Why Linkbaiting is Nothing New
A year and a half ago, while I was still living in Northern Virginia, the Foo Fighters were scheduled to play at the 9:30 Club in DC. Only a limited number of tickets were for sale. The rest were being given away at various locations on various days throughout the greater metropolitan area.
So one weeknight evening, I dragged my best friend Cathy to a bar in Fairfax in the pursuit of tickets. See, I have this thing for club shows. They're so much better than arena show. And the Foo Fighters are my favorite band of all time. Destiny was calling.
While at the bar waiting for the contest, we met a local Budweiser rep. He promised he could get our name on the list. Not knowing him from Adam, I signed up for the contest anyway. I won the tickets, but it turns out the Bud rep was legitimate.
In fact, his name is Van and Cathy and I hung out with him for a few months after that. He provided a nice supply of beer for one of Cathy's famous parties and got us free tickets to a Gwen Stefani concert about a month later. I couldn't attend that concert due to a family illness, but Cathy went and she bought me a cute tank top from the tour.
What in the world does this story have to do with linkbaiting?
EVERYTHING.
Budweiser sponsored the Foo show. They got a bunch of people out to bars and gave them what they wanted - free tickets to an exclusive show. Notice how I've never forgotten who got me into that concert. Plus, due to Van's generosity and the fact that Bud Light has few carbs, I was drinking Bud Light for months after that.
If you want people to come to your site - give them what they want. Interesting content. Free stuff. They'll remember where it came from, and they'll keep coming back for more.
Linkbaiting is an old marketing tactic simply translated to the internet. I know some bloggers and educational sites may hesitate when it comes to linkbaiting because they want their content to be authentic.
But if you plan to make money from your site, you have to market it. So don't be afraid of linkbait. Embrace it.
How was the Foo Fighters show? Only completely amazing. I wrote a full review on my on-again/off-again personal blog. You can check that out here.
Technorati:
seo, 
linkbaiting
So one weeknight evening, I dragged my best friend Cathy to a bar in Fairfax in the pursuit of tickets. See, I have this thing for club shows. They're so much better than arena show. And the Foo Fighters are my favorite band of all time. Destiny was calling.
While at the bar waiting for the contest, we met a local Budweiser rep. He promised he could get our name on the list. Not knowing him from Adam, I signed up for the contest anyway. I won the tickets, but it turns out the Bud rep was legitimate.
In fact, his name is Van and Cathy and I hung out with him for a few months after that. He provided a nice supply of beer for one of Cathy's famous parties and got us free tickets to a Gwen Stefani concert about a month later. I couldn't attend that concert due to a family illness, but Cathy went and she bought me a cute tank top from the tour.
What in the world does this story have to do with linkbaiting?
EVERYTHING.
Budweiser sponsored the Foo show. They got a bunch of people out to bars and gave them what they wanted - free tickets to an exclusive show. Notice how I've never forgotten who got me into that concert. Plus, due to Van's generosity and the fact that Bud Light has few carbs, I was drinking Bud Light for months after that.
If you want people to come to your site - give them what they want. Interesting content. Free stuff. They'll remember where it came from, and they'll keep coming back for more.
Linkbaiting is an old marketing tactic simply translated to the internet. I know some bloggers and educational sites may hesitate when it comes to linkbaiting because they want their content to be authentic.
But if you plan to make money from your site, you have to market it. So don't be afraid of linkbait. Embrace it.
How was the Foo Fighters show? Only completely amazing. I wrote a full review on my on-again/off-again personal blog. You can check that out here.
Technorati:
seo, linkbaitingLabels: budweiser, foo fighters, link building, linkbaiting, search engine optimization, SEO, social media, social media marketing, social media optimization
