How Can You Create Viral Content?

Yesterday, we ran a story that went off the charts (at least our charts) on Facebook and Twitter.  At first blush, there was nothing too special about the story other than it was about a loaded topic — marriage.  What made it so unique?  Well, we set it up to succeed:

1. The story was rushed out to make it into our morning newsletter — and because it was very new, it was the first time most people saw the story.  We had our story up less than an hour after it first broke.
2. It had a great SEO headline.  We’ve been working on this, and the results are impressive when we use the right words.
3. It was written very entertainingly — another thing we’re trying.  It led with a joke.

All this seems like common sense.  It largely is, but it’s nice to see your theories supported.  Speed matters — nobody is going to share a story the 3rd time they’ve seen it.  Old news will always under-perform.  Words matter — we were on page 1 of Google for a long time with this story for logical, straightforward queries.  Style matters — if you haven’t entertained the reader, there’s nearly no chance the reader will want to entertain his or her Facebook friends with your content.

All this has got me wondering: what is the value of the non-viral, less-read content?  That sounds like a future post…