When we think about things that have “gone viral” the most popular items to top the list are probably YouTube videos that all your friends seem to have posted to their profile pages.
Another example might be clever cartoons everyone at the office has forwarded to everyone else (of which you get ten copies in one morning).
However, the idea of your blog going viral might at this point be a distant dream rather than an overwhelming reality.
But what if you could get your blog to spread as quickly as Justin Bieber’s haircut among pre-pubescent teenagers? There’s obviously no scientific formula to making your blog go viral, but below are four ways that might get you those 15 minutes of fame time and time again.
What Makes Blogs Go Viral?
There are really two reasons that blogs go viral. The first is that the content is worthy. The second is that the blog is shared enough times via various social and other media outlets that you reap the benefits of the attention. So when you’re asking yourself how to make your blog go viral, you want to take those reasons and apply them to these two basic concepts. 1. The content has to be worthy. 2. It has to be shared enough times to make a difference to your company/purposes.
ONE: Think About What You Like to Share
The content has to be relevant. You can’t expect a blog about your undying devotion to your newest, most favorite i-phone ap to go viral ten million times around the world. Is there something that’s going on in the world now, or something that your finely tuned gut instincts are telling you will be the next big thing? Write about that!
Think about what makes you share content that you’ve received. Does the content help you solve a problem, change your point of view, or change the way you’re going to structure your business? The kind of stuff that makes you want to hit that “share” button is the reason others will do the same.
TWO: Pluck at People’s Emotions
The second part of making your blog go viral is based on emotional IQ. What can you write about that will make people laugh and want to share that amusement? What new issues, ideas, and concepts make your blood pressure rise with excitement or anger? Think about whether or not your blog content hits at least one of the emotional high notes or low notes listed below before hitting the “publish” button.
-Is it funny?
-Is the content incredible or unbelievable?
-Does it resonate in either a positive or negative way?
-Is the content regarding something you passionately support?
-Does it make one stop and think?
-Is the content fresh and new enough that it’s not all over the mainstream media?
-Is it light and fun enough for people to share with friends, co-workers, grandmas and grandpas?
-Could you say the content is dramatic?
-Is it embarrassing?
-Is it just provocative enough to catch attention but not so much you’ll shirk at sharing?
THREE: Make it as Easy to Share as a Facebook “Like”
This is a fairly straightforward concept. If you want your blog to go viral, you have to make your blog easy to share. Think about how an actual virus spreads. It’s a contagion that no one is prepared to receive and no one can stop. This means you have to make Facebook and Twitter share buttons easy to access on your site. End your blog post on an exciting enough note to make someone want to share it. You can’t run out of steam at the very end or your audience will lose interest and the would-be virus will grow cold.
FOUR: Consider Using Infographics
A blog isn’t going to go viral if it’s not compelling to the eye. Infographics are a stellar way to get people’s attention and make your blog go viral. These graphics have two things going for them- they’re fun and easy to look at and they can summarize the main points you make in your blog. If readers don’t want to send the entire article to everyone they know but they love the way you’ve encapsulated the information into an attractive graphic, they’ll share it. Infographics can not only help readers make a statement about themselves (which they love) but gives them something worthwhile and attractive to post on their profile pages.
Summary
In my own situation I have found blog posts that target a hot topic within a niche do well for me. For instance in my country (Australia) there is a network marketing company called Lyoness which went into pre-launch here late last year. So I wrote a blog post about it called Lyoness Australia – Soon to Open. Apart from the fact that this post quickly went to the top of the search egines (without ANY backlinking activity from me!), I got load of comments – almost 50 at last count.
Clearly this tactic works well because I focus on the make money niche, then narrow it down to one geographical location, and lastly I try and write about topics that are topical and a little bit ‘hot’.
Even though I only write about 2 articles a month for this blog site, the fact that it gets 17,000 visitors a month demonstrates that sometimes it is better to work smarter and not harder.
Try it.