Yes, use click bait. Use it wrong, and lose credibility.
Click Bait, according to ComputerHope.com
“Most click bait type links have catchy or provocative headlines that are difficult for most users to resist and often have little or nothing to do with the actual web page.”
Click Bait advertisements
You have probably all clicked on those intriguing ads that pique your curiosity, click on them, and you do not get the information you were hoping to find. This is a Click Bait. Click, and we have taken their bait. We may end up on a controversial advertisement or a page that we have no interest in and would not usually go to. The baiter is happy – the bait took you to a page where he/she wanted you.
We are encouraged to pin other people’s pins every day. Pinterest sends emails with ideas you have shown interest in. Yesterday one of these emails from Pinterest contained a pin I was very interested in. Sometimes I just repin without going to the source, thinking I will return to it later. This time I checked it out first, one click and I was watching a presentation promising to make me $millions. Absolutely nothing to do with the pin cover.
Putting that pin on my board would have resulted in me losing credibility when others clicked on it.
Quite some time ago a pin took me to pornography, I reported that one to Pinterest.
Check the source of the Pin
I have a board to collect beautiful flowers. An email from Pinterest informed me they had removed one of my pins. They assured me I was not in trouble, but the pin on my board was bait to take the clicker to a site not indicated on the pin cover.
Checking the pin source will ensure it matches the pin cover. As a result, you are not propagating a baiter’s cause and your credibility is protected.
The Blogger’s Pit Stop
We value all the blogger’s who come and use this platform to share their posts. The quality and variety they present along with the author’s interaction make for a great blogging community.
Our Crew members are an incredible team who give of their time and effort to encourage others, promote their posts and maintain the linkup quality.
They help keep our Pit Stop family friendly. Recently six posts were found to be click bait. Their covers were interesting bait, which when clicked had no content, just irrelevant advertisements.
Losing Integrity
We don’t like to feel deceived or manipulated by anyone. I get a little annoyed, for example, if I follow a delicious recipe photo and then to find I need to click on another link for the full recipe.
I am not talking about roundup posts that necessarily do this for copyright reasons.
It is the habit of always trying to force me to go to more and more pages that is a bit irritating.
Compelling Headers
This is a hard one and there is a fine line that cannot easily be defined. The guru’s tell us to write headers with powerful, emotional words to connect with the reader.
It is good advice. The problem comes when time after time the promise in the headline does not deliver in the content. Every day I get emails promising to show me how to increase my traffic by thousands. Just follow three easy steps . . . I take the bait in the headline and I can learn from that email, but I don’t suddenly get thousands of visitors. Hey, it is not that easy!
I am sounding a bit grumpy here, but I start to lose confidence in the writer and I begin to take those awesome headlines with a grain of salt.
You can use click bait!
Yes, make great attractive graphics and use powerful headlines to entice us to read your posts. Without this ‘bait’ we won’t open and read it.
Use the best bait to attract readers
To maintain integrity a good rule is to under promise and over deliver. What is Click Bait? Click To TweetTo maintain integrity a good rule is to under promise and over deliver.
Use all the bait you want when your post is going to add value when I read it.
I hope this post has alerted you to the ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ ways to use Click Bait. If you are reading this, you took the nice bait that I left for you.
Have you ever clicked on the ‘not so good’ Click Bait?
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28 thoughts on “What is Click Bait? Should I Use Click Bait?”
Not a fan of click bait, think it is annoying. I see many bloggers using it.
Thanks for your input on Clck Bait.
Thanks for sharing this information Kathleen! I find it irritating as well – especially with Pinterest.
Thanks Roseann, it is very irritating when it is used in the wrong way.
Kathleen
I keep saying that Check before you Pin, Coz You could be the one reported to Pinterest for the Wrong Pin if the origin is unclear..which is usually the case. So I only Pin stuff I have Checked or from a respectable community! Sad that someone felt the need to bring Click bait to the Pit Stop! Glad you caught it in time! 🙂
Thanks for your comments on Click Bait especially in regard to Pinterest. I just had Pinterest remove another pin from my board, this time because of copyright issues. Thankfully they said it was not my fault.
Kathleen
I agree. I don’t have issues with enticing headlines, but when I am taken to a page that has absolutely nothing to do with the headline, I get annoyed. Unfortunately, this happens a lot.
I am not active in Pinterest yet, but I will check where it links to when I do start pinning. Thanks for alerting this to us.
Leo Tat recently posted…Eating Meat Good or Bad for You? Health Benefits, Myths & Why
Thank you for your comments and helpful thoughts on Click Baits.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of Pinterest you could visit my friend Julie who is a Pinterest expert. https://juleskalpauli.com/why-pinterest-business-essential/
Thanks again Leo,
All the best
Kathleen
I’ve clicked to read post that promised me something only to find that the post was either completely off topic or that it was shallow to the point of wasting my time. Both annoy me seriously! I’d rather read a post telling me the cold hard truth than one that promises the moon – and then usually tries to sell me something.
Shelley, thanks for your very helpful comments on Click Bait. I agree with your thoughts and reactions to this practice when it is not honest and is quite deceptive.
Kathleen
Hi Kathleen,
Six at Pit Stop turned out to be clickbait? Did you tell them they weren’t welcome back?
I was once accused of having a clickbait headline but it wasn’t clickbait. I went back into the post to make it clearer.
Janice
There is always a cultural difference of interpretation on the WWW. The thing about your posts is that they always add value. I have never read one of your posts that I have not learned something from.
Keep up the good work.
Kathleen
Kathleen, I am sorry that someone is posting click bait here. Usually the bloggers here are very nice and offer good, legitimate content. I am guilty of sometimes pinning pretty pictures- especially of clothes I like or a home decor idea. i don’t always click through. i never thought that it might be promoting less than desirable content!
Thanks for your helpful comments, Michele. I just had Pinterest remove another pin from my board. They said that the pin breached copyright. They assured me that I was not the one at fault. Most people do try to do the right thing but we need to be careful and also watch our own reputation.
Kathleen
Thank you for being so awesome and taking care of all of us.
Thank you Elise, that is sweet of you to say. We work together for a good outcome.
Kathleen
Kathleen, great points. I usually look at the site before I repin something, but now I think I will make a point to do it every single time. And “under-promise, over-deliver” is always good advice.
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Jean, thanks for your helpful comments. The things that you mentioned help others and our own reputations as well.
Kathleen
I am so sorry you have people using click bait at Blogger’s Pit stop, Kathleen! The advice to click through Pinterest images is a good! I used to do that all the time, but haven’t been so vigilant lately, especially when pinning a pretty home or decor picture.
Thanks for your comments, Wendy. It has stopped on the Pit Stop now. These good habits help us all and our own reputations.
Kathleen
I love this and it’s so true! Click bait is perfectly fine when you can deliver on what you promised, but when your article falls short or doesn’t deliver you lose reader trust!
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So true Charlotte, thanks for your helpful comments.
Kathleen
Thank you for writing this Kathleen and for sharing it on #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I too get frustrated at misleading click bait, and I admit I’ve often pinned interesting items on Pinterest without checking them out first. I’m going to be more careful from now on. Thanks for the tip.
~Christie
My internet connection went out while I was trying to comment before, so my comment vanished into cyberspace somewhere — just like any value click bait promises. Thanks for writing this. So sorry the Blogger’s Pit Stop has even been affected by people who try to post click bait here.
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