they also mentioned at the conference that even if you think you have the perfect content (even a great contest), the odds are it still won't hit the big time. You have to keep trying it on a consistant basis.
  • Trade - The Web 2.0 look is important if you are creating a service site like Digg or some online tool. Just make sure it's pretty.

    Rhea - Contests are on the wire. I think that people really like free stuff as long as they don't have to give personal info.
  • Great summary, thank you! Something interesting I noticed that differed with the speakers was enthusiasm over contests. Some said they were a huge success others said it was a waste of time. What's your take?
  • So how important is that Web 2.0 look really?

    If people come to your site after a Digg they're not going to be put off by the design if the link bait is really that hot. (I'm assuming a good design that isn't Web 2.0 btw).
  • Rand (SEOMoz) will be releasing a study in the upcoming weeks. Keep an eye out for that all all the data that they collected.
  • Joe
    wow, 2000 new inbound links!! That's certainly food for thought. I must tray a little harder and be a bit more orginal I guess! hmmm...
  • Nice recap Lee!
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