What Is Clickbait? (2022 Definitive Guide)
A lot of companies and websites have been using clickbait to get more traffic and views. Clickbait is a way to lure more viewers to a webpage using misleading information or images in the title, and is considered a black-hat SEO. It usually includes the shock-value phrases. Even if you don’t know, you have come across click-bait articles and links all the time, whether in your search results or social media platforms. Clickbait may seem like a good idea at first and get you more viewers, but it only decreases your reliability and authority in the long run. Let’s look into what clickbait is and its effects.
How to Recognize Clickbait?
All over the social network and internet, click-bait is used to get more page views. Many content creators know the secrets to click-bait, depending on the type of content they want to lure you into. But how will you recognize and avoid click-bait?
Here are a few distinctive characteristics of clickbait.
- Click-bait contents usually are in the shape of news stories or new sources.
- Often the phrases “You won’t believe…” – “You will be shocked to see..” are used.
- The title usually has a false fact or a misleading representation of the content.
Is Clickbait Bad for Your Website?
The short answer is yes. But to explain further, we can say that its effects are bad and worsen in the long run. At first, it might increase your website’s traffic, but your credibility and shares on social platforms will be getting lower after a while.
BuzzFeed’s editor in chief Ben Smith is known to get BuzzFeed from being a click-bait news site to a credible and true news source. In one of his articles, he says, “You can trick someone to click, but you can’t trick someone to share.” As he states, clickbait will get you more views at first, but you need shares to improve and get more traffic. As a result, you will only get visitors, not an actual group of customers/followers.
FAQs on Click-bait
What is YouTube click-bait?
Like all content marketing tricks and strategies, click baits are also quite common on YouTube. They usually have un-real or irrelevant images as thumbnail and misleading titles.
What are the common click-bait tricks?
The titles tend to have lists and reasons such as “You won’t Believe Who…” “The Most Shocking 20…”. They are aimed to cause you shock and wonder, and they include exaggerations.
How do I avoid click-bait titles on my website?
Stay away from exaggerated and over-the-top emotional phrases, don’t leave the key information out of the title, and always keep your content relevant.
Concluding on Clickbait
With this article, we figured what clickbait is, is it bad, and how to recognize it. Hopefully, you can further avoid it.
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