Photo by Liam Briese on Unsplash

Most experienced bloggers seem to advise against click-bait titles. Why? They seem to suggest that after a while, it’s unprofessional to keep using such titles. 

But, I say why not?

And Neil Patel seems to agree with me. Or rather, I agree with him.

Click-bait titles are a great way of attracting someone to your blog. They appeal to our basic human nature. We’re all curious, if nothing else. 

This is how advertising has always worked. Grabbing a person’s attention with a one-liner or a catchy opening. I remember the days when there would be these front page newspaper ads with just one word. It was a kind of “watch this space”. The next day, there would be another sneak peak at what may be coming. It was amazing. For a few days, all we did was talk about what we thought the ad could be about. We were all dying to know. And even, if it turned out to be something really mundane like a water-cooler. Who cared? It got us talking about it for days. 

I do understand though what these bloggers are trying to say. What they’re saying is that if you keep using click-bait titles without the goods to back it up, you will fail miserably. Well, I guess that’s the case whether you use catchy titles or not. 

An appealing title will end up attracting a person to your post, but if you’re not saying anything of substance, you’ll end up losing readers. But, the opposite is also true. You write a great post, very insightful and well researched. Yet, the title is boring, vague or confusing. What good will that do?

My personal opinion, strike a balance. I don’t mind click-bait titles. In fact, I think they are fun. But, if you’re going to use one, they try saying something of value. 

I follow this writer on Medium who’s never stopped using click-bait titles even though he’s wildly popular. Sometimes, his posts are good and sometimes they are a load of nonsense. But, who cares. It works for him. 

In all honesty, I think we spend too much time thinking about what we should or should not do while blogging. There’s a huge number of people out there who give you more advice on the dont’s instead of the do’s. I remember a time when blogging was meant to be a pleasure. 

Blogs should be a way to unleash your creativity and maybe share a little of yourself with the world. So stop listening to every piece of advice bloggers have to give. Please use click-bait titles, if you want.

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