Clickbait is NOT evil

Well written headlines are getting more heat because of clickbait.
Don’t confuse being smart about a title with a trap to click for one more view count.
Sometimes, people will make some remarks when my title could look like clickbait.
It’s Ok, I understand, but I really don’t care.
Write great titles and get some trafic or don’t and get nothing.
It’s really binary. People click or don’t click. There is no middle ground.
For sure, many abuse the naiveté of users on the web, getting them to click on headlines for views count.
The monetization of content on the Web is crap. Getting paid with clicks on ads or worse by view counts is a rat race. Journalists, bloggers, and anyone making money with this crazy business model probably don’t have a choice. I feel bad for them, but they waste our time. We would punch someone in the mouth when we get caught, clicking on a title to find bullshit content behind.
When the content behind the title is disgusting, we are filled with a feeling of betrayal. We hate being taken for fools; moreover, we can’t stand wasting our time — even a few seconds.
The real problem is not the title in itself, it’s the content behind the title.
Writing attractive, incentive headlines is a smart move. Just don’t be stupid about what you serve behind a great title.
Of course, it’s hard to produce great content. Especially, if you get peanuts in return, there isn’t much motivation to impress.
As a user, I understand the rat race of content producer, but it’s bad business to overpromise and underdeliver.
If the content is up to your expectations, are you still pissed off about the punchy title ?
It’s a huge hassle to stand out in the crowd. People decide in a matter of seconds on which link they will click.
I don’t understand how you would take any chance on missing out.
A great headline makes the difference between getting a lot or no traffic.
Afterwards, it’s the job for content to be amazing.
Then, everybody is happy.
If you feel to shy about playing the game of copywriting, stop right now.
It’s a bad move, not doing everything in your power to get attention.
Especially if you are able to produce some great content, it’s a shame to miss out on the opportunities to share your stuff.
Go on Google, Youtube and Amazon. Learn the basics of copywriting, and start crafting great headlines that convert. Keep in check with SEO, and you are golden.
There are no rules, no limite, no mercy.
The only mesure is how one can look at him/herself in the mirror.
Some people go places where I will never go. For example, I will never write a title like : « How to increase your SEO traffic by 287% in less than 30 days ».
Actually, I could, but it would read « How to increase your SEO traffic by 287% in less than 30 days [CASE STUDY] ».
By adding the mention « case study », I don’t feel my title gives the impression you can get the same result by doing the same thing than the example in the post.
In a title, everything needs to be perfect. One single wrong word will make a difference between clicks or no clicks.
This article is not meant to teach how to write great headlines. I have too much respect for copywriting, to pretend explaining the ins and out in this post.
My intent is about getting you interested in the importance of title (let’s add intro and description for good mesure).
Being able to make people click on your title is the ultimate power. You can sell what you want if you know how to write sentences, which make people take action.
Actually, people become presidents with great copywriting !
Everybody, myself included, make another big mistake.
We never go back to improve our title and meta description.
We hit « publish » and that’s it ! Next, we move onto the next piece of content.
There is a real treasure lying in our existing title tags. Going back to a piece of content, after it started to rank on Google, gives a great feedback. When you analyze your title and snippet in Google’s SERP, there is always room for improvement. It’s striking how we understand how bad is the situation when we analyze how our title and snippet don’t stand out. If you are not number one on Google’s SERP, you must improve. Our title and snippet need to be better, different, original.
Put everything you have into your content, but put even more in your title.