Content is design, and our content is full of clickbait, these days. A clickbait headline is manipulative [pullquote]By merely reading a title, you cannot decide it is clickbait outright.[/pullquote]This kind of content thrives on manipulating the psychology of the reader. This is by using titles that give readers very little information (if any) about the content of the post just to spark their curiosity.For instance, a YouTube video title reading: “This blind, autistic boy enters the stage- what happens next shocks everyone.” Of course, everyone wants to empathize with the physically challenged in the society. It makes you curious to find out what the boy did to shock the audience.Other examples of clickbait titles include; You Won’t Believe How This Company Changed the Game 7 signs you’re not as ethical as you think 4 signs you are a terrible communicator By merely reading a title, you cannot decide it is clickbait outright. This is because some catchy titles are actually followed by some meaningful content. They will cause you to expect something, but the content doesn’t live up to your expectations. Unfortunately, the suggested topics are totally unrelated to what you are looking for.Also, they can be vague, just like, “You Won’t Believe How This Company Changed the Game.” The title doesn’t give you an idea of what information the post contains. This is because the content doesn’t match their expectations. Clickbait isn’t good SEO It is a rule of the thumb that one should use SEO phrases in titles that are descriptive of the content. As mentioned earlier, clickbait lacks the information required to show what the reader expects to get from the content. How to make better headlines that still grab attention but aren't clickbait [pullquote]It tends to focus on getting people to the site, and doesn’t focus at all on what happens next.[/pullquote]The reader of today is thirsty for genuine posts, and headlines. Create honest and informative titles What do your readers expect from your post? Capture the information the readers can expect to find once they click. When you structure your titles to suggest that you are offering answers or lessons, they are likely to attract people’s attention.The key to having loyal readers lies in providing value to your readers in your content.