But can they do it consistently?

Rule One: The Hook

The appeal of a good link bait article isn’t what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it and what you’re saying it about. Yes, it has to be factual (usually), and it has to be well written (always), but most importantly, it has to be appealing and engaging. The most important thing is to hook your reader with the concept of your article first. A cursory glance at one of the more popular social link-sharing sites has an article on the front page lauding the “Greatest Fake Bad-Asses in Music.”

In the grand scheme of things the topic of this article and its information is unimportant, insignificant, and completely subjective. It is based on circumstantial evidence and observational humor. Here’s the thing, though: it’s not the New York Times, it’s the internet. The concept article is catchy: I like music, I like bad-asses, and I want to seem like a bad-ass. Would I rather spend five minutes scanning an article about how I may fake being a bad-ass or spend those five minutes collating the data in my .xls spreadsheet for this afternoon’s meeting? In other words, I’ve been hooked.

Rule Two: The Line

Unlike the bottom line, or the pickup line, this concept keeps with the ‘fishing’ analogy in the sense that if you don’t have the right line, you’ll lose the fish.
People browsing the web have little to no attention span. In fact, I’ll take a second to thank the three of you who have read this far, and in doing so, lose two of you.

The body of your link bait is your fishing line. Your article has to be engaging, it has to be well written, succinct and scanable. It has to be written with the reader in mind. You’ve hooked your reader with your concept of the ‘Nine Things You’d Hate to Find in Your Parent’s Room’ title. Good, that means you’ve gotten a page-view. Now get them to click that little social networking ‘Share this’ button by writing a good article and making it worthy of the five minutes and two seconds it takes them to read it.

The point of link bait is to draw traffic to your site with engaging articles, images, videos or audio. When it’s really engaging (note that I didn’t use the word “good”), it finds its way to the social news sites and from there, in front of exponentially more eyes each time a reader clicks ‘Digg this.’

Rule Three: The (you guessed it) Sinker

Here’s a cold, hard fact about the internet. It’s been monetized. We live in an age of misinformation. That article I mentioned before about the musicians pretending to be bad-asses? It’s for a site whose main demographic is white males, ages 18-24. The intent behind that article is to draw traffic to a site so a guy in an office with a slick silk tie can tell the new body-spray company executive how many page views their site gets so he can quantify (justify) the cost of his advertising space.

It’s about money. There’s your Sinker.

So the third rule is “Always Consider Your Reader.” Your article has to appeal (loosely) to the broader interest of the people who you want to visit the site it’s being posted on. You’re strengthening your ability to sell advertisements by focusing on your intended demographic. Bringing Granny to your site with an article about ‘How to Knit A Wig’ is fine and good if you’re writing for ‘Women’s World,’ but it may be drawing the wrong kind of traffic to a site dedicated to high end car audio.

Reeling It In

Promise, Perform, People: the three basic building blocks of solid link bait. Hook potential readers with the promise of a good article, perform to a standard where they’re proud to share it with others, and remember the specific people you are making promises to and performing for.

You know something? I’d read that article by the monkeys in the steel shack. I’d even post it on FaceSpace for my friends saying “check this out,” but it wouldn’t be long until I’d be on to something new.

Unless those monkeys can deliver consistently, then I might hire them myself.

Jake Walker is a freelance writer and has been working on the web on and off for the last 10 years. An avid blogger he has had many posts featured on major social networks and other news portal websites. He currently works as a search engine optimization consultant with the other smart people at SEOP.com

Photo Credit: L. Marie | CC 2.0

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1. 4 Ways To Write Better Blog Posts
2. Off Page SEO For Blogs
3. Set Your Blog Goals For 2009

photo credit: mahalie

When it comes to blogging, the three things all bloggers want are attractibility, readability, and irresistibility. In other words, they want a “sticky” blog.

What does that mean? Basically, it means that people tend to stick around and read more than one of your posts. They enjoy your blog enough that they don’t bounce off to the next one in a matter of seconds.

Better yet, they also subscribe to your RSS feed and might even tell some of their friends about your blog. So how do you make your blog sticky? Here’s a few tips and things to keep in mind when writing and designing your blog:

1. Blogging Is Supposed To Be Fun

Never forget this. The more fun you are having with your blog, the more time and effort you will spend on it. Readers can tell if you are passionate about what your doing by the way you write. If you’re having fun, it will come off in your writing.

