🫚The root causes of the zero-click nightmare (& how to cure)

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Tomorrow’s National Lottery Day. A good reminder of the hellscape when you get behind someone scratching tickets at a convenience store counter. 

We gotta focus on today, though. The Feature Story gets to the root of the zero-click internet. The problem is talked about on every marketing blog and podcast, but the root causes hardly get any thought. 

We’ll fix that and then, we’ll get into the following sections: 

• The Knowledge Base  

• Self Help (idea hunting)

• Facts & Stats (new shopper trend)

• Get Hacking (2 video tips)

Ok, let’s crack open today’s Feature Story…

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Feature Story

Getting to the Root of the Zero-Click Problem

Most of you have read at least ten articles on the topic of the new zero-click interwebs.

Mainly concerning SEO.

Hard to argue it’s not a legit problem for marketers and business owners.

But I don’t feel like everyone knows what’s really causing this nightmare. Everyone just kind of accepts it as the way it is now. Not really questioning what’s causing all this.

Sure, I’ll take the word of smart folks like Amanda Natividad that no one wants to click on links anymore. She coined the phrase zero-click marketing (phrases are critical in this new no-click world, BTW).

And the main things making clicks go extinct are:

• Google and Bing search results answer simple questions without users needing to go to another website.

• Social media platforms wall users in by penalizing outbound links.

• Consumers are less patient today. Even a click seems like too much effort.

Don’t think marketers are innocent in Zero-Click Land. Endless pages of fluff before getting to the meat of what the clicker came to the website for. 

The most obvious examples? Recipe websites that caked on 22 keyword phrases before revealing a 32-word recipe!

So, those are the root causes of today’s zero-click internet. Now. What should you do about it?

Inaction helps.

Stop Wasting Effort 

I can’t see how answering basic questions on your website will help get people to come to your site ever again. 

Popular keyphrases like “what is beer?” or “what is email marketing?” are answered by the Googsters and Bingboys without any blue links. 

However, if you can think creatively, you can win clicks by predicting the next search phrase after basic searches like the two I noted above.

Off top of my head. An infographic showing 70 different color tones of all the beer types available. That could get a click if the follow-up search is “what color should beer be?”.

Google’s PAA (People Also Ask) box can help you predict these follow-up searches. 

Also, if your business shows up on maps, make some educated guesses on how users interact with your map listings.

That should give you ideas on what would lead to a click after the initial search.

The next tip is not something I like suggesting.

Be the Answer (Everywhere)

I hate the idea of marketers melting their minds trying to post on every social media platform, do a podcast, show up on YouTube Shorts, on and on. 

However, if you can’t beat people over the head and drag them off the search results page, you have to show up in more places. Luckily, there are ways to automate that (Buffer and such). 

Some scheduling tools are hyped up to sound easier than reality, so beware.

It’s also vital that you use proper Schema Markup. I won’t get into the techy details. I might put myself to sleep. But you need proper structure so web crawlers can make sense of your content and post it in snippets, for example. 

Use Q&As

FAQ sections can help you show up everywhere too. Don’t settle for posting 9 frequently asked questions at the end of every article and on all your main pages.

Brands have been doing that for a while. Find unique ways to insert FAQs.

Maybe one question and answer per blog section and ensure it fits the section. Maybe three FAQ every 700 words. Put the questions and answers in text, video, and audio format — yeah, it sucks being everywhere.

Basically, you want to be the answer wherever mighty Big Tech machines allow you to be seen. At least when they highlight your brand, your brand gets visibility.

The Visibility Isn’t Obvious, Though

I hear ya, it’s not like you can stick your brand name or slogan into every answer you provide. Or can you?

Well, you can do the second-best thing which is come up with genius phrases that only your brand is known for. Example below. This sorta connects with Rand Fishkin’s take on AI… that since it just predicts the most likely next few words, marketers should use that to their advantage. 

So, if I wanted to answer 99 questions about email marketing to get visibility for this newsletter, Inbox Hacking, I guess I could try something like…

Q: When is the best time of day to send a marketing email?

A: Send it whenever you want to, because every guru you’ll read says “it depends” - and that’s the bottom line because Inbox Hacking said so.

That’s a legit answer BTW. But not a very smooth way to insert this brand into the answer. A better way - after I thought about it on a walk, is below.

Q: When is the best time of day to send a marketing email?

A: Send it whenever you want to, because every guru you’ll read says “it depends,” proof is in 45 useless articles read by the Copy Kingpin. 

The idea is readers might search for Copy Kingpin (my email sign-off), which may lead them to Inbox Hacking.

Not perfect, but you see where I’m going. AI is just a word predictor based on what’s already on the web. So, test this out by searching for key phrases your favorite marketers or creators use. 

You’ll see how the phrases lead you to those people or brands, just like a search for “stylin and profilin” leads to search results all about Ric Flair. He owns that phrase.

The Bottom Line

A final piece of advice for the zero-click hellscape (good phrase back there, you might wanna make your own) is to start taking notes on how you search. And how you consume social media posts.

Those insights can help you creep into the minds of consumers searching for your key phrases and scrolling through your social stuff. 

You can take heart knowing that the good part of fewer clicks is that it gets rid of people not that interested in your offers. 

Fewer clickers means the remaining ones are more interested in what you’ve got. 

As for the common advice to cure this zero-click atrocity? “Experts” say to make click opportunities irresistible. Tease the exact steps for your process. Or a checklist. 

Don’t the “experts” think marketers have been doing that since the dawn of the web! Nobody’s out here trying to make their links as uninspiring as possible. 

Plus, AI overviews can replicate any content you’re trying to tease. Especially a list of any kind. Too easy to copy. 

My best tip is to pick a short phrase and own it. I used a couple examples on how it would work. Not perfect, but to really own that valuable real estate, it’s gonna take some serious thinking. 

It might even be smart for startups to choose a brand name that sounds nothing like a brand, but sounds like the answer to a popular question.

Now let’s feed on The Knowledge Base below.

Self-Help

Ideas are all around us.

Don’t listen to people who tell you WHERE to find the best ones.

Ramble around. Rummage through things. Don’t plan it out. Watch stupid TV shows and films.

You might be surprised where the best ideas await. This quick read proves it (how Nike’s brilliant “Just Do It” originated).

Facts & Stats

Bonus: Wanna guess what the top 4 most hated B2B buzzwords of 2025 were? Answer at end of this email.

Get Hacking

A specific strategy to implement today

2 different hacks for marketing on YouTube.

1. Add timestamps in your description (0:00 Intro, 2:15 Main Point, etc.) and use verbal transitions like "In the next section..." This helps viewers navigate your content and improves watch time metrics.

2. Check Google Trends and YouTube's trending tab for topics in your niche. Create content that connects trending topics to your expertise within 24-48 hours. Title format: "[Trending Topic]: What This Means for [Your Industry]" - this can capture search traffic from hot topics.

If you think the number two is difficult, see this post on how I come up with numerous content angles for the same topic or idea.

Thanks for reading Inbox Hacking. Please share it with your peeps - it’s sugar-free but stings a bit.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

Bonus answer from Facts & Stats section: According to a LinkedIn poll, the most hated B2B buzzwords of 2025 are Synergy, Leverage, Elevate, & Innovative.

"We are not in the business of keeping media companies alive. We are in the business of connecting with consumers." ~Mark Parker, Former Nike CEO

P.S. Another way to capture email addresses, besides the 22 ways noted earlier, is via our sponsor, Smart Recognition. This tool grabs email addresses from your anonymous website visitors. U.S. traffic only. You need roughly 15k in monthly traffic. Book a Demo>>.