What is Link Bait and why you should care about it?
WIKI says Link bait is any content or feature within a website that somehow baits viewers to place links to it from other websites. Matt Cutts defines link bait as anything “interesting enough to catch people’s attention
Why people try out different methods to attract links?
As I already explained HERE that the algorithm used by google in deciding a website PageRank is based on quantity and quality of inbound links that are associated with a particular web page. Bloggers love to see lots of incoming links to their article. In order to receive links from High PageRank site usually bloggers try out to bait some big bullies to write something about them in their blog. Link building and link love also aims to increase the quantity of high-quality, relevant links to a website. When anyone runs a contest some times he also makes a condition that you have to write about the contest in your blog. This is nothing but an attempt to earn some incoming link to the site. Incoming links to the site article can be in the form of a web page, a blog post, social book marking via digg, post on fire, and stumble upon, tagging of a site, or any other method..
In nutshell, Link Baiting is nothing but an endeavor to earn a higher PageRank so that you can compete with other sites to appear in search engine result for a relative topic.
What are various ways to bait links?
There is no undying formula to bait links; but still there are some approaches through which you can generate incoming links. These approaches called hooks, well I can’t say if you use them how many links it will produce for your site. Here is brief Description of each of them.
NEWS HOOKS
This been proved to be the most efficient one. If you write about the latest news or current affair there are chances that you would definitely grab great quantity of links benefit from it. Users will more and more link your article as the news scoop spread around the world. Tell me which News scoop you have featured recently? Well HERE is mine.
HUMOR HOOKS
This is a second most used hook by many Bloggers. They use various Funny and humorous YouTube Video, Funny Pictures and article as an attempt to get lot of links from various sources. This amazing Japanese guy is my Humor Hook.
INFORMATION HOOKS
Writing about useful information always give this advantage that reader will definitely book mark it for their future reference. My informative post on automatic upgrade of WordPress Installation was an attempt to build some social book marking.
INSTRUMENT HOOKS
Creating some useful tool or instrument which can be exploited by readers then it will have countless incoming links to your site. Like for example creation of a new WordPress Plugin or WordPress Themes. HERE is my tool which helps creating WP Text widgets from mere 9 to a number you decide.
EVIL HOOKS
Write Really BAD BAD BAD about John Chow, he will then elucidate the stuff and you will a link from his blog. (But please don’t try this at home:-) NO EXAMPLE as I never tried this hook.
Now if you like this post then link it from your blog 
Can I join?
Btw, want to link exchange?
oh than you for this tag shanker..but i hope you don’t mind im not in the mood to do it now and i already did some kinda like this just yesterday twice. I will add you to my blogroll.
Hey, I am not tagged!
But I don’t participate in tags anyway. :p
thanks Shanker for doing the tag.
thats an interesting thing.
I would like to join too, please tag mine.
Sure you can extend the list adding your name in the last and taging another three bloggers for doing the same.
Its all My pleasure