Your Advice Sought on Linkbait

how to do link bait better

[jagrmeister721a]

Hi all,

I have a local website- featuring local businesses throughout the US- in all the various cities. As a feature, we publish Top 10 lists- such as "The Top Ten Restaurants in Chicago" (ordered based on community feedback on the business). We have been publishing these on article sites and social bookmarking sites- hoping they get picked up and run with. We half-heartedly sent a few of these lists out to local bloggers but didn't get any pickups.

Could you give me some insight how we can better make these Top 10's better link bait? One problem on social bookmarking sites is that the Top 10 lists that seem to succeed have national appeal or general appeal. In our case, our lists are always city specific (ie: Top Barbers in Baltimore). As a result, it appeals to a smaller group and never gets Digg'd high enough (or Stumbled high enough, etc.). I've looked for local/city version of Digg with no success.

I believe that these Top 10's could be effective link-bait, but I have just found the right avenue yet. Any and all suggestions or recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!

[jagrmeister721a]

If you have some examples you've used or have seen elsewhere, that would help as well. Thx.

[Lts95]

Why should Chicago Blogger publish your list? Do they ever talk about food or restaurants in their blogs? What unique information do you provide? Do you have personal reviews and comments on the restaurants or is it just a list with all the same basic info you can get from any local city guide and restaurant web page? What makes your community good at determining restaurant quality, are they all food critics? Is it just plain Top 10? Most restaurant rankings seem to have themes. Best Hamburger, Best Take Out, Best Date Restaurant, etc.