Are you wondering how to write a blog post that goes viral? Many bloggers and content marketers are struggling to create viral content. So if you’re at this stage of your blogging career, this article is right for you. Content marketing is a lucrative business and one of the leading digital marketing strategies for B2B and marketers.
Let us examine these blogging statistics by Impactbnd published. The research revealed that:
B2B marketers who’re using blogs in their content marketing mix attract 67% more leads than those not using blogs.
75% of B2B marketers say they’re more likely to use blog posts in their social media content strategy.
53% of marketers agreed that blogging is their top content marketing priority.
Businesses that make blogging a top priority get 13x more positive ROI on their marketing efforts.
There’s more as you can see from the infographic:
Source Image via Red Website Design
Although you might be struggling with how to write a blog post that goes viral, the truth is that many other bloggers are having tremendous success in crafting viral posts.
Hence, the question is:
What are they doing that you’re not doing? What strategies are they using to write blog posts that go viral? Before we go deeper into this article, let us find out why you should always strive to make your blog posts go viral.
Why Make Your Blog Posts Go Viral?
The benefits of viral blog content can never be over-emphasized. Here are just a few reasons. Viral content will:
Increase organic traffic.
Boost website engagement.
Help improves click-through rates (CTRs).
Increase your email sign-up.
Generate and convert more leads.
Boost email opens
Etc
So it is essential to make your blog posts go viral once published. But, as discussed above, your competitors are hitting it big with viral blogs, while you’re still trying to create your very first viral blog post. Therefore, how can you beat the competition with content virality?
In this article, you will discover proven strategies on how to write a blog post that you can apply today and start your journey to virality.
How to Create Blog Posts That Goes Viral In 9 Simple Steps
1. Replicate What’s Already Working
Replicating content strategy that is already working in your niche calls for observation and focus on your part. You must be observant of the top-performing content in your industry and your blog. Then, reproduce your version of the material and publish it on your blog.
In other words, search for blog posts in your niche that have gone viral, study them carefully to find out why they went viral, and craft your copy.
How to Find The Most Shared Blog Content?
There are several ways to identify the most shared blog posts. But we will be looking at a few of them.
A. Perform Content Audit on Your Blog
One of the best ways is to do a content audit on your blog. A content audit will let you see the best-performing content on your blog so that you can create more blog posts on the best topics. You can use the SEMrush “Content Analyzer“ for auditing your site.
Source image via SEMrush
The software provides you the alternative to choose the subfolders you’d like to audit, with checkboxes to streamline the process. And since your blog folder is where you retain your blog, it is the best place to start.
Once you’ve selected your desired folder, the content tool will examine your sitemap to understand subfolders that have the most URLs to audit. Then it will create a list of them on the start page. After that, you can start reviewing your blog to find high performing blogs.
B. Use BuzzSumo
Another way that is common to marketers is to use content research tools to see what content is creating the most buzz. Some of the best in the market are:
BuzzSumo: This tool will show you the best performing content based on the keyword you entered. It helps you to see the most shared posts that have gone viral over time. It’s simple and easy to use.
Google Trends: As the name suggests, Google trends will give you trending topics in your niche according to your search query.
Google Analytics: Google analytics is among the top resource tools for bloggers and freelance writers. This tool will show you the top-performing blog content for your inspiration, giving you blog post ideas that will enable you to create viral blog posts.
These tools offer you the best platforms to find the most shared and most engaging blog posts. For example, BuzzSumo works like Google as a high-performance research tool. So to use the software, head over to Buzzsumo and search for any keywords to use in your writing.
It will give you the most share blog content based on your keywords.
From there, you can filter the result or search through to find and focus on the most popular topic on that keyword. The good thing about this strategy is that you’re not only going to find viral subjects to write, but you’re also going to get tons of blog post ideas for your blog posts.
So, it is a two-way traffic, and a win-win process.
What is more on how to write a blog post that goes viral using BuzzSumo?
With Buzzsumo, you have the option to sort your results by social media networks. For instance, let’s say you want to see the types of posts that are gaining momentum on Twitter. I’m using Twitter as an example because Twitter is my leading social networking site.
In this case, click on the “Twitter Shares” header, and Buzzsumo will do the job for you by sorting through the articles by the number of shares it has generated on Twitter. Now you not only have viral blog content to replicate, but you also have viral blog topic ideas for your next blog posts.
2. Write a Blog Post from Your Audience’ Outlook
Another way to make your blog posts go viral is to put yourself in your ideal reader’s shoes. That means you should create blogs from your perfect reader’s standpoint. Try to think from your reader’s point of view. So when drafting your article, consider the following questions:
What issues is your blog post going to solve for your ideal reader?
Is the blog content going to connect with your readers?
Will your article be a solution to your reader’s needs and interests?
Etc.
