SEO: Using Humor for Link Baiting
Linking isn’t dead, though some think it’s not as important as it once was. Not true! Search engines consider that links pointing back to your website from other sites are “votes” for your site. They’re links from new content you’re putting out on the Web, they’re links coming from quality directories, and they’re links coming from people just thinking, “Hey, cool blog,” and linking back to you naturally.
Of all the types of links coming back to your site, the last kind is what search engines love best.
The links that aren’t as effective as they once were (though they probably still carry some weight) are reciprocal links, as in “I link to you, you link to me.” Just a couple of short years ago, this was great to do and webmasters were busy sending letters to sites in their niche trying to get all the reciprocal backlinks they could.
So, that’s no longer an option. If you want great search rankings, it’s OK to do some of this, but getting that natural “Oh, WOW!” link is the best.
How do you get them?
I think that the best way, hands down is to be funny. People love to be entertained. Kyle Battis, our marketing manager at OE, brought up a good word today: “Edutainment.” People want to be entertained while learning.
Think Frank Kern. I could watch him do boring stuff all day, couldn’t you? He makes it funny and fun just to hang out with him, even though you’re 3,000 miles away on the other side of a computer screen. But he’s funny in his quirky, surfer dude kind of way.
Create a character like that (not just like that, but you get my drift), and people love it. Tellman is like that, too. People love to watch him being weird. And, he loves to further that reputation.
I have an alter ego called, “Mean Pat.” She comes out when I’m really pissed off about something, but don’t want to really yell at people. I don’t realy enjoy being bitchy, but sometimes, that’s what needs to happen.
About a month ago, I wrote this horrible email telling some folks how mad Mean Pat was because something wasn’t being done. It was pretty raw, and after hitting the “send” button on that email, I felt bad. I mean, I really love these people, and was really worried that they’d all be mad at me and never speak to me again.
Know what they did?
They gave me our Mojo award for the month! I got an award for being a bitch! But though I was ranting, I ranted funny, and everyone said they loved it. You can get away with murder, IF you’re funny. I mean, just flat out telling people that they weren’t doing what it was would definitely NOT have had the same effect. Know what happened? Everything went toward solid production. It worked like a charm and I was more surprised than anyone. But it worked. Funny always works.
Here’s an excerpt and remember, this is coming from me, Nice Pat, but… Mean Pat takes over here. The parentheticals are from Nice Pat:
From here on… IF you neglect to fulfill your responsibility by NOON, you’ll need a hand-written excuse from Sister Mary Oh Please My Butt Is Boiling Red of the Holy Grail or it’s detention for the rest of your natural born existence. And I’ve been in detention enough to know how that goes. You’ll be coloring the flames of hell until your fingers bleed. (12 solid years of Catholic school, so don’t even go there with me.)
Or, do you want this XXXX to fail again so that we can just go home with our tails between our legs and whine, “It was too ha-ard”? (Please hear your most annoying whiny voice here.)
Not going to happen.
(Oh, my god… that Mean Pat has really gone over the top this time. I’ll certainly give her a good talki… gulp… choke…)
You get my drift, right?
Stop being whussies, get yer shite done, and please stop making me insane(er). I’m not the babysitter.
- Mean Pat
P. S. OK… she’s back under control, but let me tell you… You really don’t want her back here again. Call Batman. Seriously. Call Batman.
I’m hoping that isn’t a “you had to been there” moment, but I’m just trying to illustrate what having a funny alter ego can do for you. You can be all laid-back cool, like Frank, weird like Tellman, or just flat out nasty like Mean Pat, and people will love you for it. Try putting some humor into your marketing and you’ll be amazed at what it can do for you.
You’ll get all the links you need.
Oh, and I’m not really Mean Pat at all. That was some crazy woman who breezed through and took over my computer. She’s with Batman now.
Tweets that mention ovblogger : SEO News – WordPress – Marketing Blog » Blog Archive » SEO: Link Baiting Strategies -- Topsy.com
November 11th, 2009 at 9:11 pm #
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Pat Marcello and Rick Burdo, Cathy Matheny. Cathy Matheny said: SEO: Using Humor for Link Baiting | Link Baiting Strategies http://bit.ly/97j65 [...]