I have written blogs for four years for numerous news agencies. As a former reporter, author and journalism major, I am always looking for news worthy material or tips that my readers can benefit from. The rule has been in the past that a successful blog post should be 80% information and no more than 20% opinion.
This is no longer the case.
The most popular blog posts that go viral have similar elements that make them go viral attracting millions of “views” in a couple of days. There are reasons for this that makes a post stand out from the already crowded internet blog highway that everyone it seems has something to say.
So, what makes the blog post go viral?
- Create a catchy, fun name for your site.
- It helps when a blog is affiliated with a news media source, like the Chicago Tribune Media or AOL/Huffington post. These organizations have a brand in place and are optimized correctly to attract larger numbers of people than you can do on your own.
- Successful blogs have an active list of followers on the social media sites, such as Facebook & Twitter. The author of the blog works hard to develop their social media profile.
- Being a good writer is a real plus. It amazes me how many people write blogs who are not good writers. A post must have a good story line and purpose to be well-written.
- Choose a seductive heading that makes its stand out. Swear words with *** are always good, as are clever sexual references, sports facts, celebrity encounters/interviews, fashion and “mommy” advice.
- Write on topical subjects of the moment to catch some of the audience and news-worthy information.
- Use humor to engage your reader and to build an audience. People love to laugh and one reason to even read a blog post is for laughter.
- Offer information that is ground-breaking and unique.
- Post short videos & pictures whenever possible on your blog.
Most of us that write blogs will never get a “viral” post, yet if we touch just one person, it makes it all worth the time spent writing these words.
Filed under: Business, career, Jobs, politics, social media
Tags: AOL, Chicago Tribune, Facebook, Huffington Post, social media, tips for blogging, Twitter
In other words be creative.......got ya
Yes, Craig being creative helps, but you also need to be strategic. Thanks for the comment!