If you read the news daily or use social media, you have undoubtedly come across clickbait titles too many times. Those articles and headlines that beg you to click starting with ‘Shocking: You Won’t Believe your eyes…’ or ‘Nobody expected this to happen….”
Clickbait is an English word – but not every exciting headline should be called clickbait. There are great examples of creative titles that make you click but don’t leave you disappointed.
To use it or not to use it, the question is now, but we might have a correct answer for you.
How typical clickbait content looks like
Elements of a standard clickbait post usually include:
Pros of Clickbait
You are thinking of creating clickbait content but not quite sure about its benefits? Let’s take a look at some of the main clickbait advantages.
Page views increase: An increase of page views is the most crucial benefit of using clickbait content. If this is your target, then clickbait is an effective way to do it. Using this type of content via social media will attract new readers and increase traffic to your website.
More opportunities for sharing via social media: Clickbait content is simply shareable; people love it and connect with it. Comments and shares are the best tools for making an article or post viral.
Big names are doing it too: There has been much debate about clickbait in recent years, because of manipulating users and taking attention away from trustworthy journalism or quality content. Regardless of the bad press it is getting, clickbait works; stats have shown that people can’t resist clicking, even if the deception is detected.
Just take a look at pages of big-name publishers or media institutions such as the BBC; they have also started using clickbait titles for their own stories. Doing it right is giving highly profitable results.
Cons of Clickbait
Deceptive clickbait hurts brand value: Few aspects can frustrate the viewer and weaken the confidence much easier than manipulating them intentionally. People expect to read something that aligns with expectations when they click on a piece of content.
If you mislead readers and followers just because of page views, they will instantly leave the page, and they may also negatively interpret the brand.
Page views aren’t that critical: Within the intent of enhancing their page view number, many marketers jump squarely, mostly on the clickbait content, to create posts without value. These efforts can often be misguided, as some analysts claim page views are no longer that important.
It can bring the wrong type of traffic: Whether you are getting revenue from your ads, leads or sales, it is never only about traffic numbers. If you rely on conversions is clickbait going to bring in the kind of traffic that is likely to convert? The answer is probably no.
Few tips on how to create good SEO clickbait titles:
Mila Z
