Don't you just hate it when...

[Mr Lucky]

...people post half the title then finish it off in the post? Seems kind of clickbaity and useless or even negative for SEO.

Or else it's a title they think is "clever" because it's bit cryptic, but again unless for SEO or forum searches.

 

[Old Nick]

Quite frankly, I don't have a clear opinion on the question, I like the...

 

[Old Nick]

...enigmatic side but as far as SEO is concerned it can actually be problematic.

 

[Suzanne O]

Yes. It happens on bigfooty often which is run by @BIG LLC

 

[⭐ Alex ⭐]

I was excited to click this thread and learn what happens next.

 

[Mendalla]

I was excited to click this thread and learn what happens next.

Ditto. I have certainly been guilty of doing this. It plays well for my screwball sense of humour at times.

 

[badmonkey]

It actually has historically worked quite well on my sites. Many members employ it as well. That said, the site culture has always held the thread be rewarding rather than gimmicky. While not a rule per se, everyone has followed the strategy with great results. Any great story teller maintains a little mystery, a little curiosity.

 

[Wildcat Media]

...people post half the title then finish it off in the post? Seems kind of clickbaity and useless or even negative for SEO.

We have a rule against it. And part of it is due to searchability. If someone does a thread title search, how would they ever find content if so many titles were clickbait?

In an off-topic forum, it could slide. But when we have thousands of visitors per day posting, and Google rankings for many of the topics discussed, it only makes sense to avoid it.

 

[Mr Lucky]

We have a rule against it. And part of it is due to searchability. If someone does a thread title search, how would they ever find content if so many titles were clickbait?

And for the same reason I will often edit any titles that are less than useful for a search. I mean stuff like Help Needed

Just recently someone asked an interesting question about whether it is a good idea to learn by apprenticeship or by college. The thread title was The Apprentice. Nobody even bothered looking presumably they thought it was about the TV show.

Once I retitled it took off nicely.

 

[Stuart Wright]

From a forum owner's point of view, titles that increase the click through rate are a good thing, obviously.
I have some tips displayed in the form for people creating new threads.