As soon as you stop having fun, the tone in your writing will change. This is bad.

2. The Internet Is Still Being Built

Yes, there are millions of blogs our there. But regardless of how many are already out there, the internet is still being built as we write this. The way we use the internet is constantly changing as technology keeps improving.

Just think, Twitter has only been around for about 3 years. Who knows what might be around the corner. So keep producing awesome content on your blog and keep up with technology. Don’t let your blog go stale.

3. Be The Guide On The Side

Remember, everyone likes to learn but nobody likes to be taught. People hate when they are taught something because it makes them feel like they didn’t know something. Just think back to when you were school and you will probably remember the feeling.

When you learn things on your own, it feels so much more rewarding. One place a lot of people find information to learn themselves is through blogs. That’s why it’s important to write posts as if you were a guide to someone. It will not only make it easier for your readers to understand, but it will also make them feel better.

4. Blogging For Money?

If you are, you HAVE to have some sort of services or hire me page on your blog. It’s the biggest mistake most bloggers make. If people can’t find out how to hire you then they won’t. That means less money for you.

And if you plan on using advertisements, implement some of them from the very first day of your blog. Why? Because it will get your readers used to seeing them. If you implement advertisements later on, some of your readers will feel like you took advantage of them (or sold out).

5. Whitespace – Why You Need It

Blog design can have a huge impact on your blogs stickiness. If you have to simple of design, people might be turned away from it. The sames goes for too much design (animations, flash, etc). So find a happy medium where you integrate images, as well as white space. White space allows your readers to breath and it will make it feel less cramped and cluttered.

Take it easy on the widgets and don’t feel like you need to have every tool you find on your blog. Pick a few and simplify. Your readers will thank you in the end.

6. Fixed Width vs. Full Width

With design also comes layout. The two common layouts to choose from our:

• Fixed Width – the blog stays the same size regardless of the window and screen size.
• Full Width – the blog takes up the whole screen and changes size when you resize the browser window.

Personally, we recommend going with the fixed width layout. Readers are used to reading things that stay the same size (magazines, newspapers, etc). And for some reason, we think they look a lot better as well.

Regardless of the layout you choose, pick one and stick with it.

Other Ways

Besides the 6 tips we just gave you, there are plenty of other ways to make your blog sticky. For example, you could install WP Greet Box, which is an awesome plugin that will display a small box to your visitors based on where they came from. It then prompts them to subscribe to your feed.

It’s all about testing out new things and seeing what works. So give these techniques a try and monitor your results.

Feel free to share any other tips or tricks you might have on how to make your blog sticky.

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1. 4 Ways To Write Better Blog Posts
2. How Long Should Your Posts Be?
3. 3 Indirect Ways To Make Money From Your Blog

A Clear Headline

The most important part of all, is having a catchy title. Something that draws your readers in and makes them want to read more. Therefore, I always spend a little time coming up with a few titles and then selecting the one I like the most.

An Opening Paragraph

Once I have the title ready, I try to write an opening paragraph to my post. This covers the basics about the post and what it will be about. This is a great way to summarize your post into a few short sentances. Readers enjoy this because they can read the first paragraph and then decide if they would like to read the rest of the post. It’s basically a teaser or preview of what’s to come.

Post Sections Broken Down With Subtitles

If you haven’t noticed, I am a big user of H3 tags. I really like breaking down blog posts into sections. I think it is much more effective and easier to read for the users. No one wants to see 10 paragraphs of solid text because it is much harder to stay focused.

When you divide your posts up into sections, it becomes much simpler to follow and stay focused. Therefore, I recommend breaking a post down into a few sections, all separated by an H3 (or H2) subtitle.

Use Pictures And Videos

When creating a blog post, I usually try to incorporate pictures and videos. It makes the post much more interesting and appealing, especially to those who enjoy media instead of text. When it comes to the layout of images, I tend to place them directly in my posts at full width, instead of alight them to the left or right with the text next to them.

However, how you embed your photos and videos is a personal choice. Just make sure you do not put too many in the post so that it becomes hard to look at.

The Length Of A Post

When it comes to length, I personally think it is up to you. Some topics are easier to write about, while others often leave you with shorter posts. If you write often, you may want to keep the posts short and sweet. On the other hand, if you write sparingly. then by all means feel free to let loose and write.

