There are a lot of โ€œsocial media expertsโ€ out there screaming that โ€œYOU HAVE TO USE LINKBAIT!!! YOU HAVE TO SUBMIT TO SOCIAL MEDIA SITES!!!โ€ Sure there are definite advantages to doing these things… quick traffic, a few new links, etc butโ€ฆ do you really have to?

I am going to have to say that no, no you do not. I hate to say it, but the overused cliche really does apply: “If you build it (great), they will come.” By this, I mean if you really want a large audience of viewers that read, talk about, share with friends and really LOVE your work – you only need to write great content. Great content will be found (and linked to) no matter how you promote it.

Case in point: I was honored to discover last week that this blog has been included in the SEO category of “Alltop” – Guy Kawasaki’s new site. I hadn’t sought this out, submitted by blog to be included; it happened by itself.

This is easier said than done of course; you actually have to know what you are talking about and, as I have said before, you should have a passion for your writing! That is what makes people read your blog day in and day out. Striving to write better, more informative posts is what will make your blog a success. It’s not the one-time traffic surge of StumbleUpon or Digg; it’s the writers who day in and day out produce great content that is helpful for their readers.

Here are just a few great blogs where the authors really get that content is what it’s all about: SEOMoz, ProBlogger, DoshDosh, WolfHowl. (I subscribe to hundreds of great blogs in my news reader; I wish I could list them all here!)