Today I’m treating you to something on the lighter side. But
first, a little background.
In the middle of the summer of 2012, I answered a Craigslist
ad that sought writers to compose SEO content. SEO (search engine optimization)
refers to the array of strategies and tricks that websites use to rank high in
Google searches when potential clients are looking for their goods, services,
or information.
My new employer, Audience Bloom, was a brand-new startup
based in Seattle. I went straight to work composing 400-500 word articles about
reunion services, door companies in Phoenix, real estate agents and retirement
centers in Seattle, and so on.
Since the only goal of his clients was to attract more
traffic to their websites, the founder of Audience Bloom, Jayson DeMers, had
the idea to try posting whimsical, entertaining pieces about nonexistent
products that would pique readers’ interest and make them click through to the
clients’ real websites. He called these fanciful pieces “link bait.”