One of the biggest secrets to success when it comes to blogging is knowing how to write content that people will want to read.
Note that this isn’t really about the way you write. Or at least that’s only part of the puzzle.
Instead, writing content that people will go out of their way to read is all about choosing exciting topics, giving them great titles and knowing what it is that makes people click.
Clickbait
A good place to look for answers is “clickbait”. Clickbait is any content that is designed to get clicks, even if it isn’t entirely honest in how it goes about it. Normally clickbait titles are purposefully provocative or misleading and this gets people to click on them.
For instance, you’ll see things like:
“10 Tips to Transform Your Body – Number 4 Changed My Life!”
“You’ll Never Believe What Happens to Woman in This Shocking Video!”
“This Marketer Boosted a Facebook Post: What Happens Next is Awful”
For most people the curiosity/promise of the title will elicit a click even if the content doesn’t live up to that promise.
Clickbait does work and can generate a lot of visits to your website. The problem is that it’s also misleading and as such, it can damage your branding.
The trick is to take what works about clickbait and to use it in a more honest manner.
The Right Type of Title
So let’s ask ourselves: what is it about clickbait that makes it so successful?
The answer is that it looks different, it looks interesting and it promises something unique/that you haven’t seen before. It would be fine, if the actual content weren’t lacking or deceptive.
Clickbait is even more successful thanks to the sheer drought of interesting content on the web. How many fitness sites have you been to where all the articles are on “10 ways to get abs” or “how to eat clean to lose weight”. This content is so repetitive, and most people have seen similar renditions of it already.
The key then is to create content that offers something genuinely interesting, that people haven’t seen a thousand times before and that sounds interesting.
For a fitness site, that could look like this:
“How my fitness addiction nearly ruined my relationship”
“Cardio acceleration: a new type of cardio fitness that burns 300%+ more fat”
“Why bodybuilders are stronger than powerlifters”
These titles are engaging and unique but what’s more is that they’re also meaty and give you the opportunity to offer some really great content that truly helps other people. That’s how you get clicks and build fans!
