Creating viral content is the main goal of most online companies. However, these companies also struggle with the most important thing — creating content.
Shareable content drives traffic to websites because of the attention they get from social media. Unless other people share your content, it will be useless no matter how great your website design and content is.
Here are some tips on how to create content social media will fawn upon.
Think about how your content will make the sharer look.
Research suggests that the number one thing people consider before sharing content is how it will reflect on them. Humorous content will make sharer appear funny. Content that triggers empathy will make the sharer look like an upstanding member of the society.
Put yourself in the sharer’s shoes. Will you share your own content? Ask yourself this question everything you write or post something.
Be especially careful with crafting headlines because this is the first thing people see in the post.
Ask people to share the post.
Social validation is a real phenomenon. People are more likely to share something if they see that someone else shared the post. This means that the content was already validated.
If you have new content, ask family and friends to help you share the post. This will spread your reach and make the content more shareable.
Remember, the heart of a small business is its website traffic. One effective way to gain more traffic is to come up with a viral post.
Think about how valuable your content is.
How valuable is your content? It doesn’t matter what the topic is as long as your content is truly useful.
The internet is full of trashy content, and you don’t want to add another one to the pile. If you’re not sure if your content is valuable, ask people to help you evaluate your content. Ask an expert, someone who knows a bit about your nice, and another person who knows nothing about it.
Brainstorm ideas and find a topic that needs to be elaborated. Unique and informational content is always previous. Magicdust recommends “hiring a crafty writer to create engaging content if you can’t come up with it on your own.”
Post rich content.
Content should not just involve text, you need to add graphics and videos so visitors will not get bored. Media will also make your content more shareable. Of course, your content looks great with your web design. If pictures are overlapping or some won’t load properly, you will drive visitors away from your website.
There’s a greater chance for your content to go viral if you add images and videos. The type of content will depend largely on the social media platform. If you are sharing content on Twitter, focus on videos and images with a catchy teaser. If you’re on Facebook, a long post is acceptable.
Make it consumable.
Content needs to be a quick and easy read. You can’t use difficult words to make you sound smart. If a reader has to do a quick search to know the meaning of a word from your post, you’re doing something wrong.
Another tip is to avoid long sentences. Keep paragraphs short but informative. This format is especially attractive for mobile users. Don’t forget to place images in between paragraphs to complement your story.
Viral content rarely results from luck, there is a science behind it. You need to plan the content creation process carefully and provide value-added information to get more shares.
