This is one of the most frustrating aspects of content writing and something I personally can’t stand. It’s cliché, it’s obnoxious, and worst of all it ruins your site over time; I’m talking about clickbait titles. Clickbait titles are designed to peak curiosity, regardless of the content behind them. They build the readers expectations and never seem to follow through when the click the link.
You might see the success of one clickbait title over your other content and rejoice at the sheer volume of people clicking your link and being directed to your site.
It looks so much better than your previous content, statistically, and you don’t see why you shouldn’t make every page title like this:
“This Man Lost 50IBs in a Week and Doctors Hate Him for This Secret”
“Did See What Morgan Freeman Said to Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars?”
“This Simple Trick is All You Need to Retire with 5 Million in the Bank”
You’ve probably seen these titles somewhere before scrolling through Facebook. They become the bread and butter of sites like The Huffington Post and Buzzfeed (the site mentioned most often while researching this topic.) and continue to get more and more clicks whenever they’re put up.
Now, you might be thinking, “Then why wouldn’t I use these tactics if I’m a content marketer? I only care about the traffic.”
That’s a good question with a simple answer. Over time, it’s been proven that people see a decrease in their overall fan base because of these tactics.
Why You Should never Use Clickbait Titles
Let’s start with the bounce rate. According to a study by advertising technology company, ChartBeat, found that more than 55% of people bounced from clickbait pages immediately and most of the other half only spent 15 seconds before leaving.
Bounce rates like this will kill your site’s SEO and continue to rank you lower and lower over time, despite those extra clicks you got from your clickbait page.
Moving on to trust, you might have expected that after a certain amount of times being misled, people will stop liking your content and stop following you altogether. The same research found that people start to catch on after the third or fourth click though and chances get higher and higher of them leaving for good after each subsequent click.
The impact on your social media platforms can be devastating too. I know what you’re thinking, “But clickbait thrives on Facebook!” Yes, it seems that way to the reader but for individual sites, they die off like flies, often making completely new ones to take up the mantle.
In fact, Facebook announced they were compiling a list of clickbait publishers. Their goal is to put these publishers lower on the news queues to be seen by smaller and smaller audiences. You’re limiting yourself when you post clickbait articles on Facebook, essentially.
Conclusion
Circling back to the question of whether or not you should use clickbait tactics to get more traffic, the answer is a resounding “NO!”
You’re better off developing the content you have and making a title that reflects that content perfectly. You want to build trust and history with your audience, not cheap grabs that will eventually make your audience leave after another disappointing click.
