The term link bait, sometimes written as linkbait, refers to a placement on a website for the strict purpose of tempting other web pages to link to that website. Link baiting is a viral marketing form, and can be extremely powerful, as it draws traffic to a website without keyword searches or specific searches for that web page. Anything can be link bait, as long as it causes links to be built to the web page and draws visitors to the page. Link baiting is also used in search engine optimization, as it is a powerful tool and can help a website that has fewer popular keywords than usual. Linkage with other web pages signifies that the original page is worth reading.

There are many different elements on web pages that can be considered link bait, as long as someone links to it. There is no specific definition of what exactly link bait has to be, as long as it is interesting enough to draw visitors and to be linked to other websites. Some of the elements used as link bait include:

Humor Hooks – Funny stories, practical jokes, pictures, or videos
Informational Hooks – News articles, ezine links, and anything else that carries important information, especially frequently updated information
News Hooks – Like information hooks, news hooks provide current information and can even follow big news stories
Tool Hooks – Useful tools that can be downloaded or used on the web page
Evil Hooks – Mean, inflammatory, or unpopular editorial comments

Blogs are also frequently link baited, mostly because they can touch on a number of topics and change regularly. Link baiting is a good way to begin a mini marketing campaign without spending much money or time.