By accident, a post can go viral!
But if you want to experience a surge of fresh targeted traffic to your blog, and rich-SEO-juice, there are secrets to creating posts that go viral which you should learn.
We discovered that not every post will achieve viral results, and no matter how much effort and research you put into it, it can fail.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean research is unimportant, on the contrary, it’s the base of what we’re doing as bloggers.
There is a magic touch to writing user-friendly posts.
When last did your post go viral, sending quality and a handful of responsive readers your way?
What Is Your Target?
Understanding the concept behind marketing can help your blog excel.
Before writing post with the intent of going viral, ask yourself what you’re aiming for.
Do you want the post to go viral so that people can visit and leave a comment on your blog? Or, are you selling a product and wants the right prospects to click and buy.
Each of these reasons will have a strong effect when you write the post. And these reasons should speak the same language – relationship building.
Have you determined what you truly want from your post? Now, enjoy these 5 secrets to creating a viral blog post – these are secrets until you know and implement them!
1. The Public Determines Who Gets Publicity
Your targeted prospects are the audience I’m talking about.
Whatever your niche is, there are public opinions every time your post makes it to their email inbox or RSS reader, the first question they ask is, “what can I do for you?”
A lot of people think that ‘what’s in it for me’ comes first. But according to research, prospects measure your campaign with the action you add to it.
For instance, if you added a ‘click here’ button on the banner, what do you think goes through the mind of a buyer? It’s not necessarily the solution you present, but what they will see in the landing page.
They’re expectant – desperate – make your call to action easy and strong.
In this vein, the public determines which post would be shared and linked to.
If you do not get Facebook likes, Twitter tweets and Google plus rating on your post, it’s likely you’ve neglected the public, or, it’s likely you’ve a weak ‘call to action voice.’
You may not know who this public is, until you research the niche and the people you’re writing to.
It goes to say that if contents are shared willingly, the public (targeted audience) are satisfied with it. You’ve shown them what to do, and when they did it, they got what they wanted (what’s in it for me).
2. “The Post is by You, Not About You!”
I would like you to reread this subheading, because, it’s so vital to your blogging career. You may have been committing ‘marketing sin’ without realizing it.
When you talk about yourself, your achievements, the amount of money you earned monthly from your clients and the amount of traffic your blog generates, it doesn’t add anything to the reader.
In fact, you’re giving a bad impression to a reader. The only exception is when you relate personal experience with the topic under discussion and find a way to engage the reader creatively.
For most bloggers who share ‘monthly income reports’ like Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, I think he’s doing a nice job, because, every of his post resonates with helpful advice and strategies to help the reader succeed.
“The post is by you, not about you!”
Write a title that identifies a particular issue/problem in your niche. This problem might be long-term or short term problem but relate it to a person (reader).
Throughout this post, I’ve made use of “you” to show the relationship between what I’m writing, and how it can work for YOU.
3. Visualize The Future
Content marketing is changing very quickly, but the principles are still the same. I strongly believe that no matter the tremendous transformation in the web world, catchy headlines will continue to bring results.
However, marketing strategies are undergoing powerful innovations. Experts and beginners alike are setting up their businesses, creating their first Facebook page and tweeting away. The competition is growing at the speed of inflation and only the ‘visionary blogger’ has the edge.
When you visualize the future, it will guide every post you make. Even before crafting the headline, the visions and images you hold about tomorrow and how people would use the web, will enhance your creative instinct.
For instance, do you know what Google is up to?
Well, they haven’t made it known yet, but I want to let you on a little but powerful secret (Shhh, don’t tell your spouse!).
‘Google is gradually taking the web by storm, and the “#1 goal is to build an engaged platform where people can relaxed, feel at home, find what they want and make investments of time, money and valuable assets without complaining.”
So, how do you share in this goal? It’s very simple actually: “write a post that engages your audience starting with the headline.”
The public will share anything that kept them bound and awake by 12.00 am.
4. Targeted traffic is 10x Better
How much traffic does your blog receive?
Here’s my simple advice: stick with quality and targeted traffic only.
Every effort you make should be directed towards bringing the right eyeballs to take action. It’s a known fact that there are 2 kinds of people online.
These people will likely see your post when it’s live, but one group will take action, while the other will do ‘nothing.’
Why would a certain group click a link and the other finds the link unattractive?
You should know the answer, I already told you above – targeted traffic is 10x better than 10,000 visitors who are not ready to do a thing; click a link, subscribe to email list, buy a product, attend a webinar et al.
The right people will share your post. If the post is extremely valuable, then you’ve to stick with attracting the right audience.
The best way to get these people is to go out there, and contribute quality contents to other top blogs.
They already have what you’re looking for, why waste time with marketing systems which brings server-crushing traffic that takes no tangible step.
Guest posting on niche and A-list blogs is ‘the best counsel’ I can give every blogger who wants to succeed and trounce the competition. Do you understand?
5. Study Headlines That Go Viral
I think the most powerful aspect of article writing is the headline.
It will either promote or demote your blog. I can decide to share your post with my readers almost immediately – the headline is the magic spell – craft it from your heart.
But rather than wasting time, reinventing the wheel and trying all possible best to write a ‘heavenly headline,’ I would rather suggest you go out there and study proven works of art which have made the author proud.
What kind of headline grabs your attention? The list type, the how to type, the resource type, the interview type, the feature type, the secret type et al.
The secret behind crafting headline masterpiece lies in what captures your heart. I discovered a few years ago, that ‘how to’ headlines usually pique my attention.
In fact, I would pause and immerse myself into the entire post. Who says headline doesn’t matter – tell him to read Brian Clark’s headlines at Copyblogger?
Your headline is the first critical step to getting a link to your post. It’s also the first place where readers make a decision to by-pass and visit other blogs.
Add a strong benefit to your headline, and if you want readers to activate the post and read further, write in active voice, not passive!
Why You Should Go Viral
I struggled to get comments and social media love from the public (my audience), but failed woefully.
My post wasn’t moving out. But when I discovered how powerful a viral post can be, I immersed myself into it.
The same thing goes with you. If you want to end the worries, the guess work, the prayers, the sobbing, the complaints and time wasting in your blogging career, challenge yourself to deliver value to your readers.
Remember, the post is by you, not about you – have this mindset always – it’s the key to being successful today, and in years to come!
Image Credit: educational-psychologist