- Just so we're clear, this video isn't clickbait.
Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake at robertoblake.com,
helping you cerate something awesome today.
Welcome to another YouTube tips video.
This video is one I'm really excited about,
because we're gonna talk about everyone's favorite topic.
A lot of you have been asking for this in the comments.
What is clickbait, and does it work?
Well, here's the thing, we got to actually define clickbait,
because a lot of people have different interpretations
of it, and they're not all wrong either.
So some of you feel that clickbait
is anything that grabs attention,
and it doesn't matter whether it actually delivers
on it in the video or whether it's misleading.
It's clickbait if it was just something that was
specifically designed to get your attention.
I kind of don't agree with that
as the definition of clickbait.
There are a lot of YouTubers who do titles and thumbnails
that are designed specifically to get your attention,
but so does all advertising, so does commercials,
so does billboards.
And again, it's called driving you to engage
and to do a call to action.
That's not clickbait, not at least the way
that YouTube thinks of clickbait.
What you could consider clickbait is if it's a
thumbnail and a title that is completely misleading
based on what the video is, or if it's
a gross exaggeration of what the video is or is about.
So here's an example of something that isn't clickbait.
When a YouTuber like Matthew Santoro
does a top 10 amazing facts,
or you won't believe this kind of thing,
that's not necessarily clickbait.
When somebody like you know, Casey Neistat
does a video that shows that it's like a you know,
first class, what it's like to do first class plane ride,
that was like a huge viral sensation.
Okay, and then he like puts it in the title
how much money that costs.
Well that's not clickbait, that is an attractive
and enticing headline.
It does have the intention of getting you to click,
but it's delivering, almost immediately,
on the promise of the video.
A thumbnail and a title for a video are a video's packaging.
If the packaging wasn't misleading,
and it was just a really good cover,
I mean it's like you know, we judge books by their cover.
If it wasn't misleading and delivered on exactly
what it said it was going to do, then that's not clickbait.
If it doesn't do that, then it is clickbait.
If it unnecessarily drags it out,
it could be considered clickbait.
And again, if it's an accusation
or a gross exaggeration of something,
then that could be clickbait.
There are several channels that do this,
and they'll say something like, you know,
"The cringiest kid ever," or something like that,
and then they'll have like a thumbnail of a face.
That could be considered clickbait because
that's subjective, and it's hyperbole.
It's a huge exaggeration, and in theory
it's impossible to deliver on that,
so it would fit our definition of clickbait very easily.
Here's part two of this you know, video though.
Does clickbait work?
Yes, because if it didn't,
people wouldn't still be doing it.
It does work, people are frustrated with it,
but the overwhelming majority
of the audience of YouTube is young,
which means that they've come to accept clickbait,
they're attracted to it, it gets their attention.
You'll notice that most people who do
quote unquote clickbait, or click-baity thumbnails,
are using bright attractive colors,
and that even if it's somebody's face in a thing,
it'll be something like. (gasps)
It's be some overly you know, produced emotion.
It'll be some inauthentic emotion,
it'll be something that's.
It'll be too much, it'll be over the top.
It'll be something like that for the purposes
of just hyping things.
Hype is something that the young buy in spades,
and that's no criticism to any young people watching this,
it's just the truth.
I know it was when I was younger.
I know that it was easy.
I also know that bright colors, and you know, really,
I mean I hate to say it,
some of the tackiest thumbnails in YouTube do very well,
and then what happens is because people see that,
they mimic it, they emulate it,
and you see this happen over and over and over again.
So we know that clickbait does work.
We know a little bit more about why it works,
but YouTube is making every effort they can,
and a lot of people are getting,
or rather becoming collateral damage in the process,
of them trying to fight clickbait content.
That's why they're giving a little bit more weight
to the relevancy part of the
YouTube algorithm than they used to,
which means that you know, a title, description,
and some tags that kind of go together
and that might be related to other content,
and all of these other things that I talk about
in my really long YouTube algorithm video,
it's kind of using those to combat clickbait a little bit,
but there are people who do really good videos
that borderline on clickbait sometimes
in the way that they title it and that they're presented,
and so a lot of vloggers tell me that,
well their content isn't necessarily search engine friendly.
A lot of YouTube animators tell me that their content
isn't necessarily search engine friendly,
and I would say it's not that it isn't,
it's that it's a little bit more challenging
in that you have to get creative,
but there are ways to deal with it.
Maybe I'll do some more videos
and some top five videos around that,
but the idea here is for you to have a little bit
of an understanding of like why clickbait is bad.
You can make really good thumbnails and really good titles
that aren't necessarily clickbait.
It is possible to really do an interesting story
and to do an interesting thumbnail that works
and is successful and that
people will be interested in watching
without it necessarily being clickbait.
Now, the other thing is, some people make content
that is designed to be clickbait.
It's designed or intended to get somebody to click,
which wouldn't you say all YouTube videos
are designed to get people to click?
But what I'm getting at is that
someone will go out of their way
to have a wilder, zany thing happen in their life
so that they have justification for putting a title
that they do eventually deliver on, up for the video.
And I could go either way on this,
because sometimes I think that that could be okay
or interesting or appropriate,
but I think if you're really going out of your way,
that it's a little bit much.
But if something interesting did happen to you,
and you decided to put it closer to the end of the video
so that people keep watching,
waiting for when's it gonna happen, when's it gonna happen,
then that could be really interesting
as far as, you know, a watch-time thing.
And it might be a really good video that has a buildup,
that's fine, I mean that's what television shows do, right?
So I think that that is you know,
just something to think about.
A lot of television shows tease us with a character dying,
and they'll show the images, and then we have to try to,
we want to figure out who it is,
or oh will the killer be revealed, the cliffhanger ending.
So it's not like people who do clickbait on YouTube
are doing anything new or so wildly dramatic
or original that's never been done before.
Newspapers have been doing it for years.
Television shows have been doing it for years.
Movies even do it with their movie trailers.
Is clickbait the worst thing in the world?
Is clickbait cancer, I don't think so.
I just think that if you make a video,
that the title and the thumbnail is kind of a promise,
and I kind of think that you should keep your word.
You should try to keep your promises whenever possible,
and I think that applies here on YouTube as well.
Anyway, I'd love to know what you guys think.
Do you guys agree with my thoughts on clickbait?
Do you agree with my definition of it?
Do you agree with the examples I used?
Let me know in the comments section
what your thoughts are.
Also hit me up with questions you have about you know,
how to grow on YouTube or any
YouTube technical questions that you have.
The more challenging ones are the better,
and those are the ones I like answering the most.
Maybe I'll make a video about it if yours is really good.
Anyway, like this video if you like it.
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Check out the other awesome content on the channel.
Remember, YouTube tip videos are usually on Fridays.
As always you guys, thanks so very much for watching,
and don't forget, create something awesome today.
As long as it's not clickbait.