The Insider's Guide to Writing Clickbait Titles - The Secret Ingredient of Viral Marketing

Welcome to "The Insider's Guide to Clickbait Titles - The Secret Ingredient of Viral Marketing". (see what I did there?) Have you ever noticed that websites such as Buzzfeed, Mashable and UpWorthy get tens of thousands of social media shares? Perhaps you've wondered why so many people "Like" your YouTube video on Facebook, but only a handful ever click through to watch it? The reason is that clickbait titles are more tempting than a transparent headline. While 8 out of 10 people will read your blog post title or YouTube title, only 2 out of 10 will click through and read your blog post or watch your video. This just shows you that your choice of title (or headline) will determine if your content will be popular or not. If you want people to click on your blog post titles and read your articles then it's advisable that you use a "clickbait title". Here are the rules you need to follow: Rule #1: Your clickbait title should be 6 to 7 words. If they are too long people will feel overwhelmed. If they are too short they won't be descriptive enough which means people won't know what your blog post is about. Also when it is 6 to 7 words it fits nicely within Google's search results. Rule #2: Use adjectives. When you use words like: "best", "incredible", "unbelieveable" and "try", people are more likely to click on your titles. Rule #3: Use the current year within your clickbait title. When you are writing guides or detailed content, including the year helps with click-throughs. For example, if you wrote a post on creating a blog, your title may be, "How to Start a Blog [Updated in 2020]". Rule #4: Use tools like Portent Headline Generator. It will help you come up with creative ideas. All you have to do is enter a keyword and the tool does the rest. Rule #5: Checkout Copyblogger's headline formula. Copyblogger has created generic titles that work and just require you to enter a keyword. They provide 10 generic headlines that should work for your blog. Rule #6: Know your readers. When you know your readers you can create headlines and titles that are more related to them. For example, most of my readers are marketers that are just starting off. So when I create a title such as "How to Market Your Website When You Have No Money" the content tends to get read and thousands of social shares. Why? Because it is very relevant to my blog readers. Just follow the 6 rules above and you will do well. If you want to go viral, then combine your clickbait titles with clickbait featured images (or clickbait thumbnails for a YouTube video). Thanks for watching "The Insider's Guide to Clickbait Titles - The Secret Ingredient of Viral Marketing". Don't forget to click "Like" and to subscribe to my YouTube channel.