If you’ve had your website for any length of time, you are aware that the strategies for search engine optimization are ever-evolving. There is a fierce level of competitiveness in current Internet marketing, meaning traditional methods of getting your site to the top ranking may get stomped on, on any given day. Creativity is crucial, and combining this with varied strategies may possibly offer the only real hope for even the most seasoned website optimizers. So, when building your linking strategies, remember to think out of the box then take the appropriate action to ensure that creative thinking comes to fruition.

Link Bait

Having absolutely nothing to do with catching the biggest trout, link bait is a technique which focuses on content creation, and can come in such forms as video, blog entries, articles, blog postings, pictures or info-graphics. While some experts believe link bait to be a specific technique, others believe it’s a by-product of consistently producing quality content on your site. Link bait occurs when a piece of content is placed on a web page which has been designed for the specific purpose of gathering links from the maximum amount of sources—in other word the specific item is, in effect, the “bait” for attracting large numbers of visitors.

You’ve heard of sites or photos or videos going “viral,” and one extremely interesting page on your site can bring you a huge number of links once someone notices the page, shares the link, etc. Therefore, in theory at least, if you can write great content and submit it to the sites which will get it noticed, then hopefully for you the result is greatly increased traffic. Do a thorough research of your chosen topic and search for other sites which you think will be interested to share your content. Successful link bait will be content written with the intent to educate, it will be relevant and focused, and it will greatly exceed the expectations of your readers.

What is Widget Bait?

A widget is essentially a simple feature which can be added to websites and blogs by copying a snippet of code from one page and pasting into your own. One of the original widgets was the page view counters seen on eBay auctions. Generally speaking a widget will offer the user a specific function to the page it is imbedded in. Because inbound links are so incredibly important in the overall SEO wars, some sites have begun to use widget “bait” in an attempt to increase backlinks. The site develops and distributes widgets which include a link as part of the code you copy and paste.

Once you’ve added the widget, you are either knowingly or unknowingly linking out to the site which distributes the widget. Obviously there is abuse potential here, and, predictably, some are using extreme black hat widget bait. If the link is clearly visible, relevant to the site it links to, points to the page that provided the widget, is a single link rather than many and the anchor text is the name of the site being linked to, then you are safely in the white hat zone. If any or all of those things are not true, beware as Google could penalize you for what they consider unethical linking.

Do You Have Link Magnetism?

If your link campaign focuses on triggering both the emotions and the needs of your target audience through offering incentives as a method of gaining links, then you are engaging in link magnetism. If your goal is to become a link magnet, you must not only be extremely creative, but must clearly identify a problem in your niche, then develop a solution which is then offered as a “prize” to those to link to you. Like widget bait, there is the potential for misuse, so be careful when using this technique.

These three advanced link building strategies are really only the tip of the iceberg, however it can greatly benefit your site to try several new methods in order to see what works the best for your particular site.