Clickbait , which in Portuguese means “click-hunting”, is a digital marketing technique whose aim is to increase the number of accesses to a website. In this technique, accesses are obtained through exaggerated, even appealing titles and images, which arouses the reader’s curiosity.The contents that use clickbait serve only as bait to increase the number of accesses and generally do not deliver what they promise, so they may not be considered a good strategy.
Why is it not a good strategy?
In the short term, clickbait may seem like an interesting technique for increasing traffic – number of hits on the site. In addition, if the page has ads, profitability can also grow in the first instance. However, by deceiving the reader by promising what he does not fulfill, in the medium and long term, the site loses recognition and credibility.
This means that if a website’s goal is to become a reference and gain credibility among its readers, clickbait can be a risky strategy.
Imagine that you are surfing the internet and find the title of a story that promises immediate solutions for weight loss. You click on the link and realize that the content is just “more of the same”, that is, it does not offer the miracle solutions as promised.
In addition to leaving this page as soon as you find that you have been cheated, you probably will not access any more content on that site, nor will you even share any of that content with your friends.
Other examples of clickbait techniques are sweepstakes: pages that offer prizes or even cash values for those who click on the link. These pages generally serve only as bait and often lead to a page that does not match the call.
Clickbait is a technique penalized on the internet
For being, in most cases, a lying content, clickbait is penalized by both Google and Facebook. This means that when the algorithms of these tools realize that a content promises responses that it does not deliver, the page will be poorly classified or even blocked.
Example sentences used in clickbait :
- You can’t stop reading!
- Your life will not be the same after this information!
- You will not believe what we have discovered!
- Read it now and change your life!
Alternatives to clickbait
For companies that invest in content marketing, growing the number of hits on their page or blog is one of the main objectives. However, betting on an immediate strategy can compromise the entire sustainability of the brand. After all, considering the speed of information circulation on the internet, in a short time, a company’s reputation can be damaged.
The recommendation of experts for companies wishing to invest in this type of marketing is to produce quality content that delivers to customers what was promised. The results will not be immediate, but if a company wants to be recognized in the market, the immediate strategies can be illusory and compromise the perception of the brand.
