A few months ago, I was working late at the office. Earlier that day, I was consulting with a client and brainstorming how to build natural links to their real estate Web site. Now I always try to practice what I preach, so I later started doing some brainstorming of my own. What could I do to create "linkbait" to my my company Web site?
Link Bait? You Evil Doer!
Now, before everyone starts screaming about tricking people and "gaming the system" let’s accurately define what linkbait is. Some people think the term "Link Bait" means tricking people to click a link or some type of "bait and switch" technique. The reality is that "Link Bait” isn't a negative thing at all. Matt Cutts, a guru that works at Google, defines link bait as anything "interesting enough to catch people's attention."
Back to the Story
So now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to the story. I started brainstorming a few different ideas to create some "buzz." Not making much progress, I went to the fridge to grab some liquid caffeine. Before I opened the fridge door, I noticed that someone had used the magnetic words on the fridge door to write some crazy sentence. I had a quick laugh and then the light bulb went off. What if there was a website with real estate related words that allowed people to create their own "refrigerator poetry?" Okay, looking back, I realize that it’s a pretty pointless idea. But, at the time, I thought I was on to something. I figured I could make it social by having the website continually update. In other words, multiple people could watch others move the words around and collaborate on these sentences. I went back to my computer and started building "The Real Estate Fridge." (I still can't believe I thought this was actually a good idea!)
The next day I took a fresh look at my new linkbait and realized that this was not the "next big thing." So what went wrong? Why didn’t "The Fridge" measure up?
Well, linkbait typically has a few common characteristics, and, unfortunately, I was missing some key ingredients. So, what is the magic formula that can get people buzzing about your linkbait? While there are no hard and fast rules for good link bait, there are some attributes that most link worthy pages possess. Let’s look at a few…
What Makes Good Linkbait?
Viral
Good Link bait shouldn't need much advertising. It should be so viral that it quickly spreads throughout the internet. After all, if people are not willing to tell others about it, then there’s little chance that people will link to it. Need an example? The guys over at 1,000 Watt Consulting have really perfected the viral aspect of their linkbaits. Their recent "I am not a lead" video is definitely viral.
Social
Most link bait contains some type of social aspect to it. In other words, it's something that connects people with other people. As much as I hate to admit it, the "Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World" contest is quite a good example of link bait that contains a social aspect! It quickly gets others involved and the competitive nature of people take over.
This is one aspect where the Real Estate Fridge had potential. The collaboration aspect where others can help create weird or funny "poetry" and actually watch the pieces move can be pretty entertaining. That is, if enough people were on the site at the same time.
Unique and Original
It seems to always happen. One person comes up with a really good idea and, the next thing you know, dozens of others try to copy that exact idea. These copycats don't realize that the original was, well, "original" and it’s that originality that makes it successful. Here is a perfect example. Some of you may remember The Million Dollar Home Page. It was a page put together by a then 21-year-old student in hopes of paying for his tuition to the University of Nottingham. The website received huge press. Of course, once the word got out, there were dozens of copycat sites trying to capitalize off the original's success. Heck, you could even buy the Million Dollar Home Page script and have a pixel selling site of your own within minutes. What these copycats didn’t realize is that the freshness of the idea is what made the first so successful.
Where Are They Now?
So where are these copycat sites now? Let's look at two clones that went after the real estate niche.
www.pickyourrealestateagent.com - once made national headlines but is now nothing more than a parked GoDaddy Homepage.
www.bestrealestatebusinesses.com - given the fact that the home page shows a long list of errors instead of the website - my guess is that this site is pretty much defunct.
Simple
While this isn't always the case, sometimes the most effective forms of LinkBait are simple in nature. Again, 1,000 Watt Consulting comes to mind. They created a simple page entitled Real Estate Web 2.0. It’s basically just a single page that lists a number of real estate websites that are taking advantage of "2.0" technology. It probably took them an hour to create. It’s one of those "why didn’t I think of that!" pages - simple but effective. I myself have referred to this page on more than one occasion to keep "in the know" of new real estate sites. That leads me to the next criteria.
Valuable
In the last example of the Real Estate Web 2.0 page, you noticed that I said I continually refer to the page. In other words, it’s a valuable resource – a resource worthy of linking to and telling others about (see viral above). This is where my real estate poetry idea fell way short. Watching people move magnetic pieces around on a virtual fridge isn’t very valuable!
Obviously, not every form of link bait is going to fit all of these criteria. And some of these factors are more important than others. But, the take away is this - It doesn’t have to be time consuming or difficult to be effective. Often, the simplest ideas attract the most link juice.
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Brad - I checked out the real estate fridge - just a little more work - you will have something there! LOL