The reason for tweaking article titles is to increase clicks and traffic. Poor titles and headlines are like closed doors. We have to make them as attractive as possible to help readers discover our content.
Some people however have gone out of their ways, using all they have, including clickbaits to transform eyeballs on titles to clicks.
Clickbait is one of the internet most common ways to create headlines nowadays. They are promising and sensational and make you believe you will get some wonderful information about something.
The truth is, they are often misleading and do not always deliver what they promise. It has become each day more and more epidemic and you can’t barely navigate without coming across a of couple of these headlines.
Facebook, for example, is trying to reduce the amount of items that use this strategy by constantly tweaking their algorithm. But there is still a lot to be done.
8 tips to attract more clicks to your blog without Clickbait!
1 – Be realistic
Betraying your reader’s trust is something you don’t want to face. Practicing clickbait might make you lose some followers. Also, the temporary traffic you get from using misleading headlines is not worth the reputation damage.
Clickbait may completely ruin your blog and its credibility. Additionally, Google will mark your site as less valuable or spammy if it finds your page not relevant to the user’s search.
Be realistic and stick to the relevance of your content in the titles.
2 – Embrace the art of listicles
Listicles refers to the articles that are displayed in lists. They are the easiest way to capture audience attention since it triggers curiosity.
The best listicles are those that provoke more engagement and interaction from people. Like in journalism, you can also use the 5 W’s and the H” to create your titles. (Who, where, when, how and Why ) This will encourage more clicks as people get curious about know the answers to the question in the title.
3 – Debate base titles
Social media is knowing for being a sea of opinions. Creating controversy can be a good thing as readers like to discuss the issues. Make sure the title is as interesting as the content of the article and give your users a relevant reason to click through. Even if they don’t read until the end, they may want to just skim or read the introduction.
4 – Appeal to people’s emotion
Emotional connection with the users must be created for faster results. However, don’t confuse it with expressing sentiments or opinions publicly in exchange for loyalty. The way you write will determine how people’s emotions can be triggered, so make a smart move.
Try to get someone to agree with you, get people to read your content and try to sell your products or solutions. Words are powerful and if you do the magic thing to reach users’ hearts, you will engage your audience.
5 – Keeping it short
This one step is the key to huge engagement. How long should a headline be? It depends on the social media you want to post content.
For Twitter, it is 100 characters. There is no perfect length, so make it short anyway and clear. A longer headline might be helpful in some cases, but if you want your tiles to be completely shown on search engine result page, keep it to 70-character mark at the most.
7 – Refer to your audience
Use keywords like “you” or “you’re” in the titles. Why? Because it immediately makes your audience feel like they are being directly spoken to and captures their attention easily. This trigger is natural and makes the user think that he or she is already involved in the content. Talk to them in the second person.
8 – Use Keyword in titles
Using your main keywords in the title is a huge way to make it catchy and increase clicks without using linkbait. Readers looking and searching to read more on the Game of Thrones (for instance) will easily click any title that has that keyword in it.
That’s because the keyword in the article title makes it more relevant and answers searchers’ intent more accurately.
While your content is optimized for the keywords, your title with the keyword will drive relevant and engaging readers. Keywords also help search engines understand the topic you write on.
Conclusion
Start to create click-worthy headlines without using clickbait. The tips above allow you to increase engagement and be true to your users. Clickbait might have many fans, but by the end of the day is not worth your effort. Be realistic and prioritize inspiring content.
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