How Clickbait Works

 How Clickbait Works

 When you think of content that gets clicks, you might be tempted to think of ‘clickbait’. 

This is content designed especially to get people to click at all costs. Often the quality of this content is very poor because all the creators literally care about is getting clicks. 

This is short sighted though in the long run as people who feel they’ve been tricked into reading low quality content are hardly likely to share that content and they’re hardly likely to go out of their way to visit that website again. 

The object here instead then should be to create content that gets clicked and then delivers. This way, those people who clicked will be more likely to come back to your website and more likely to share with their networks – creating lots of new visitors for you.

 Luckily you can have your cake and eat it. The reason that clickbait is so effective at getting people to click you see is that it normally does one of two things: 

∙ Leverages curiosity

∙ Promises something that can change the reader’s life – i.e. offers value 

An example of clickbait then might be an article called: ‘You’ll never believe this incredibly weird trick for losing fat!’ This link gets clicked because it 

a) makes people wonder what the weird trick is (curiosity) and

 b) makes people believe they’ll be able to lose fat (value proposition). Unfortunately, when you click that link it is very likely to be nothing but spam and people are getting cynical to this type of strategy now. Instead then, another strategy would be to find a new piece of research, a forgotten ‘old time strongman’ technique, or a surprising superfood and then to write your article about that.

 One method you can use to lose fat that is little known for instance is something called ‘cardio acceleration’. Now, an article called ‘How to Lose Weight With Cardio Acceleration’ ticks all the same boxes as the link bait because it has value proposition and it offers something new, which makes people curious. Unlike linkbait it is also actually going to deliver on its promise with something new and interesting many people won’t have heard of.

 It’s still a million times better though than just another article saying ’10 Exercises to Flatten Your Abs’ (which we’re all incredibly bored of). In this way, you have taken the principles of linkbait but applied them in a far more effective manner. 

Another tip for creating content that is likely to get shared on social media is to have a very specific individual in mind when you write. This works because social media is really all about communication.

 When someone sees an article that describes them or applies to them directly, they will often share it as a form of self-expression. On the other hand, if they see an article they think will apply directly to someone they know, they’ll want to share it with that person. When you’re not sharing content, you’ll be updating your status with comments and thoughts and perhaps with the occasional image to sell the lifestyle.

 Just make sure that all your posts are providing value in the form of entertainment, information, inspiration or deals. If all you’re doing is promoting your brand, then people will leave you.