Foolproof guidelines for creating click-worthy titles

If you've never heard the term "clickbait," you still may have seen it in action while scrolling through Buzzfeed or perusing your Facebook wall. The term refers to blog or article titles that make people want to read more by providing just a small amount of information up front – thus, leading to a higher click-through rate. And although clickbait can have some negative connotations, when done right, it's actually a good method for making your content exciting and successful. Take a look at these guidelines for developing more click-worthy titles:

Know Who You're Targeting
As with any marketing tool, the first step toward success is understanding who you're targeting. For one, the content you create and post should reflect your target audience. But your titles, down to the language you use and the format you go with, should be audience-oriented as well. Your titles may be different if you're targeting business professionals versus college students, for example. For the latter, more informal and attention-grabbing language could boost your click-through rate, whereas basic "how-tos" and listicle​-style titles may appeal to the former.

Change Headlines For Different Platforms
Who you target may depend on where the article or blog is posted, so it's a good idea to test out different headlines across the platforms where you post content. A blog article that you post directly to your website may require a more search engine optimization-friendly and keyword-oriented headline, whereas you may want a Facebook post to be a little more emotional or mysterious.

Don't Discount the Basics
Newspapers can get away with fun headlines that use wordplay, puns or other language devices to draw attention, but on the Web, it's all about SEO. That means that sticking to the basics may be your best bet to increase traffic and click through. Use tried-and-true methods like asking the reader a question ("Do you know the best way to prepare your garden for spring?") or solving a problem (i.e. "How to …" or "10 tips for …"). 

Avoid Negative Clickbait
​Clickbait, as mentioned above, is meant to entice your audience by providing only a small amount of interesting information that makes the reader want to learn more. When done well, it can increase your click-through rate while giving the reader exactly the information he or she wanted. For example, "This woman's podcast is making waves: Here's why it's such a success" might be a good headline for a tech blog on marketing podcasts. However, clickbait titles that don't provide the information they allude to can be extremely frustrating for readers. In other words, avoid clickbait for the sake of click-worthiness – opt for a problem-solving or helpful headline instead. 

Keep It Snappy
Long titles are not only denser for your audience to understand, they also sometimes have a negative impact on SEO. Google, for instance, truncates headlines after 70 characters, which means headlines that are longer than that will be cut off. If your headline must be long, at least put all of the imperative (and interesting!) information at the beginning.