How to Create Viral Content
Everyone wants their blog to go viral. It’s the ultimate certificate of achievement and the best pat on the back a blogger can receive. It’s also not an exact science. There are no rules to follow that can tell you how to make that sort of magic happen. However, there are definitely wrong ways to go about it. There are things you can do that will garnish only a tweet from your mother, and rightly so.
Don’t fake it
Have something to say. Don’t pretend to be interesting just to entice the linkerati. People may have moments of less-than enlightenment, but you should never work on the assumption that your readers are ignorant or stupid. They’re looking for good, solid content to share with their friends and followers. Many of the linkerati are themselves bloggers, and they know what a fluff piece looks like.
Take it for a spin
No one cares about what you think of your dog. It’s great that you love the little furry beast, but the internet doesn’t really need another epic love song from a pet owner to their animal. Look for a more original take on the situation, and find a different angle. Talk about what it’s like when it seems like your girlfriend loves her dog more than you or when you go off to college and your dog starts growling at you every time you come home. It is fine to write about your pet, but keep in mind readers aren’t going to share something they’ve read a hundred times.
Don’t walk the straight and narrow
Let’s be honest—if you go too creative, readers aren’t going to know what to think. If the story has nothing to do with them, they’re not going to care. A story about a challenge you faced while fixing Linux computers may be original, but not many people outside your field will care. Topics about education, family life and general frustrations will always be better received by the majority of readers.
Give it up for free
You have something to offer, whether it’s wisdom or just plain old advice. Don’t make readers click through several different posts while you half-explain whatever you’re talking about. Nothing is more frustrating than having five different tabs open just to read one story. While this does up your click-through rate for your blog pages, it’s only going to hurt you in the long run. Think of it this way: how many times have you copied/pasted an article in an e-mail? Sharing that way doesn’t really work if there are ten links in it.
Variety can spice up life, but ruin your shares
When it comes to sharing your post, you want to give readers options. You don’t want to make them search through a deep list of tiny icons. Ideally, they should be able to hit a button and be done. Consider your market. If you’re primarily based in the West, Twitter, Facebook, Dig, Reddit and Google+ should be all the social icons you need. Any more than that and you’re just wasting their time. Likely, they’ll only share it on one platform, so be deliberate as to which one you place most prominently. If you’re looking to grow your presence on Facebook, make that share button loud and proud.
Whatever you do when it comes to creating viral content, be deliberate about it. Don’t expect mundane content to be enough to get by. Aim high, promote the best of what you do, and make sure you’re doing it well if you’re aiming for viral.
Guest Post By: Jesse Langley enjoys all things search and social networking. He is also an advocate for online education.
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About The Blog Author
Alex Sysoef is an IT Consultant, Internet Marketer and ProBlogger who shares his passion and knowledge of WordPress, SEO, Social Media and traffic strategies on his blog WordPress Howto Spotter. Connect on Twitter or Facebook
14 Responses to “How to Create Viral Content”
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How to Create Viral Content http://j.mp/mPrWFu it all comes down to giving
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RT @thespotter How to Create Viral Content #blogging #Buzz #content #viral http://t.co/m3Qn9Yzi
Twitter: blogengage
says:
Hello Alex. I want to throw the cat among the pigeons here. I think there’s a little more than these points needed to create viral content… A social media plan, tools and tech, creating exclellent and soemtimes controvercial content etc. Thos are just soem of the things. I would agree with giving soemthing VERY valuable away for free, that could really make the difference.
Ivin recently posted..New User? The 411 on Blog Engage
Twitter: barrywheeler
says:
It’s not as easy as you’ve indicated. The part of being “viral” means others must share as well. You can write controversial posts or give something away for free, but how many times have you seen “cute kitty swimming” type videos go viral? Many times what sparks this type of activity by the social activists is something with a lot of spontaneity.
Barry Wheeler recently posted..The Truth About Quality vs. Quantity in Blogging
Twitter: SEO Expert
says:
The first thing you should consider doing is creating content that is good. The next thing you should do is consider putting it on your site if it has a decent size following so it can go viral or do a guest blog a website with a large following so it could go viral.
Caleb recently posted..Internal Linking – Part 5 of the Link Building Guide 101
This is the first time I heard of “linkerati”. Thank you for giving us ideas on how to create viral content. You never know what will go viral—but it seems most viral content is neither planned or thought out but spontaneous.
Twitter: dsmy
says:
Usually things that become viral just happen like Alease and others have said. Best thing to do from the trend of things going viral is to find a niche audience and work on quality content that people enjoy sharing.
David Y recently posted..4 Reasons Why it Should Look Good
I have been pondering on viral content ,maybe a funny info graphic to get viral in social media.Thanks for the help and ideas.:)
james recently posted..how to hypnotize someone
The idea of creating viral content seems like a great theory – but there are so many aspects of it that would have to mesh in order for it really to go viral. I suppose many PR companies manage but they have big budgets and lots of media contacts to get the whoel thing off the ground at the beginning.
Pete recently posted..Television Beds
I think there’s a lot more planning to do when creating viral content. Setting up a viral video for example, requires a lot of planning and tools. It isn’t easy to set up a really good viral. Never the less, the tips are a good start.
Troy recently posted..Itrentalseurope
Passion for writing : The very first factor that contributes in skillful writing is the passion. You should have the zeal to write something creative, something that your readers love. If you’re writing and nobody is reading, your efforts are total waste. Your wholehearted interest in writing will undeniably lead to good write up, worth reading and spreading.
Go with the latest trend : In this fast pacing web world, you need to pick the topic smartly. Old irrelevant writeup does not interests anyone. While planning to write, you should actually spend some time in checking out what’s in and what will interest the readers. Pick the topic that matches the latest trend and interests the readers.
Prefer quality over quantity : Compromise over quality of your write-ups is simply not acceptable. Write less number of articles a day but each write-up should have quality. It should be attention grabbing. In fact, your write up should be magnetizing enough to provoke the reader to stick till the end.
Twitter: ReceptiKolaci
says:
Always prefer quality over quantity. But luck (or undefined parameters) plays great role in that equation too.
P.S. I just want to say that I hate this pop up thingy, it should be removed for better user experience.