It’s no secret that professionals in the online media industry love traffic. Not the road rage, bumper-to-bumper kind of course, but the online traffic that puts a spike in our Google Analytics, proving that our content is getting the visibility we crave.
The hunger for online page views has resulted in the most unfortunate of practices: click-bait headlines. While you may not know the term, you’ve definitely been exposed to these devils while browsing your social media feeds. This week, Facebook announced that an abundance of click-bait headlines (and dissatisfaction with the practice among users) is the reason for the social media giant’s newest algorithm changes.
The term “click-bait” refers to a headline that has the sole purpose of making a large number of internet users click the corresponding link. It’s true that this is the purpose of all headlines, which are crucially important to attract readers. However, click-bait resorts to sensationalizing in order to increase the view counter of the article, which is often written to increase the source’s website traffic. This practice results in higher placements on Facebook’s newsfeed without adding any actual value.
Here are some real examples of click-bait headlines:
- “You Won’t Believe The Ridiculous Purchase This Man Just Made. Why? Just, Why?”
- “The 3 Biggest Mistakes You’re Making With Your LinkedIn Photo”
- “The Surprising Thing That Could Be Killing Your Productivity”
I would be lying if I said these headlines didn’t pique my curiosity, as they most likely did for you. However, while click-bait headlines and this resulting interest may drive website traffic, it can create a bigger problem than low viewer stats. Because of click-bait’s overly exaggerated nature, the headlines are often deceiving. The audience clicks the link expecting a big, even groundbreaking story, only to be immensely disappointed with the ordinary:
- “You Won’t Believe The Ridiculous Purchase This Man Just Made. Why? Just, Why?” – An unidentified man bought a carnival-sized teddy bear, and was spotted in a parking lot trying to load it into his car.
- “The 3 Biggest Mistakes You’re Making With Your LinkedIn Photo” – Not having a photo is the #1 mistake listed.
- “The Surprising Thing That Could Be Killing Your Productivity” – Noise (not too much of a surprise).
As information sources, we shouldn’t have to trick our audience to get them to read our articles. It’s important to establish trust with those who consume the content we produce.
Take the time to write superior content with an accompanying expertly crafted headline. It will speak for itself. Viewers will come, seeking out the expert knowledge you provide, knowing that you are a trusted source because you deliver what you promised. This type of traffic is immeasurably stronger than a huge influx of viewers who come to your site, feel cheated and leave, with increased wariness of your reliability as an information source. The quality of viewers far surpasses the significance of the quantity of viewers.
On a positive note, I am happy to say that Facebook’s algorithm changes are not the first steps taken in the fight to end click-bait. It seems that the practice’s increased annoyance has caused more media outlets to cut down on its use – it was more of a struggle for me to find recent over-the-top examples of click-bait for this blog post than I had anticipated! The industry is picking up on the negative long-term outcomes that this practice brings, hopefully leading to more deception-free readership in the future.
What is one of the most outrageous click-bait headlines you’ve read recently?