There are many more questions for consideration, but let’s leave it at that. So scrutinize your ideal reader by looking through the type of blog posts he is engaging with and sharing with his friends.
The information will give you ideas for what blog content to bring to the table that will resonate with your readers. Base on your findings, re-create what your target audience finds most attractive.
3. Optimize for The User’s Reading Conditions
What am I saying? You can optimize your blog posts for the user’s reading conditions. But how?
Here’s how to do it:
In most cases, your reader is not always at home. He might be in one of these places:
At the office
Running some errands
Doing shopping
Hanging out with friends
Searching for other things online
Etc.
As a result, he is on the move and might not have enough time to read your articles. That is where optimizing for the reader’s reading conditions comes in handy. Therefore, ensure to get hold of your audience’s attention from the get-go with a compelling intro.
Craft an article that will piqué the reader’s interest right away with a remarkable explanatory introduction. But if you’re unable to capture his attention immediately, he will move on to another blog to search for what’s more interesting. Your readers want to share interesting and useful content with his friends.
So give them something to share, and if he cannot read the entire article at the time, he will bookmark it for later reading. That is how your content goes viral. His friends will share with their friends, and the circle continues.
4. Publish on The Best Day of The Week
The day you publish your blog posts can have a significant impact on whether it goes viral or not. Many bloggers do not consider this when publishing content. But it is a good thing you’re here reading this article. Publishing blog content regularly is a fantastic content marketing tactics.
But to help skyrocket your reach and make your articles go viral, find the best days of the week to publish your articles. Your being able to figure out the best day to release content is ideal because more people will be online to interact and share your posts.
That is vitality.
For example, this graphic by OkDork and BuzzSumo shows you the performance of content published on different days of the week.
Graphic via OKDork
The chart shows that Tuesday turns out as the best day of the week for publishing your blog post with the highest margin in social shares. Although there are contradictory results, it also serves as an inspiration for you. So test your blog publishing strategy to pick the best day or posting.
Thus, take advantage of this graphic as a basis for your blogging and content marketing campaigns when publishing your articles.
5. Reach Out to Influencers Before & After
What’s the point of reaching out to influencers before writing your blog posts and after publishing your article?
Here’s why you should:
Before you set out to write blog posts that will go viral, you must create a list of influencers in your industry whom you have built bonds. But, it is also essential to make sure your file has the names of only those who will agree to share your blog content once it’s published.
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When you have your list in place, email them about the article you want to write. In your email, tell them you’d like to feature them in your new article about your chosen topic for which they’re experts. It could be about a subject such as:
How email marketing can improve SEO.
How beginner freelance writers can attract steady writing jobs
Advance SEO tips that will increase your organic traffic and search rankings in 30 days.
Many experts in these fields would like to contribute. However, if the influencers you already know who are ready to share your post are not many, you might want to find and add more influencers to your list to beef up the virality of your content.
How to Find Influencers
As mentioned earlier, head over to Buzzsumo and search for the most shared blog content similar to the one you want to create. From your search result, focus on the ones most relevant to your topic. Then click on the “View Share” tab to see the people who’ve shared the content on social media.
These are people who are most likely going to share your content with their audience. Add them to your list and start reaching out to them. Connect with them immediately by doing the following:
Share their blog content on social media
Mention them on various platforms where they have a presence.
Like their posts
Comment on their blogs
And so on.
Do this for a considerable amount of time before reaching out to them.
There’s more on how to write a blog post that goes viral using influencers.
After that, start sending them emails about your upcoming blog post. For instance, let’s say you’re reaching out to these blogging experts:
Brian Dean of Backlinko
Michael Brenner
Neal Schaffer
Zac Johnson
Mari Smith
Adam Enfroy
Ryan Robinson
Rebekah Radice
Ryan Biddulph
Mike Allton
Adam Connell
Donna Merrill
Anil Agrawal
Lisa Sicard
Janice Wald
Ileane Smith
Your email could go like this:
Hi, Expert’s Name,
I hope your day has been good. I’m writing a blog post on “how email marketing can improve SEO,” where I interview SEO and email marketing experts about the best tips. I would like to include you in the article. Is that something you’d like?
Thanks a lot in advance for your time, as I await your response.
Best regards,
Your name.
The response you get will motivate you to do more. And when you finally publish your article, the influencers you featured will share it with their audience across social media platforms and other marketing channels, including their email marketing.
*Remember*: There is a reason why those experts are called influences. That is because they control the buying behavior of their target market. So if each one of them should share your blog content, there is no doubt it will go viral.
Given this, if you’ve not considered using influencers in your blogging and content marketing mix, please read this article. They have a high capability to help you with how to write blog posts that can go viral instantly.
6. Survey Your Audience (User-generated Content)
Surveys are among the best content marketing tactics. That is because the material you produce is the result of the responses from your loyal readership. The resulting content is called “User Generated Content” (UGC). It has an incredible force to make your blog content go viral.
