Create a compelling headline

 

Ask a question or offer advice in your headline, give people a reason to read your article!

How to…., and 5 ways to…… are great headlines to encourage people to take the time to read your article. Ensure that people know what to expect from your article and that you deliver upon their expectations, don’t promise the answer to a question if you’re not going to answer it. 

 

 

Incite Emotional Reactions

 

Take a look at Facebook and see how many posts there are which don’t have some element of humour, how many shares do they have? It’s almost certain that posts with a lighthearted message are more likely to be shared. The funniest things are usually true, think about your favourite comedian and their jokes. You may find that many of their anecdotes are quirky conclusions of real life events and you should aim to apply the same theory to your content. 

 

Alliteration and rhyming adjectives are great elements to add an amusing attribute to your article and make it enjoyable to read. A line from an article I read recently on hotel reviews emulates this theory perfectly  “The good, the smelly and the tiny telly”.

 

 Envoking other emotions can also help your content to go viral, such as writing a controversial piece about a sensitive subject or challenging a well known theory. These type of articles can spark anger and encourage shares, re-tweets, comments and even follow up articles. 

 

 

 

Informative/Useful

Say something practical and interesting, this gives people a reason to share your content. Put a personal spin on your content to make it truly unique, don’t just rewrite other peoples words. Add in your own experiences, opinions and ideas.

 

 

 

 

Share it in the right places and at the right times 

If you regularly participate in social media activities, you will have noticed that your posts get more exposure at certain times of the day. Take advantage of this knowledge and schedule your posts for the times when your followers are the most active. Encourage shares but don’t be tempted to ask all your friends and family to share everything you post. Not only will this become boring and repetitive for their followers but Google and other search engines are smart, they can pick up on pre-empted shares or links and choose to ignore or penalise these posts. 

 

 

Luck

As with everything a little bit of luck is necessary and don’t give up! Aim to make every piece of content you write better than the last one, that will also help to increase the chances of your content going viral.