Google has decided to help out the planet, yet they aren’t making it widely known.Google has created a site called Blackle.com.

Blackle.com is a search engine that is just as powerful as Google, but the entire background is black. The only color on the site is the letters. When the search results are displayed, they are listed just as Google, but without the color.

Listed on the front page of Blackle.com is a running total of Watt hours they’ve saved, or you’ve helped them save, by using Blackle.com.In addition to all the savings, there is also a page you can go onto that will give you a list of things we all can do to same more energy. Not only is Blackle energy conscious, it adds a novelyty to the searching process.

Anyone who wants to add another way to “Go green” and save the enviroment, will appreciate the using such a novelty item beuilt by one of the largest search engine. If your customers are big in the Green revolution, having a link to Blackle. com is a great way to show that you share their beliefs and it just might keep them coming back to you.

Everybody in the search marketing industry knows the value of quality links to your website. Links to your site from other sites boosts traffic (direct and immediate traffic), brand awareness and rankings in search engines.

But do you find it hard to get other bloggers to link to a new weblog? For sure, it is not easy sometimes. Even an established blog needs to expand its traffic and influence on a regular basis; linkbating is one way to do it.

So What is LinkBaiting?

Linkbaiting is the term used to describe interesting content written for the purpose of attracting audience. It is the art of creating content on your site that other sites will link to - naturally.

What are LinkBaiting Techniques I could Use?

Most linkbaiting techniques are particularly good for SEO because the links are non reciprocal and they are generally incoming links with good anchor text. 

Ø            News – Write a genuine Scoop or make a compilation of news, as above, its a resource as well as a hook.

Ø            Resource – Write a “A How To” article based on your niche; You could give other website owners a useful, fun or cool tool that they can use on their blog that points back to your own.

Ø            Contrary - be the only one in your niche to find something to not like about a story, or like about a story/product. Then on the same theme, post “Why <insert the name of the well know webmaster, blogger> is WRONG about”

Ø            Humour – Place a bizarre picture, or you could post “5 things you want to have”, “things I hate,” or “21 thing You Have to Do Before You die”,

Ø            Controversy - controversial posts tend to get strong reactions from those reading your posts. Controversy brings in all kinds of responses. Don’t do it just for the sake of being controversial (unless you have very thick skin!) You could be sued if you make controversies pertaining to a certain person.

Recently, since linkbait causes spikes of traffic to the website which can cause Google to devalue your website.

So is Linkbaiting a GOOD or BAD thing?

Linkbaiting sounds like a bad thing when you don’t know how to properly use it. But if contains interesting information or fun, it doesn’t have to have negative connotations. Consequently, if your content is on topic, relevant to your industry, and useful, you are giving people and search engines exactly what they want; then there is no reason to devalue you site.

Example of a Bad LinkBait

I came upon this new product! I think this product could help you loose weight. . .

Bad linkbaiting happens when people click the link (new product). The landing page is not what they want since it has no content related to loosing weight.

How to Create a Good LinkBait?

First: Research your market and develop content that is relevant to this audience. Chose a title that would immediately appeal to that target market.

Second:  Create a page on the main site that looks like an ordinary article page. Use images where appropriate.

Third: Invite all your friends to check your site. Or have a pre release or post something in forum.  This is the hardest and most laborious part of the linkbait campaign. It can take hours to send out all the individual emails and chat notifications with the link embedded.

Fourth: Be patient and watch the traffic swell.

Example of a Good LinkBait

News Bait:

Brian Clark wrote about this same problem last month in his history of linkbait. It would seem the stigma of “baiting” is somewhat pervasive..

The Google: Evil or Not? site. The site takes RSS feeds that mention Google, lets people vote between Real Good or Real Evil, and adds a graph. It took a little bit of work, but probably not a ton…

What must I observe in linkbaiting?

Don’t be obsessive with any one kind of traffic. You run the risk of building a one dimensional blog. Some are obsess about generating incoming links to the point where it begins to destroy their blog. They end up forgetting about the readers they currently have and let other elements of their blog slip. Ending up devaluing your site.

