While “fake news” may be the scourge of the internet in 2017, it would never have existed if clickbait hadn’t paved the way.
But why? What's wrong with using a clickbait headline?
Well, it seemed like a good idea at first. But the internet is an emotional place, where new things tend to take off, so a good way to get clicks was to make the headlines more exciting. Except… many companies failed to take into account the growing cynicism of users.
Problem #1: Clickbait relies on sensationalism
Most clickbait headlines appear only around other clickbait headlines. Whether it’s organic search results, social media posts, or anywhere else they appear, clickbait tends to be grouped with other clickbait. So it quickly becomes a whole bunch of people all jostling for the user’s attention.
Sensationalism is not a sustainable long-term strategy. If it's done only occasionally, and not mixed in too much with other sensationalist material, then it can work. It's a lot of time and money spent on something that users are learning to ignore, so sensationalism is the first big problem with this type of headline.
Problem #2: Clickbait tends to be deceptive
As part of its sensational nature, clickbait tends to promise an amazing story to anyone who clicks on it only to deliver mediocre content at best. The article itself is rarely able to live up to the hype of the headline, and in many cases, offers no useful information to the person who clicks on it.
Essentially, clickbait headlines ask visitors to trust them, then they betray that trust once the link is clicked.
In fact, more likely than not, users will develop a negative opinion of your company as a direct result. They don't even need to click on the links anymore. Simply seeing a clickbait headline is often enough to convince them not to trust anywhere.
Problem #3: Clickbait headlines bring in visitors, not readers
Even when clickbait titles are successful in getting visitors to a site, it won’t necessarily help the company make a profit. When users find themselves dissatisfied with the content of the site, which is a very common reaction to clickbait, the first thing they will do is leave.
This gives the site an extremely high bounce rate, and even those that remain probably won't be interested in clicking on the products, much less the ads.
Full article at seopressor.com