Why do creators often use clickbait?
Why do creators use clickbait headlines? This question will have as many answers as there are comments under this post. People claim to hate clickbait, but why is it everywhere? If clickbait doesn’t work, creators will turn to another way to get attention. The truth is that clickbait only exists when the user clicks on it.
Imagine Without Clickbait: It’s Easy If You Try
Imagine if there was a group of users who had been trained to identify something as a click decoy and their response was not to click on the title. This is a fictitious community that only clicks on content if the title isn’t clickbait-y and is pretty accurate. Creators, whose mission is to reach as many audiences as possible, will obviously change the way they title content. Such a community would produce a different outcome. Reality is different.
One of my recent articles titled “Don’t be afraid to say no to work” told the community exactly this: you can turn down jobs you don’t want to do. Instead of running after every dollar, you can improve yourself and make more money as a result. The title is what I would call unattractive and devoid of any clickbait. If I re-titled it to “How to make more money by working less,” it would probably attract more attention. At the same time, the work will not live up to its promise: you can’t work less and earn more if you have to invest in education, take the time to get better, and only after enjoying the success. fruit. Luckily, Fstoppers doesn’t have an algorithm like YouTube, which tells me that articles that don’t perform well are viewed but ignored or not clicked on.
Clickbait versus attractive
The word clickbait is often used to refer to anything that is not a boring title. There’s a big difference between a purely clickbait title and a lightly engaging headline; however, it almost becomes an art when the headline is about to become decoy. It can be like walking on a rope suspended between two cliffs. If you go for clickbait, you will get hate in the comments. If you’re aiming for a light appeal, the post won’t be interactive. It’s hard to think of headlines that are compelling but aren’t clickbait. One must be able to create a sensational headline, but also one that generates curiosity.
For example, if I were to write an article on how to take sharp landscape photos with a tripod, I might title it “Why every photographer should start using this simple camera trick to take better pictures”. This is a generic title that will get a lot of clicks but will underdeliver if the “simple trick” is just using a tripod. If I had titled it “Tripod: an easy way to take sharp photos today,” it would have been much better. It will create curiosity for those who may not know how to use a tripod, while also impressing because it promises to improve image sharpness.
However, there are really bad clickbait titles. These are headlines like “You Won’t Believe What Celebrity X Looks Like Now”, “5 Ways You Can Make Money Right Now” and “I Did This And Become A Millionaire” “. They over-promise and greatly under-deliver. Sometimes the content has nothing to do with the article or video. These titles are used to generate clicks without providing any real value to the reader. Sure, a bad photo of a celebrity might surprise you, but it’s not worth saying “You won’t believe what X looks like now”. For example, if I write about how I will never replace my camera with a phone, but title my post “Why I Replaced My Camera with an iPhone”, then the article will be considered a bad clicker. That particular title may sound like clickbait, but it delivers on promise: Of course, I’ve replaced my camera with a phone on a number of occasions.
my goal
As a writer, my goal is to reach as many readers as possible. Educational and informative content must reach as many audiences as possible to have an impact. I started writing to make a change, however small, in the photography community. Therefore, I had to create the most compelling headline and lead image. The article content may be the same, but a combination of the main image and the title will get it hundreds of views, while another will take it to the tens of thousands.
Rarely does an article with only a few thousand views attract attention and help many people. Usually, the articles that get the most attention are the most helpful ones. Every time I receive an email, direct message, or grateful comment on content, it’s worth it. There are even some works that continue to attract views months and years after publication. If a piece of work can last, it means that I have tried to create something that not only lives off the hype surrounding a subject, but is also something that is not only useful to photographers. today but also in the next 5 years.
Stop thinking
One way or another, this is a race to spread my message through posts. The more people I reach, the higher my chances of making an impact on the communities I’m in. If catchy titles don’t bring views to my content, I won’t use them.
