Headlines That Bait For Clicks: Good from Far, Far from Good!

Cleverly written, but often misleading – they are all over the internet. Clickbait headlines are making an impact, but do they providing results?

What was initially considered an annoying practice deployed by shady websites to drive traffic has now become a norm. Many big companies have also joined the race of maximizing number of clicks through imaginative and interesting titles. While this may work for Buzzfeed and websites of the sort, most businesses don’t get anything from clickbait titles apart from unqualified web traffic.

Why?
There’s disparity between titles and the content.

Titles That Don’t Match the Content.

When you search for best affiliate programs to make money with on Google, this is the top organic result you get:

The title is great! It answers the query and makes you want to click. Who wouldn’t want a side hustle that earns them $6,000 a month?

After reading the title, most people that click on it would expect to see a list of programs that will help them earn good money.

What they get instead is a long blog post that discusses a whole bunch of hoo-ha. When it finally gets to the affiliate programs, it doesn’t even discuss them. This type of content is extremely frustrating for readers.

Clickbait Headlines – Are They Really Good For Your Business?

There is no denying the fact that clickbait headlines can help attract the attention of your target audience. It makes them want to check out your content and visit your website.

That can be great for your business… but you’re not going to get what you want unless you optimize the content for results.

Every piece of content is created to serve a purpose. It may be to create brand awareness, improve visibility, gain audience’s trust, or to increase sales. The title needs to define and match that purpose.

Here are some of the problems with clickbait titles:

• They are deceptive –  the content does not provide what the title claims
• The information provided isn’t valuable
• Visitors begin to distrust your audience
• Even though it helps increase website traffic, it is not qualified. You’ll notice this through increase in bounce rates.
• With Google increasingly making algorithm changes to reward quality and accuracy of content, this type of content will eventually begin being penalized.
• Clickbait headlines increase the bounce rate.

Like many other content marketing experts, Jonah Berger, an author and a professor at the Wharton School and Cornell Tech, recommends steering clear of clickbait headlines. In one of his articles published in The New York Times, he shared:

Clicks are great – but only if they get results. Focus on creating amazing content that adds value and do try to improve the quality of headline you use. Just make sure that the titles are relevant to your content. You can check out this great blog post on how to write amazing headlines for inspiration.

About the author:

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution for businesses that are looking for great content. Your marketing goal, target audience, the industry you operate in, the size of your organization, even the platform you plan to publish the content on makes a difference in your requirement.

As a Sr. Editor at a content writing service, Mathew and his team at Content Development Pros have helped small and large businesses get results through content. Look no further if you’re looking for copy that stands out, makes an impact, and converts. They’ll help you achieve your marketing goals through creative, well-researched content that follows the best SEO practices. Get in touch today!

Want to learn more about great headlines? Read more about it here:

DIY advertisers: why titles don’t work, and headlines do.