Clickbaiting – luring users – is hardly enjoying universal popularity. As early as summer 2016, Facebook developed an algorithm designed to curb the spread of clickbait links. According to the social network, there was much frustration from users due to sensational and misleading headlines.
Here, clickbaiting refers to links to articles behind which valuable content is rarely hidden, and which are primarily intended to keep website operators' traffic figures high. Clickbaiting is not primarily about selling a product or service; instead, it's about driving as much traffic as possible to one's site.
How does Clickbaiting actually work?
The secret of clickbait lies in manipulation. The reader is lured with a headline that promises something unique, exclusive, or never before seen. Information is deliberately withheld from them at first. They might find this information – perhaps – in the clicked article, but the revelations are often disappointing. Expectations raised by the headline are not met when reading the article. For the critical website visitor, clickbaiting primarily appears irritating and unprofessional.
Bait has been cast for a long time
“Clickbaits” existed in an altered form even with the first emergence of media and advertising. “Extra, extra!” – newspaper sellers and hawkers loudly drew attention to themselves. Even then, they often couldn't deliver on their promises. But just like modern clickbaiting, they were only concerned with short-term success. So-called cliffhangers in films and series are also related to clickbaiting. Tabloid media, in particular, use the technique of elevating every triviality to a sensation. In recent times, we have observed that many media outlets and companies, especially on social media, adapt to this habit. Attention and traffic must be generated at all costs.
You won't believe what happens next...
Critical readers disengage. They don't want sensational headlines. They want their expectations to be met. They invest their precious time and, in return, want valuable information. If their expectations are built up too high and then not met, they withdraw. Clickbaiting therefore only generates short-term clicks. In the long term, many readers do not return to the site. An entertaining way to “expose” such clickbaiting headlines was found by @SavedYouAClick on Twitter: a summary of the articles is tweeted. The fact that an article's content can be boiled down to a maximum of 140 characters probably says enough about the depth of the content.
Quality over Quantity
To achieve sustainable website clicks, it is important to know your target audience. Who are my readers? What do they expect from my site? What do I expect from them? The more precisely you position yourself, the better you will reach exactly the customers you want. And the more precisely you tailor your headlines and texts to the needs of these specific customers, the more gladly and longer they will stay on your website, your blog, or with your product. Of course, there are also products, sites, and customer segments for which attracting new readers through clickbaiting works sufficiently. For everyone else, the following applies:
Seek Alternatives to Clickbaiting
HEADLINES
Write good, high-quality headlines. Brainstorming is important here. Allow every idea, you can always filter them out later. For newsletters especially, A/B testing is a good option: select two headlines you want to test against each other. Send an article with headline A to 10% of your readers as a test, and similarly with headline B to another 10%. After some time, analyse which headline received more feedback in the form of clicks, and then send the newsletter with the better-performing headline to the remaining 80% of your readers.
CONTENT
Ultimately, the content determines how long the reader stays on your site and whether they return. This also means how intensely your customers engage with you or your product. Write texts with genuine content and added value for your site's visitors. Use SEO and, most importantly, keywords that suit you. Ideas can be provided by, for example, the Keyword Planner or Google Trends.
STATISTICS & ANALYSIS
By evaluating statistics, you get to know your target audience better. Pay attention to what type of content your readers respond to, which content they are most likely to interact with, and so on. This ensures that you provide content that is interesting to your customers.
LISTS
The principle is simple: if the reader is promised five tips for successful Instagram marketing and there are indeed five recognisable tips in your article, their expectations have been met. Moreover, people love lists because the human brain can process and work through them well. Google also loves lists, thus granting you additional good SEO karma.
PATIENCE
Good things take time. Even with a good strategy, traffic numbers rarely explode overnight. The motto is to persevere and practice patience.
AUTHENTICITY
It cannot be said often enough: be authentic in your communication with your customers. Don't pretend. Build an online personality that suits you, your strategy, and your product. Tell your own story, but don't tell your readers in every announcement that they can expect the incredible.
