Linkbaiting has gained a shady reputation in some arenas, but the simple fact is this set of practices can really increase a site's incoming traffic. It all falls on what kinds of methods are employed to gain incoming links during a linkbaiting campaign. The practice itself can actually be rather fun, rewarding and very much legitimate.

The fact is effective linkbaiting can be one of the best ways to promote a site in the short-term and even for the long haul. The only difference between linkbaiting and regular site building is that content is created with the prospect of gaining links in mind.

The biggest key to working linkbaiting to one's advantage is to come up with the right content to do so. Technorati, Digg.com and delicious are several sites that publishers often turn to in order to take the pulse on what is popular and what is not. Writing about trends or focusing in on them can be a fantastic way to tailor content. The trick is making sure that the site's actual focus isn't lost in trend chasing.

Linkbaiting is such a common practice that is often happens during routine content production without a real thought towards that end result. Those who produce engaging, informative, fun, shocking, controversial and even wacky content have a propensity to garner natural incoming links. Should taking natural content additions and trying to turn them into link producers be on one's mind, the possibilities to juice up the content are many. Some publishers opt to create lists, run statistic pieces, sponsor contents and even draft informed opinion pieces to capitalize on incoming links. Articles such as rants, raves and so on can also work quite well.

No matter how good content happens to be, sometimes the links just don't come. A promotional effort can help here. One possibility involves contacting publishers of similar sites and trying to garner their opinion on a particular piece. This contact can produce solid advice and it might result in a link, too.

Social tagging and sites that rank popularity, such as Digg.com, can be very useful for linkbaiting, as well. Once these sites pick up a story, it can literally be viewed by thousands and linked to over and over again. Some blog writers create their own Diggs. This particular practice is questionable, but it can work.

The concept involved with linkbaiting is to create incoming links - nothing more and nothing less. The idea is to increase traffic, income potential and possibly even page ranking, too.

It might have a negative image, but linkbaiting is a common practice that can produce great results. If the concept is approached with a careful touch, content is worthy and a little fun is had, it generally works out quite well.

Although linkbaiting can pay off in a very big way with incoming links, there are some things that publishers should remember. If content on a site isn't up to snuff, the entire effort could be a wash. The key is to make sure visitors get what they came for and more to keep them coming back.