These are the tricks used by websites to increase click-through rates:
- Second-person language
- First-person, sometimes, as relationship builder
- Hyperbole about knowledge and information
- Offers of self-assessment
- Claims of insider expertise
- Images of women, children, or animals
The Greek and Roman rhetoricians understood the power of pathos to persuade. Appeals to emotion, especially communal emotions, didn’t need to be analyzed with Google Analytics and brain scans. Likewise, ethos remains a powerful tool. The implied character of online posters, with their firm, confident wording and suggested expertise, leads the curious to click away.
Logic and reason? They aren’t all that effective, according to most current research. In rhetoric, logos might be the ideal, but it isn’t reality.
Still, we do have analytics with lots of data suggesting those click-bait, ad-revenue driven aggregators of trivia know a thing or two about headlines and creating compelling links.
Second Person (and First)
Appeals to “you” from “I” generate more traffic online than traditional headlines. News organizations avoid this personalization, preferring to seem distant and authoritative. Click-bait farms quickly learned that addressing the reader makes it more likely someone will click a link.
“You Can Retire a Millionaire,” for example, suggests the reader can save a million dollars. “You Can…” appears in analytic data sets because its effective and simple. Add it to almost any lifestyle story and you get more clicks. Those two words promise something is possible.
“I Compared Two Stores, and There’s a Clear Winner” demonstrates the power of first-person headlines. This isn’t merely a report of boring (but more significant) data. No, this is a personal story. We prefer individual stories to data, sadly. Reviewers no longer adopt stiff journalistic or academic prose. The “I” in headlines continues within posts. It works, and so it will become more common.
Hyperbole
Users click on hyperbolic headlines and social media posts because they want to confirm that they already knew the amazing or unbelievable information teased. Whatever the topic, it is the most, least, best, or worst. Information is explosive, one bombshell after another. Incredible and amazing are also common in click-bait headlines and links.
“You won’t believe” generates the response, “Oh, yes I will.”
Yes, some of the posts offer new (to the reader) information (“You won’t believe these celebrities’ first jobs”) but many click-bait headlines rely on the human desire to prove “intelligence” or “expertise” to one’s self. We want to reinforce to ourselves that we do know these useless little bits of trivia, or at least that we aren’t surprised by them.
Self-Assessment
Even if you don’t click on these “shocking” headlines, the temptation is likely there. That’s because we want to test ourselves. Will we be shocked? We’re conflicted. Part of us wants to be and part of us wants to fist-pump and proclaim, “I knew that!” These are forms of self-assessment, though the assessment has no value.
Include personality assessment in a headline or link and people cannot seem to resist. “Discover Your Ideal…” or “Your Type… Revealed” are two common frames for self-assessment. “If You’re a Genius, You’ll Be Able to…” makes the rounds on social media weekly. Yes, because only a “genius” notices Gestalt patterns, right?
Insider Expertise
The insider revelation is another click-bait trick. “Chefs Reveal What They Won’t Order” has been trending lately. If a chef won’t eat it, why would you? In the last week I’ve seen exercises trainers won’t use, medications doctors won’t take, and gasoline mechanics don’t buy for their cars. You could spend all day online gathering such insider tips and tricks.
Why do we fall for these? Because we want to be smart, remember? You Can be an Expert, too!
Appealing (or Shocking) Images
And then there are the beautiful women, cute children, and baby animals in stock images that barely relate to the posting content.
A beautiful, barefoot, braless woman in a tight t-shirt is selling me domain registration services under the headline, “You Can Get More Surfing.” She’s the stock photo version of the “booth babes” from Comdex and other trade shows. It’s absurd, but it attracts the predominantly male web developers. They at least read the headline, even if they didn’t click through to the content.
Cute children playing. Puppies. Kittens. We all love those cute animals. Again, they often have little to do with the content, but they attract eyes to the links.
Another trend that has emerged is the shocking image. It might be a diseased lung linked to a vaping ad (disguised as a blog post). It might be acne, with links to a skincare product review. These “you can’t look away” images work, just like reality television exploiting the miseries of other people.
They Work… Should You Use Them?
I ask my students this difficult question, “We know what drives traffic online but are these practices ethical?” Most answer that they are, because competitors are using these headline tricks and search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. If you don’t optimize content and websites, you lose potential customers and revenues.
“But should we make choices purely on revenues or increased clicks?” I challenge the classes.
Students recognize the reality that customers will hire another expert if they aren’t willing to use click-bait techniques.