As a professional blogger, business owner or content writer, you walk a fine line between creating flat, boring titles that readers skim past and maddening clickbait headlines that viewers have become accustomed to ignoring. But clickbait isn’t going away anytime soon – in fact, clickbait-style headlines have been around since the inception of yellow journalism in the late 1890s.
So what makes clickbait titles irresistible? And how can you make your content clickable without falling from favor of your audience?
First, Think About Your Buyer Personas
Whether you’re marketing prom dresses to teens or accounting services to established businesses, your blog posts – including their titles – should always target a specific buyer persona. If you’re stuck before you even get a few words down on the page, think about your audience’s pain points.
Ask yourself, “What problem can I help this buyer persona solve?” If a prospect is hunting for answers on a search engine, your title must communicate that your company has the answer, and it can be found on your site. Take a look at the following examples to see these kinds of titles in action:
- New to Instagram? Everything Your Business Needs to Know
- This Just In: 7 Retail Statistics That Will Blow You Away
- Stop Before You Make These Retirement Investing Mistakes
- 10 Things Only Expert Craftsmen Know
Why You Should Write Simple Headlines
By analyzing 100 million article headlines between March, 1 2017 and May 10, 2017, Buzzsumo found that the top five headline phrases on Facebook, as measured by engagement, were:
- Will make you
- This is why
- Can we guess
- Only X in
- The reason is
On the other end of the spectrum, Buzzsumo’s findings indicated that the top five worst performing headline phrases were:
- Control of your
- Your own business
- Work for you
- The introduction of
- What’s new in
However, this research doesn’t mean that you need to or should even include “will make you” in all of your headlines going forward or completely omit the phrase, “control of your.” If there’s one key takeaway from this study, it’s that down-to-earth, simple titles are incredibly popular.
As you craft headlines, make sure they’re clear and practical, so that anyone and everyone can understand them. This means no fifty-cent words and definitely no jargon. Your prospects shouldn’t need to consult a search engine just to comprehend the title of your article.
Write High-Quality Titles Using the Principles of Journalism
As much as we all want a title generator that churns out A+ headlines time and time again, there’s no fail-safe formula to creating popular titles. The internet is always changing, as is your audience and industry. However, one surefire way to ensure you keep your readers clicking is to employ the Principles of Journalism.
These values include, but are not limited to: an obligation to the truth, loyalty to its citizens and an endeavor to make the significant interesting and relevant. When crafting titles for your blog, always refer to these principles. Not only should your headline be intriguing to compel visitors to click, but it should also accurately express what the post is about in order to develop trust with your audience.
Use Clickbait Blog Strategies, Except Deliver on Your Promises
What if we said you could use clickbait strategies without lowering your standards? First, let’s look at the key components of any clickbait article.
Number one: clickbait titles always elicit strong emotions. These are headlines that pique the reader’s curiosity by using words like, “secret,” “forbidden,” “magnificent,” “proven” and “quick,” and convey a sense of urgency.
Number two: clickbait articles are extremely easy to skim. These types of articles are often written in list format and feature videos and images to further captivate the reader.
Combine these two elements, and you have the recipe for a great blog post that attracts and engages viewers. However, instead of leading prospects to your website only to deliver disappointing content, you’ll offer small promises of value – and over-deliver on your commitment. In doing so, you’ll be able to build brand trust, boost your reputation and keep readers coming back for more.
If you want the right clicks that’ll actually convert, it might be time to buy articles from a content development firm. At Virtucom Group, we know what it takes to craft compelling headlines and blog posts that garner the attention of audiences in a wide array of industries. To learn more about our content packages and writing services, contact us today.
