First of all, what is click bait? Click bait is the term used to described headlines that are created to attract attention and to provoke readers into clicking a link that leads to a different webpage, usually an article. Some examples of click bait articles have headlines which read like this:

• 8 Reasons Why You Should Treat Your Parents Well. Number Three Will Make You Cry.
• Local Hunter Comes Face-to-Face with a Bear. What Happens Next Will Blow Your Mind.
• These Odd Looking Buildings Will Change the Way You Look at Architecture Forever.
• 4 Techniques Which Make You A Better Talker. Which Technique is Your Favorite?

Companies like Facebook is guilty of being littered with those types of articles, from websites like Buzzfeed, Upworthy, The Onion, among many others. Personally, I find them annoying because they flood my newsfeed. However, there must be a reason for why they keep reoccurring online. Do click bait headlines work?

It depends. It depends on what the goals of your company or website is and how you define if it “works” or not. According to WordStream, if you are looking to just generate views, then  it will increase your page traffic. If you want more engagement with your content: likes, shares, comments – it will get you more. However, as they also point out, and this should not come as a surprise, click bait can deteriorate your brand’s reputation.

The reason, or the science behind why it works comes down to curiosity. According to this article published in the HootSuite blogs, we “suckers for the unexpected” and that click bait headlines both pique our interest and curiosity while motivating us to click the link.