Why do people add tools, funny pictures, 101 lists of (something), and other nonsense to their website? Well, despite being fun and enjoyable, they are a valuable resources to attract people to link to your site (aka link bait)

For example - today I was writing an article about finding old, expired domains with a lot of back links. I usually do not link to other sites for no reason but….Without thinking about it, I linked to Yahoo’s Site Explorer to tell people how to find the back links of a domain…. this is one example of how natural links are created.

Believe it or not, you can go from 0 to 1000’s of backlinks in a few months with 0 work. Trust me I have done it before and it works. Any link building that takes work will never be as effective of getting natural links to your website. Remember that JibJab.com political cartoon during the Bush/Kerry election? Do you think they did any SEO link building? I think not. They got all their links because people wanted to link to them.

When I launch a new website, I add 5-6 viral (linkbait) components, in around 3-5 months the sites will naturally rank for the keywords that I want and I never have to go back and update or do anything else to them - these sites are essentially on auto pilot.

Then I will move on to the next site. I will focus on the same thing: quality content, viral components, link bait, etc. and then move on to the other. With this method you can launch 3-5 sites a week and sit back and watch your empire grow!

Successful link baits all have the same similar qualities. If you want people to link to you like crazy, consider doing some (if not all) of these 10 things:

  1. Be appealing - Make people want to come have a look. Perhaps be controversial.
  2. Be focused on a specific topic - Be super specific. The more specific, the better you’ll do.
  3. Be the first to do something - Be a pioneer and you will be rewarded.
  4. Be creative - Be innovative with fresh ideas.
  5. Be timeless - Make content that will still be enjoyable months, years from now.
  6. Be passionate - If your passionate in the content you write, others will make passionate comments (and link to you!)
  7. Start out with a bang - Have the opening sentence or paragraph of your writing really catch the user’s attention.
  8. Make it easy to link to you - Give every piece of content it’s own separate page. Provide a short description for everything. Make your URLs easy to remember. Have social bookmarking links/buttons.
  9. Be investigative - Investigate something in your niche. People like detective work.
  10. Write efficiently - Use simple and clear English. (Don’t be afraid to make bold statements.)