In the aftermath of algorithm updates and the need for quality, authoritative links, building links and garnering engagement from quality sources is becoming increasingly important, requiring more creativity and thoughtfulness than previous link building efforts. As a result, promoting engagement through shares, interaction and valuable information can be a positive, long-term methods of building links and driving traffic to one’s website.

Create Content to Encourage Sharing

Everyone knows content is an invaluable piece of the search engine optimization puzzle. But despite the importance of content and it’s role in driving traffic and gathering quality links, businesses and marketers continue to produce and publish bland content that is already available or simple talks to consumers rather than helping them solve their problems. In contrast, promoting shares and virality, comes from creating content that meets the needs of consumers who are searching for answers while creatively displaying the authority of the business, brand or company. Consequently, creating content that is dynamic and exciting, which also offers solutions or new information is one of the best ways to promote shares, comments, links and keep visitors coming back for more.

Use Authoritative Sources

Though it might seem like the opposite action that one should take when seeking links from others, using quality sources when developing content and ideas can be a great way to give authority to a website and to the information presented. When visitors and readers are skeptical about the information they are consuming they may be less inclined to share it on social media, blogs or their own websites. In contrast, offering quality information that is sourced to authoritative websites and sources gives readers faith in the information they are consuming and makes them more likely to share it with others or source one’s website when creating their own content.

Get Creative

Developing content that promotes shares can involve more than just quality writing and the production of interesting information in the written form. Instead, images, video and infographics are highly desire types of content that are known to encourage virality, sharing and links. By creating inforgraphics that are related to a specific topic or related to one’s industry and sharing across a variety of social media platforms, businesses and marketers can drive traffic to their websites while creating exciting images that highlight one’s authority in an industry. In addition infographics can be a creative method of conveying information through pictures, that can be more easily consumed and read, in contrast with reading through an article that tells the same story and provides similar information. Allowing others to have the opportunity to embed infographics and videos on their own sites, drives important traffic back to one’s website, therefore, creating valuable links and signaling to search engines that a website and information presented on it are relevant, exciting and interesting to others. Video sharing sites allow links within the descriptions.

While creating interesting content that answers a need or provides a solution is important for link baiting, how information is shared and the method in which it is conveyed can be equally important, requiring perseverance and creativity.