Linkbait Only Strategy? Just waiting for links, does it work?

[spook2992]

Hey guys, this is my first post here. Basically, I've been working on loads of affiliate sites for 2 years, but not I'm scrapping that and getting out of the game as it's gotten harder and harder lol.

I've decided to just run one technology website, as I think it's my best shot of actually sticking to one thing, and getting millions of visitors, something that's always been a dream of mine. I made this decision after reading a comment here about thinking 20 years into the future and not 2 years into the future.

So with that in mind, I want to hear your opinion on just going about things feild of dreams style.

I have almost finished my first tech article, which is something there is a massive buzz about. By the time I actually finish it it will be about 2.5k words or so. Is that too long?

The aim is to just make all of my articles really indepth, with links to sources etc. I genuinely want this article to be the most informative article on the web about this upcoming product, with the hope that people will link to it naturally when questions are asked.

Is this too much to ask? WILL people link to the article?

Cheers for opinions if you have any.

[aristotle]

Are you planning to launch a new site with just one article?
I've always written at least a dozen articles for a site before I launch it.

Also, before I launch a site, I work out a careful long term plan for it. It needs to have a central theme or subject, and it needs to have a carefully planned structure. I think it's premature to be talking about "linkbait" at this stage.

[buckworks]

If the article is truly superior to other content about the topic, yes some people will link to it.

... but only after they've found it in the first place.

That will be your biggest point of challenge.

[spook2992]

Hi Aristotle

The central theme is "new tech stuff thats exiting" which is obviously vague but its what I want the website to be about. My long term plan is what my OP was about. Just building content and hoping to attract links that way.

Yes, It's a blog, so I think I can get away with just one article. Im not looking to do some big launch, as I'm currently working full time so I cant dedicate massive ammounts of time to the website.

hi Buckworks

Thanks for the reply, and yes that will be a stumbling block, getting a visitor to the article in the first place. I'll just be tweeting it for now and hoping for some retweets.

[not2easy]

One thing to remember is that links alone do not make a high ranking website, from my experience it works the other way around. One old site built in 2001 ranks for its terms on the first page of Google since 2004 and I have created, built, asked for, sought zero links, but there are many links.

Another site I built in 2010 has only 3 links (all editorial) but it has many terms found on the first page of Google since 2011. It also has only natural links. Another site I built in 2007 has few links, all natural and ranks somewhere on page 200 though it used to do quite well. I have not done anything to try to fix it, as I have little interest in its topic. But what I observe is that the quality of the site and the depth of information on the site seem to me to have a lot more to do with succeeding than natural, bought or arranged links. I'm sure many have had a different experience, especially short term.

[FranticFish]

If you build, it they won't come.

You have to get it out there. You could use:
- AdWords
- Display Network or other banner ads
- bite-size guest posts to plug your new content
- bite size email articles or email sponsorship
- building an online persona via forums / blog comments, establish yourself as a voice, and shoehorn your site in that way
- building a social profile and establishing yourself as a 'voice' in the industry and shoehorning your site into that
- offline: networking, ads, trade shows, sponsorship

It all involves money, or interaction, or both.

[spook2992]

@ Not2easy, thanks for the case studies, its encouraging.

@franticfish, Yes, I do agree that I should get round to doing a bit of promotion once I get a few peices of content. I was thinking of having a G+, Facebook, and a twitter account. I'll use a small ammount of money to aqquire fans using FB PPC and twitter promotions. Then, I'll just make it easy for visitors to subscribe via RSS and my social media accounts, and make sure I put all my new posts out on social media to the fans I bought.