What is Linkbait?

Linkbait is online content that people can't resist linking to since it's so helpful.



Linkbait is content that people link to from their own websites because of the content’s high quality. The idea is that promoting your content will take less work if it sells itself. Examples of linkbait include:

The benefit of having content that is highly linkable is that you enjoy the benefits of link building without convincing people to link to your content. They simply want to.

In the eyes of search engines, links are votes indicating quality. These types of ranking factors help search engines known how high to show content in search results.

Linkbait vs. Clickbait

The terms linkbait and clickbait are sometimes used interchangeably, so context can be important.

Technically, linkbait is content people want to link to whereas clickbait is content that people want to click on. Content can be both highly clickable and highly linkable, in which case it would be both linkbait and clickbait.

The term clickbait carries a negative connotation, and it’s often used to describe content that is light and entertaining. Buzzfeed.com is the ultimate example of clickbait with article titles including:

  •  What Does Your Choice Of M&M Color Say About You?
  • Can You Solve This Puzzle For 6-Year-Olds In 20 Seconds?
  • These 11 DadBods Are Too Hot To Handle

Linkbait can similarly be a pejorative term, but generally less so, since linking is a greater sign of quality than clicking.

Linkbait Resources

Linkbait Experts

Synonyms

  • Viral Content
  • Quality Content
  • Epic Content
  • Awesome Content
  • Great Content