Clickbait is very Catch 22. On one hand creators want audiences to find their work, so a simple video of a dog tripping down a step is suddenly given the title MY DOG ALMOST BREAKS NECK IN HORROR FALL. And on the other hand, it can harm your reputation AND your chance of being discovered by new audiences in the future. Yes, a shocking, attention grabbing title may help to bring in people browsing for something to watch, but that initial hit of attention the video and your channel will likely experience a slump.

Some channels thrive on clickbait. Certain channels are infamous for it, but to be known as a ‘clickbait YouTuber’ is not a reputation you want to find yourself with.

So the video of your dog has suddenly reached a million views, great. Yes, you may have a nice amount of revenue in your Adsense account right now, but the hefty dislike to like ratio is going to ensure that any future videos you release are far less likely to appear in peoples sub feeds or recommendations.

YouTube is all about algorithm. The complex mathematics which none of us outside of YouTube HQ are privy to. We need to make sure that our videos and channels do everything they can to stay on the favourable side of that algorithm, and that includes lots of comments, shares, likes, minimal dislikes and audience retention. By drawing in an audience and effectively tricking them with a misleading title or thumbnail, you’re teaching the algorithm that people either dislike your stuff or aren’t willing to stick around to watch more. To the algorithm, that makes you less important than other creators, because your content isn’t making YouTube as much money as others, and that means they’re not going to promote you and help you reach new audiences.

So whilst it may be tempting to photoshop a woman in a bikini into your title card, the reasons why clickbait hurts youtube videos far outweighs the positive.
For more information on how to grow your YouTube channel and promote your videos to your target audience, contact Viral Seeding today.

About Viral Seeding

Viral Seeding is a specialist content seeding and influencer marketing agency.

We offer a personal service, taking the time to understand your campaign requirements to execute a strategy that ensures that we deliver views, engagement, endorsement and sharing via social media.

Viral Seeding has worked on a variety of campaigns such as Greenpeace, Testicular Cancer NZ, BT and PGTips. If you think your organisation could benefit from working with us in the future please get in touch.