Coming into the New Year, I resolved not to use the term “linkbait” any longer. Linkbait is simply compelling content that’s remarkable, and in social media the remark is mostly made via the link. Compelling content is simply compelling content, right?
However, not only has the term not gone away, it’s gaining strength. For example, we have this and this and this and this, and also this and this thus far in the first 24 days of 2007.
If you’re still not sure what I’m talking about, read this.
What’s more, there’s an entire service sector that’s come to life in this area, which of course was inevitable. The pioneers are from the search engine optimization field, because web sites without links are basically invisible to search engines. But let’s face it—without links, you’re invisible everywhere else, too.
So, link attraction is crucial. But is “linkbaiting” bad branding for an important skill? I prefer to call what I do viral copywriting, but linkbaiting goes well beyond the written word and can include blog themes, widgets and web applications.
It may be too late to change the tide, but let’s take a vote anyway. Let the people speak.
Leave a comment to this post with either:
- Yes, I think the term linkbaiting is OK; or
- No, I think the term linkbaiting is bad.
I’ll leave the comments open until 5:00 pm CST this Friday, January 26, 2007.
At that point we’ll count up the votes and see what we’ve got.
P.S. In all fairness, it can’t be only Copyblogger readers who make this determination. So, I would encourage each of you to link to this post from your own blog, and give all of your readers a chance to chime in. It’s only fair.
P.P.S. That’s right, I have absolutely no shame. ;)
