Should You Utilize Clickbait, Linkbait and Viral Content in Your SEO Campaign?

A lot of business owners and marketers are wondering if it is a smart move to utilize clickbait tactics and content that are likely to be viral in their marketing campaigns. It seems like a good idea but is there instances where these strategies will do your marketing more harm than good? Of course, if you were to invest in linkbait, clickbait and viral content for your marketing strategy, you’d want worthy returns for your effort. In order to do that, you will have to make sure that this kind of strategy is done properly, or else it could backfire. What kind of content should you invest in if you want to pursue this strategy? How does this strategy work in the first place?

When and How to Use Clickbait, Linkbait and Viral Content for Your Marketing Campaign

There are a lot of people who work with SEO and content marketing who squeeze out what they can get from viral content, clickbait, and linkbait. There are even businesses who focus only on this sort of campaign. Most of them are trustworthy and solid businesses who understand what returns they can get from their investments. However, as previously mentioned, this type of marketing tactic must be used properly, with the right scenarios, otherwise, it can produce the opposite of the results you are hoping for.

Type of Content To Invest In

With this type of marketing campaign, most of your focus should be on the content that you will be investing in. Here are some of the types of content you ought to consider in if you want to use this strategy for your marketing campaigns:

1. Viral Linkbait That Is Newsworthy
   Frankly speaking, a lot of people find a negative connotation attached to ‘linkbait’. However, it is something that is continuously gaining attention. A common form of linkbait is a list. You can find someone who covers the niche that you have, obtain some newsworthy list and then you use it to get a lot of clicks and links. The actual linkbait that you should use does not necessarily need to have the highest number of searches. Usually, the linkbait you can find is not necessarily what people are interested in, but you’d still get clicks as long as the linkbait can pique their interest.
2. Content Focused on the Searcher
   You can also choose to go for options that are more focused on the needs of the searcher. For instance, if you already know what gets a lot of searches in your niche, you can create content that revolves around that. A good way to start is a step by step guide to do something in your niche.
3. Content That Compares You and Your Competitors
   
   

   If you are aware that a lot of people are comparing your brand with that of your competitor, you can take the bull by the horns. You can do so by creating a page dedicated to the comparison of your brand and your competitors. You can provide to your searchers the information that they need and it’s your chance to make your competition look dull in comparison with you.

4. Content That Serves Conversion Funnels
   You can create content that revolves around what your searchers are looking for. For instance, you can check out the searches that are related to your brand and product then create your content around it. For instance, searches about how to use your product or about the benefits of your product. Some of these searches are more likely to lead to conversion, so it’s a good path to follow when writing your content. This may look like it’s non-direct compared to the other options regarding content investment.

   Remember that if your site’s authority is already considerably high, there will already be lots of links in place and some of these links don’t go to pages meant to increase conversion. This means you can focus your time and energy more on linking to the pages that can lead to conversion, though it might look like it’s an indirect approach.
   

   How does this work? If you create viral content on your website and you get a lot of links and brand awareness in return, the other pieces of content on your site will naturally have a better opportunity for ranking. That’s exactly how Google and people work.

   As far as Google is concerned, this strategy works when Google sees one domain has many pages that are consistently earning links and another domain has fewer links despite having relevant and content that is of high quality. From Google’s perspective, the first domain mentioned will weigh a lot heavier because of the great number of links coming and going from its numerous pages. Google sees this situation as the first domain having more authority because of the well-spread links makes it look more relevant. This is also because it appears to Google that the content of the first website has been referenced to many times from many places, so its authority appears to be higher than the other website. Of course, if the second domain mentioned can make something viral or invest in viral content, it will create lots of links throughout the web too, which makes it significantly competitive against the first website.

   Users also have the same stand as Google. Even from the human perspective, the first domain with links from a viral content will get lots of visitors because of the vast audience its pages have been exposed to. This will lead to higher conversion rates and more people will trust the brand even further. Because of this, the second website, despite its high-quality and relevant content can lose in terms of performance. People will simply recognize the first website more.

   As you can see, for users and search engines alike, viral content campaigns can be very effective. It can be a really worthy investment for your SEO strategy. However, it is a tactic that must be approached with care and precision.