6 secrets of viral content

Whatever type of online business you are engaged in, you should understand the importance of content marketing. 87% of buyers say that content affects their choice. And now imagine, what will happen if everybody from your target audience reads quality posts on your blog or social networks!

In this article, I’ll try to explain how to create a viral content: content which would be shared by a huge crowd of people and which would bring you high traffic.

Pros of viral content

Viral content is a go-to thing for online business, and I’m not exaggerating at all. Look at its advantages, and you’ll agree with me:

• Shares in social networks influence the increase of organic traffic;
• It increases backlinks volume;
• Such content enhances brand awareness;
• It can improve site’s ranking;
• Viral content can build readers confidence in you;
• It is a relatively low-cost way of promotion.

I think it is enough to persuade you to use this kind of online marketing. Now let’s cut to the chase and learn to create viral publications.

Secrets of viral posts

If you read this article, you know that it’s not easy to write viral content, although it seems to be easy. In the following paragraphs, I’m sharing 6 main secrets of writing viral posts which would help you attract target audience and get new clients. They are:

1. Choose direction

You should ask yourself why you are doing it. I mean that you should decide what you want to achieve with this viral content, what aims you have. You can choose one of the advantages given above as your goal.

It is easier to develop appropriate content if you understand the goal of your work.

2. Explore

Observe your users’ behavior: where they come from, what they read, watch, buy, and so on. You’ll understand what people want so that you will be able to give it to them.

You can use Google Analytics to get information. The service shows the following indexes: traffic statistics, conversion statistics, ad performance, behavioral factors, online site analytics, and so on.

3. Choose a channel

Now you know better what your users like. It’s time to find the way you’ll inform them. The best place to publish viral articles is your blog. After it, you can share them on different social networks.

Maybe the best channel for your audience is one of the social networks. Everything depends on your users’ preferences, and you should find out them.

One of the ways to do it is to use Hawkeye: the new content intelligence tool by Scoop.it. Enter your users favorite topic into its search box, and you’ll get a statistics on popular articles shares in social networks. Choose a social network which has the biggest volume of shares as your primary channel. 

4. Develop a post

I suggest it is the main step in creating viral content. You should not only write on a topic that is popular among your users, but also present this information in creative, unusual form, if you want your article to get shared.

The first problem we meet here is the topic of the future viral article. To come up with ideas, I recommend you use special tools, such as Serpstat.

Type in your visitors’ favorite topic (as you have already found out it by Google Analytics) into Serpstat search box and go to Keyword Research > Content Marketing > Search Questions. Here you’ll see the list of the most popular questions related to this field which people ask at Google. Choose one of them and write the article as the answer to that question. Don’t forget about keywords. I ensure you: your article would have high traffic if you follow this advice.

Then you should compose the text. There are several kinds of posts which are popular among users in social networks and which are a win-win situation in many cases. Here they are:

• Useful detailed information

People like to read information on how to begin to do something, easy steps to achieve great results in different fields described in simple words. The main thing is that your content should meet the needs of readers. Every step should be described as detailed as possible and at the same time in a clear manner. 

• Text plus media content

Plain text without graphics, images or video is seldom shared in social networks.

It doesn’t mean that people don’t read it at all. It means that even the most boring content can be improved by visualization. Find appropriate funny, nice, or even horrible pictures; it would give emotionality to the text.

• Bonuses

Advertising actions, promotion are rather popular in social networks. People like to win, get presents, use something for free. That’s why periodically you can use this way to attract users’ attention to your content and website as well.

• Breaking and hot news, facts

To know the latest news is a normal need of every person. You can tell those which are related to your field, but it is vital to do it in time and in simple language. Write about the last news, interesting facts and most recent researches.

• Lists

At least for once in life, a person looks for some special tools or services which can help him or her to complete a specific task. And here you can simplify such search making a list of useful instruments, articles, books, experts for your readers.

• Interviews, aphorisms, expert opinions

Many people like and share aphorisms, especially if they are reflecting their opinion or way of life.

Publish an interview with experts in your field, and it would be shared at once.

• Life stories

Storytelling is a popular way of sharing information. Tell about real exciting situations of your or your co-workers’ life and your readers would be grateful for you.

Alternate these kinds of posts, and you’ll get a good return in the form of readers and shares value.

5. Promote more

You should get as much profit from each your article as possible. Make a newsletter with it, share in other social networks, include it into your digest, make friends with bloggers and ask them to share your article too.

Remember, a good post has no limitation period (if it is not news, of course).

6. Analyze

Development and promotion of quality content take time and require analysis.

Check likes and shares on your blog and in social networks to understand if your audience like your content. To save time you can use Buzzsumo (as at the 3d point) or Serpstat.

The last one will show you not only the quantity of shares but also can give the idea for the next post. Just put your domain into Serpstat search box and go to Domain Analysis > SEO Research > Top Pages.

Analyze which pages on your site can become a good base for viral content learning the last column of the given table. Potential traffic shows you the best results the future article can get according to the popularity of this topic in Google and your ranking.

To summarize

Viral content is beneficial for online business, but it’s not easy to develop it.

To make everything properly, you should understand the goal of your work and know the preferences of your target audience. And it is still not enough. Viral content should be well written and published on the most appropriate channel.

To cope better with this task, you can and even should use SEO tools, such as Google Analytics, Serpstat, Buzzsumo, etc.

Don’t forget about promotion and analysis of your work.