Personally, I just write my post and make sure to cover everything I wanted to. If it comes up short, then I just make it a short post. No need to fill it in with filler just to make it a certain length.

A Conclusion

And last but not least, is a conclusion. I tend to use these a lot of my personal blog, because I like to wrap up my posts and reflect a little on them. It is also a great place to ask your readers questions and kick start some discussion.

So there are a few things to keep in mind when formatting your blog posts. Just remember to double check your posts for grammar before making them live!

Related posts:

1. How Long Should Your Posts Be?
2. 4 Ways To Write Better Blog Posts
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The Standard

After doing some research and reading a few posts, the standard length appears to be in the range of 250 – 1000 words. Some bloggers prefer even shorter posts, coming in under 600 words. There are a few things to consider when writing your posts, such as the SEO benefits.

When it comes to search engine optimization, some people argue that the length is not that important. Others say to keep your posts short so they get indexed quicker. As long as your posts are more than 250 words and less than 1000, you will be fine (some even say 1500 words is fine).

What Are You Saying

The topic of your posts can determine the appropriate length. If you are writing on more complex topics, long posts might be more effective. If you’re covering something simple like daily stock tips, then a short and to the point post might work better.

How Often Do You Post

I think the post length has a lot to do with how often you post. If you post less than three times a week, I dont see a problem of writing longer, 1000 + word posts. The reason is because your readers expect fewer posts, so they would be much more willing to read something longer.

The same thing goes for established bloggers with a strong following. If your readers are used to your posts, they most likely will have no problems reading longer posts.

If you’re the type of blogger who posts once, maybe even two or three times a day, then I would suggest trying to keep the posts shorter. Aim for the 250 – 600 word range because it’s much easier to read shorter posts.

Take A Look At Your Competitors

If you are still having problems determining the length of posts you should write, I highly advise looking at your competitors. See what length of posts are working for them. If they have a strong following, then it would be a good idea to start writing posts similiar to theirs.

Personally, I usually shoot for the 250 – 700 mark because it’s the easiest and most effective length for me.

Related posts:

1. Formating Blog Posts 101
2. 4 Ways To Write Better Blog Posts
3. Bring Your Old Posts Back To Life

Writing blog posts is the most important part of blogging. By creating useful and effective content, you are establishing yourself for success. Here are a few basics to consider when you start writing blog posts.

1. Use Attractive Titles

Much like a book cover, a blog post title is the first thing readers see. A boring and generic title can make readers skim right past your post looking for something else. Put a attractive and engaging title on that same post and you have yourself a hit.

Take a look at these two titles and ask yourself which one you would rather read:

• How To Get Traffic To Your Blog
• 7 Surefire Ways To Blow Up Your Blog Traffic

I would personally choose the second title any day. Not only does it sound like something I want to read, but it lists exactly how many ways I can expect to learn about it. Which leads me to the next point.

2. Use Proper Formatting

Formatting is a great way to make your posts look better and stick out. A good example of an easy to use format is a list. This allows you to make bullet points are subtitles that are easy to follow.

I also encourage the use of H2 or H3 tags as a way of breaking up your text. Blog posts can become very boring if they are all in the same size font and do not have many line breaks. I personally like to break up a post into a few sections, using an H3 title tag for each section.

3. Use Good Grammar And Spelling

This is a no-brainer that is often overlooked. I will admit, I used to have a big problem with grammar (I still do sometimes). I would constantly use the wrong form of their (there, they’re) in my posts and it would annoy some of my readers.

Besides using good grammar, you also want to make sure you use correct spelling. There is no quicker way to lose a reader than to continuously misspell words. Most blogging platforms such as WordPress offer a built in spell checker. The key, is to remember to use it each time you post.

So practice writing and make sure to go back and read over your posts before letting them go live. If you have someone that can read them and edit them for you, even better. Sometimes we miss the simple things that other readers will notice right away.

4. Ask Questions

And last but not least, ask questions. If you finish a blog post with a question, it will get your readers more involved. This will encourage them to leave some comments, which will spark a conversation amongst your readers.

Start Writing

Now that you have the four basics to writing better blog posts, it’s time to start writng. As you start writing, you will start to get better and better as you gain more experience.

Related posts:

1. Formating Blog Posts 101
2. How Long Should Your Posts Be?
3. 5 Free Ways To Promote Your Blog