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Linkbait is Boring

January 22, 2008 By Thord Daniel Hedengren 3 Comments

Lure the linkersI’m no master of writing wicked linkbait, getting a thousand crazy linkage, reaching the frontpage of Digg, and so on. In a way, I pride myself with that, because most of this kind of content is downright boring.

Think about it, another 35 ways to do this or that list, do we need that?

At times, absolutely. Smashing Magazine is a proof of that, it’s often a great resource, since they’ve done all your research. Glancing over the content is boring though, as is writing that kind of posts, in my opinion. I guess they like it though, or make a bundle of it.

Top 1500 Free Designer’s Resource From Top 30 Design Pot For You To Use in 2008, now that’s a title, and a wicked list. Linkbait? Dunno, but it might be a good resource.

Linkbait content can be good, there’s no doubt about it, but if you’re writing an obvious linkbait, then try to put a little effort in it to bring something new to the table.

I’m cranky, sure, maybe jealous perhaps (nah…), but I find this kind of content bland and boring. But it works, and some people surely enjoy it.

What do you think about linkbait? Is it getting harder, better, or is it degrading the blogosphere’s content level? And most importantly, do you consciously write linkbait posts?

I wish I were…

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: content, Digg, linkbait, Smashing Magazine

Comments

  1. Ronnie says

    January 22, 2008 at 9:19 am

    I think the main point about writing good linkbait content is to add a little something to it. Like in the case of Smashing Magazine, they do not just list out the links. They picked the popular ones or the really good ones out of a huge pool out there. For every single item on the list, they would usually point out why it is popular and what is good about it.

    I think bloggers usually have a tendency to just list out links and it ends there. For me, I feel it boils down to add person touch and view. Why do you think it is good? How have you used it? How is it relevant to your readers?

  2. Alex Kay says

    January 22, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    Linkbait = Valuable content.

  3. linkbaiting services says

    January 28, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Interesting article!

    We’ve been doing humor hook linkbait on the web since 1995 at Zug.com

    It would be great to get your feedback on the comedy linkbait angle!

    Shelah
    Marketing Assistant
    http://www.zug.com/us/about/link-baiting.html

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