Oftentimes, when I describe the concept of linkbait to clients, it’s critical to also describe those folks who are the targets of linkbait – I’ll call them the “Linkerati“. Let’s explore the culture of these most valued of web-dwelling souls:
- Bloggers – probably the most targetable and directly influenced folks, bloggers are an excellent source of traffic, links and the spread of your content’s idea virus.
_ - Forum posters – although the links these folks put up don’t often result in great search engine value, the traffic can be positive and the possibility that other likely linkers will come through to visit is also high.
_ - Web News Writers – a rare species, but exceptionally valuable, these folks control the news outlets on the web, including places like C|Net, Wired News, Yahoo! & MSN‘s online news portals, etc.
_ - Content Creators – These folks are building or beefing up websites and are seeking valuable resources to link out to. Most frequently, you’ll find them linking to the sites they find valuable in the top 5-10 results at the search engines (another reason why “the rich get richer”)
_ - Resource Editors – Another rare breed, these folks work at government institutions, no-profit organizations and educational establishments and are looking to add content to their pages or directories.
_ - Social Taggers – These folks don’t provide direct links, but if they and their friends at Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit & Furl love you, you’re in for a real treat – thousands of visitors and the opportunity to be in front of hundreds of link-hungry bloggers.
_ - Viral Connectors – The viral crowd doesn’t directly link to you, but by sending out a blast e-mail, posting to an IRC channel or telling their friends about your site over dinner, they’re spreading the word. Some of them can be very powerful, and they’re not demographically distinct – a well-connected grandmother may know people in the media, executives of businesses and other highly placed and valuable minds.
- Journalists – Online or offline creators of “news” content, these influencers are among the most valuable of all the linkerati. A reporter for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times or the Seattle Weekly all have reach and ability to create links to your site, although it’s often in a second-hand fashion (as some sites don’t directly link out, but many bloggers “pick up” news items and do).
Any others I’m forgetting about?
