Every blogger dreams of creating the next Jennifer Anniston Sex Tape or that one piece of content that’s going to blaze a path across the Internet. If you’re like most you’ve spent hours, or perhaps even days, trying to create something truly remarkable only to watch it fizzle away into oblivion. Well, here’s a secret about viral content: Writing a viral blog post is difficult as you might think. But launching it – well, that’s another story.
You’ve probably already written dozens of blog posts that would qualify as content worthy of “going viral.” Take a look at your blog. See all those Popular Posts that have lots of comments? That’s they type of content you’re looking for. If you have a lot of those popular posts, if your posts just keep attracting more and more comments the longer your blog, then you’re in like Flynn. You already know what you’re doing.
The Basic Recipe For A Viral Blog Post
It must be truly and utterly unique: If you think you’re going to be able to pawn off another Top 10 Tips To Get More Twitter Followers article forget it. Not even if you wrap it up in an expensive-looking infographic. Viral content is original, it’s one of a kind, that’s what makes it so special.
It must create an emotional response: Content only goes viral if other bloggers link to it and your readers share it with their friends, and most people don’t think about sharing or linking because they’re in a hurry. So your content has to be so earth-shatteringly remarkable that they sit up, take notice, and feel morally obligated to share it with everyone they know. Think humor, News, and controversy – these are the types of content that generate emotional responses.
It must make an instant impact: Content that has a clear message that’s easy to see, that’s why you see so many videos and images floating by in your Facebook stream. So your blog post has to immediately grab the reader’s attention and keep them on the page. You’ll need to start with a great title, move on to a very strong and engaging opening paragraph, and keep up the intensity in the body of the article.
You’re Probably Trying Too Hard
Like I said, take a look at the content you’ve already published on your blog. Some of your most popular posts were probably written on the fly, with little or no thought or research. You can do that because you’re the expert. And it’s those articles where you really just let it rip – you provided information or you expressed an opinion, even if it was controversial, and you didn’t worry about “presentation” you were just … you.
That’s the type of content that resonates with your readers and if it resonates with them it would probably have that same effect on everyone else in the blogosphere. The only reason that popular post didn’t go viral is because you didn’t “plan” for it to go viral. You didn’t launch it properly, you just threw it out there and let it flounder on its own.
You Have To Plan Ahead If You Want It To Go Viral
Look, most of us don’t have millions of blog subscribers and even if we did the number of people who’d actually share one measly little blog post is miniscule when you compare it to the billions of people on the Internet every day. To launch viral content successfully you need to have a lot of people sit up and take notice, all at once, all across the Internet. If you don’t give it enough of a boost to start with it won’t be able to sustain the momentum.
The next time you create something you want to go viral, don’t just publish it. Plan to launch it, just like you would if you were launching a new product.
Find three of four other high-traffic blogs who also have lots of Twitter followers and send those bloggers a guest post that links to your new viral content. If possible, plan to have these blog posts all published on the same day. Contact the other bloggers in your network and schedule a date and time for everyone to start Tweeting your link.
All of these people talking about you on the same day in different corners of the blogosphere will make it seem like you’re everywhere and people will wonder what all the buzz is about. And here, it’s just your regular, everyday, remarkable blog post. The only difference is, you planned ahead and gave it the launch it needed to make it go viral.