Click-bait. It’s journalism’s version of Taylor Swift—everyone likes to talk about how much they hate it, but they still click on it when it pops up. Though everyone likes to complain about it, it’s hard to get noticed online without it. In a world with datboi GIFs and entire articles dedicated to funny Tumblr posts, nobody wants to click on an article titled “Interesting News in Regards to Olympic Gymnastics.”
So journalism evolved, and now click-bait is everywhere. It’s in your Facebook news feed; it’s in your YouTube suggested videos; heck, it’s arguably how BuzzFeed gets most of its clicks. We’ve all fallen for it, but how do you create it? Now that I'm writing on a website that in which my number of views is debatably dependent on how click-bait-y my titles are, I've come up some rules to create the most irresistibly clickable articles. Below are seven of them. (Number 4 might surprise you!)
1. Name drop.
The best way to get attention for your article is to include a celebrity’s name. Even if the article has little or nothing to do with said celebrity, using their name as a headliner will guarantee that your link will be at least get clicks from fans, celebrity gossip bloggers, and those people who always make a point to comment on how much they hate said celebrity on every article about them.
2. Put the most interesting detail or the best joke in the article in the title.
Even it’s a tiny detail of your article. Even if it has nothing to do with your article’s topic. Even if the joke is in the first sentence.
3. But don’t give too much away.
Leave some mystery in your title! Be one of those websites whose titles are so intriguing that you put up with 7 slides of ads in a 10-slide slideshow, just to find out how the woman got her revenge on her cheating husband.
4. Be outrageous.
If it’s something you’d be embarrassed for your coworker or your mom to read over your shoulder-you’re doing it right. Those are the ones that get the most clicks, anyway.
5. Use exclamation points!
Exclamations are proven to get attention on the internet! The more you use, the better!
6. Use buzzwords that are guaranteed to get people’s attention.
Try these words: Puppy, kitten, pets, Trump, Kardashian, Clinton, Sanders, Obama, Olympics, DIY, fail, win, racism, sexism, homophobia, guns, Adele, Bieber, Lochte, free, hacks, money, goals, relatable.
7. If all else fails, use these classic phrases:
“What happens next will surprise you!”
“You won’t believe what she says.”
“This (insert thing here) will melt your heart.”
“Check out the jawdropping transformation!”
"This story will inspire you."
So there you have it: seven foolproof tips to creating the best click-bait titles. But don't think that this is just good for articles. You can use this on your vlogs, for your research papers, and even on the commercials on the 10 p.m. news. How many times have you been scared about what surprising germ was coming from your shower drain just from the news commercial? It's a click-bait world, and we're just living in it. Why not use it to your advantage?
You won't believe the answer to that question!
