6 ways to create link magnets with every blog post

There is nothing easier than having a blog these days. Everyone and their dog is blogging. But that doesn’t mean that every blog is worth reading. As a matter of fact, most blogs suck and they suck for a reason. Most blogs are “me too!” blogs.

By reading this blog you already proved that you don’t belong to the “me too!” crowd.

Creating link-worthy blog content

Creating link-worthy content should be your main concern because everything else will follow.

Referring traffic, traffic from organic search and, in the end, direct traffic directly depend on how link worthy your content is. It’s that simple.

Just to make things clear, link worthy content is something people can’t help but link to. Even when they don’t know you, and in some cases don’t even like you.

Emotional reaction is the key

Just look at the story about a boy who stole his dad’s credit cards and hired prostitutes to play HALO and eat junk food. The story was fake, but genius. (Thanks, Lyndon!)

Its appeal came from a place where emotions and imagination live. The story received thousands upon thousands of links.

This example is perhaps a bit too strong, but the underlying principle is something every blogger can learn from.

But what can a common blogger do to create link magnets every day? Just keep on readin’.

Create a resourceful post (every once in a while)

Don’t you just love it when someone spends a month collecting, testing and reviewing WordPress plugins just to bring you the best ones for a certain function? They even make sure to include installation instructions.

This kind of content gets linked because it saves people time and effort. In this case, people link to share the resource, or to reward the effort if it’s very extensive. Links to resourceful posts or pages accumulate slowly.

Make people laugh

This one works every time. OK, almost every time. You can make fun of the authorities in your industry or take the industry as a whole and make fun of it. Matt McGee created what is probably the best piece of humor about SEO to this day.

Start a conversation or become a part of one

Someone criticized something in your industry. You probably have an opinion. Share it! If you disagree, go ahead and write a post about it. A unique point of view and strong arguments will help make your post interesting and linkable.

Be the first to break the news

Being the first to break the news about something works like a charm. The downside is – you actually have to be the first and that is by no means an easy task.

Attack a product, service, person or an industry

This is one of the most POWERFUL ways to get links, but at the same time, it’s the most dangerous one. Recently, Derek Powazek attacked the SEO industry with a pretty aggressive and insulting rant – “Spammers, Evildoers, And Opportunists“. The end result is a surprisingly large number of links. But beware – don’t pick your targets randomly. Make sure that your community doesn’t like the target of your rant. Just like Derek did.

Eye Candy

How many times did you see different images, designs, or just pictures of people or places on the front pages of Digg.com or Reddit.com? These pictures, websites and images can sometimes be enough to cause a linking frenzy. It can be done in virtually every industry as long as the imagery is captivating.

To increase the number of links your posts gets, try to combine these 6 ways. A resourceful post with stunning pictures sounds great, doesn’t it?

Or you can think about it like this – would you get all excited about the post you just finished if it wasn’t yours ?