Your target audience tells you what they want to read from your blog, and you respond positively to their demands. This blogging tip helps you connect better with your blogging community.
It is one of the best ways to write blog posts that will go viral. But you may wonder, how can you do surveys?
Here’s how to conduct a study:
With an idea of what your target audience might be interested in, head over to your preferred social media platform and create a poll. Or preferably, go to relevant Facebook groups and list a few questions for your survey.
There is always an abundance of tools available for your use. Tools like Survey Monkey and Survey AnyPlace are potent tools for conducting surveys. With these survey tools, you can send out questionnaires to your email subscribers.
Here’s a sample survey in the screenshot by the Buffer team on the “Best topic their audience enjoy the most” on the Buffer blog.
Graphic via Buffer
From the screenshot, you can see that the top content the Buffer’s audience want to see more of is a blog “content that will help their readers create and improve their social media marketing campaigns.” Those are user-generated content (UGC) in action,
The top content idea got 214 responses, meaning that over 70% of respondents want the same thing. Therefore, looking at all other suggestions from readers, one can logically say that creating content around those topics will surely go viral.
7. Use Google Analytics to Write a Blog Post That Will Go Viral
Since you are conducting surveys to pinpoint the best content your readers want from you for maximum virality, you should also be using Google Analytics tool to maximize your blogging efforts.
Here’s what Mia Vallo — Sr. Director, Marketing Analytics, National Geographic said about Google Analytics:
“Google’s Analytic products have helped us improve engagement by 33% and click-through-rates by 21% for content promotions on our homepage.” — Mia Vallo
Besides, you can also use the analytic feature of your social media sites where you have a presence to gauge your content performance. Facebook Insights, for example, will give useful data for making viral content.
Moreover, you can use the analytic features of social media management tools. Some of the best are in the marketplace are:
Buffer
HootSuite
Statusbrew
Agorapulse
Blog2Social
These tools will track your social media activities and give you helpful information to create viral blog posts. By using these social media tools, you will get a complete analysis of content that works and what doesn’t with your buyer persona.
8• Include Calls-to-action
Are you using calls-to-action in your content marketing strategy? Don’t answer that, but if you’re not, you should because you’re already losing out on the competition. Call-to-action is an essential element for any business.
These simple copies and buttons are the motivational force that urges people to take a specific action. A call-to-action can move a person to:
Click through to your landing page
Sign up for your email list
Buy your product or services
These are just a few reasons why you should start using this tool. Besides, the study has proven that a simple call-to-action can increase conversion by over 470%. Furthermore, the Unbounce analysis revealed that 90% of website visitors who read your article’s headline also took the time to engage with your call-to-action copy.
Hence, the purpose of a call-to-action is to help users of your site know what action you want them to take. So not using this epic tool will make you lose money. One simple call-to-action can make all the difference in your content marketing campaigns.
But, to increase clicks and conversions, you have to optimize your call-to-action copy correctly. You also need to craft a compelling call to action with designs. Here’s a quick overview of how to design and craft your call-to-action copy as well as the best colors to use, See infographic by Wishpond:
Infographic via WishPond
9. Make Your Blog Posts Go Viral With Social Media Ads
Social media advertising is incredibly useful if you know how to use it. Social media ads are among the most effective ways to make your content go viral. So go to your preferred social media site and create an advertising campaign.
Search for your best-performing blog post and create an ads campaign with it. The cost of Facebook ads, for example, are relatively cheap. You can use it since almost every business has a presence there.
Here is how it work:
Access your Facebook analytics dashboard and search for your content that generates the most engagement. Then head on to your Facebook page and create your campaign. Here’s an ultimate guide to Facebook Ads Manager by Alfred Lua. This complete guide will help you learn the following:
How to use “Facebook Manager Ads” to create Facebook advertising.
How to manage your Facebook ads campaign with ease.
And how to analyze your Facebook advertising campaign.
Bonus Tip on How to Write a Blog Post That Goes Viral: Optimize Your Blog Posts for SEO
Since you optimize your articles for the reader’s reading conditions, do the same for search engine bots, as optimizing for SEO will boost your content visibility and search engine rankings. Much has already been written or said about how to optimize for SEO.
Nevertheless, we created an article on the primary ways to optimize your blog posts for SEO. You can also find the best SEO tools for content and website audits. The SEO audit tools will further assist you to increase Google search visibility and rankings.
Pro tips:
Craft catchy headlines.
Use focus keywords and related keywords in the original title and subtitles.
Write compelling copy with the use of the right keywords in the body of content to increase search visibility.
Wrapping Up How to Write a Blog Post That Goes Viral
To create a viral blog post is the primary goal of every blogger and content marketer. But not knowing how to go about it has become a hindrance to many. We have outlined the top proven ways that will help you make your blog posts go viral.
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