What exactly is link bait in SEO, and how does it differ from traditional link-building tactics?

Link bait in SEO refers to creating highly engaging, shareable content or assets with the primary goal of naturally attracting inbound links from other websites. It's different from traditional link-building tactics in a few key ways:

With link bait, the intent is to passively earn links by publishing genuinely valuable, interesting, or viral-worthy content that people want to link to and share. Traditional link-building is more active - pursuing links through tactics like guest posting, broken link-building outreach, etc.

The focus with link bait is entirely on creating exceptional content assets like interactive tools, in-depth guides, original research, visually appealing infographics, etc. Stuff that inherently provides value to users and they genuinely want to consume, share, and link to. Traditional link-building relies more on convincing and negotiating link insertions.

Any links you attract through successful linkbait are earned naturally based on the merit and shareability of the awesome content you create. With some traditional tactics, the links acquired can sometimes enter into more manipulative territory like link exchanges or paid link insertions.

An effective link bait piece has that viral potential to get exponentially shared and linked to across multiple sites and platforms without you having to directly promote it everywhere. This organic amplification effect draws in way more editorial links from authoritative sources.

Finally, link bait is usually designed to really appeal to and engage specific audiences or communities that would find that type of exceptional content particularly valuable and shareable. Traditional link building can cast a wider, less targeted net.

The big upside to link bait is attracting those high-quality, editorial links in large numbers when it's successful. But it requires a ton of creative effort in content development with no guarantees it will actually go viral. So it works best as one component of a broader, diversified link-building strategy.