There are many tricks to improve your rankings within a search engine. We all can look these up on the internet. What you may not realize is the most popular words can also lower your rank as much as raise it. Here are some tricks that have worked in the past but may now lower your ranking.

1. Use of the word “sex”
2. Hidden Hyperlinks- links which are the same color as the background
3. Fake links- some sites put links on unrelated areas to increase traffic. Irrelevant links lower your rankings.

Lowers rank

1. Time it takes to load your page
2. Lack of browser capabilities
3. Excessive Javascript and/or text in flash
4. Lack of tags to keywords
5. Unrelated content in your site
6. Repeating content, be original

Raises Rank

1. Using your keywords in your articles with the right dispersion percent
2. Multiple link levels, using 1 link for 20 pages is frowned upon in the SEO community
3. Visibility, use referral links to other sites with similar content
4. Knowing the competition, look for the original angle that your competitors have not used. They use keywords too. Find a different way to use them.

You can judge your ranking ability by how Google ranks you. They are tough and they are always raising their standards. Once you’re on top keep watch.

Trends come and go as easy as the weather. A popular trend right now is using Analytics. Analytics are tracking sites which help you analyze your web pages. An analytic provider is an interactive way to engage your customers in a painless survey. Most importantly analytics lets you unearth what trends and preferences your patron’s desire.

Benefits of using analytics include fast and flexible ways to use your reported data. With this site you will be able to see how your sites are doing. What time of day you are getting the most hits. Available graphs let you track your progress over different periods. Available time tables include the overall performance, day to day performance, weekly and monthly performances. All the information you will need for improvement right at your fingertips.

The automatic calculations reduce the time needed to administer the site significantly. Analytics allow you to judge which of your sites if performing the best. Analytic providers include; Google, Amazon, WebTrends, and Ebay. This fast and easy method is worth the time to set it up. And the set up time is minimal. Less than an hour depending on how many sites you add. Analytic providers are an asset.

Viral Marketing: The Infection
Viral marketing is a way marketers can take advantage of pre-existing social networks to get a message out there using self-replicating viral processes which are very similar to the process a physical virus or computer virus would spread; it is like the plague online.

Viral marketing is a low cost compared to something like direct mail, and the excellent targeting and great response rates. The strongest point when marketing virally is the ability to reach tons of interested people for next to nothing out of pocket. It is a fantastic alternative to this classic method while avoiding spam mail; by encouraging your readers to spread the word for you in a positive way.

6 Ways of Infection

1. You can carry out your viral marketing campaign by creating e-books, reports or articles and distribute them to targeted recipients, giving them for free.
2. Offer high quality products that spread your marketing message. Write well-researched reports and e-books on your niche and add your URL on these reports. Bear in mind that many people like getting free reports and e-books. These e-books will provide very powerful information on your topic, and people who read them will visit your website. Further distribution of your reports and e-book will result in more traffic to your website as well as increased awareness of your business or brand.
3. You can also offer a free service or product on your web site that spreads your message to an increasing number of people who hear about it. Send out news releases concerning the free service or product available on your site. This in turn will generate huge volumes of traffic to your website.
4. Setting up an affiliate program that encourages links to your products can also be helpful. If you can afford it, provide attractive financial incentive for other sites to pass on your marketing message. You can also install a ‘Recommend it” referral system on your website so that other internet marketers will pass on your website address to their lists. By having your own affiliates promoting your website, you drive a lot of traffic to your website.
5. Use traffic exchange programs where you exchange website links with other internet marketers. When you add your website link to another site, some people may be interested in it, and they may bookmark it or pass it on to other people who may be interested in your niche.
6. Write good quality articles and encourage other webmasters to post them for free as content on their sites. If you’re an expert in a niche, write an article on that niche and give it away for free to complementary sites to post on their site as free content. Write high quality articles and distribute them online for free with reprinting rights. More directories, newsletters and e-zines will publish your article with your resource box and URL. With little effort, your URL will be distributed all over the internet, and this will lead to a huge flow of traffic to your website.

Use the power of viral marketing to spread your marketing message all over the internet and drive high volumes of traffic to your website.