Home New? Start Here Viral Content Marketing Podcast Toolbox Contact
 

 

2,897 Words on How to Create Viral Content (The Key Element Behind Every Successful Blog)

93

viral-contentOne of the first lessons that newspaper journalists are taught is to structure their content so that the most important information is first, with the importance decreasing as you read through the piece. Pick up any newspaper around you and you’ll see that the first few sentences contain the most crucial elements of the event.

This not only creates impact, but also allows editors to simply snip off the bottom paragraph of a story if they need space for other articles. As the final paragraph is the least important, their editing does not affect the article too much. I’ve already shared how I personally became a much better writer (though I don’t rate myself that highly) and now I want to get into the specifics of how to create compelling content.

Your Headline

Your headline, in my opinion, is by far the most important element of your article or blog post. It of course matters what you say after the headline, but only if you can actually get people to read your article. The job of your headline is simply to get people to read the first sentence of your post.

Your headline doesn’t just need to be attractive to people who stop by your blog regularly. If you use Google Reader in a list format for example – like I do – then your headline determines whether myself or anyone else using the service will click on your listing to read the post. Similarly, if I see content posted on Facebook or retweeted on Twitter, that same headline will determine whether I click through to your website.

The following advice is my take on how to create a headline that draws your readers in and helps your content go viral.

Don’t tell me something I know: If your headline says something like “Why exercise is good for you” or “How to increase your feed subscribers” then I probably won’t read it. It gives me nothing but the expectation that I already know most of what the article is going to share. If you want someone to keep reading, you need them to feel like they’ll actually get value out of the time they’re going to spend doing so.

Headline example: Printer Cartridges Are Expensive

Challenge someones beliefs: One of my most popular posts on PluginID bore the title ‘Smoking is Good for you’. As everyone knows, there are many reasons why smoking is detrimental to your health, so this caused quite a stir and invoked the desire for people to continue reading. I followed up the title with a good twist in the article, which is important if you’re going to write your headline with such an angle.

If you write an article – with the content to back it up – which tells me why “running is bad for you”, “people don’t read blogs anymore” or “[common tactic] no longer works”, I’m going to read the post. Humans love taking in new information, but we hate holding on to information which is incorrect, so challenging beliefs can be a very powerful to get eyeballs on your content.

Headline example: Why Buying Another Printer is Cheaper Than Buying Ink

Offer a hidden insight: This one is very common in the internet marketing space, with titles offering ‘keys’, ‘secrets’ and ‘crucial aspects’ about different topics. I’ve used them myself in posts like this one and my article on ‘The Secret to Growing Your Blog Twice as Fast with Half the Effort‘.

This works so well because the title suggests that by reading the article, we’ll learn something we wouldn’t have known otherwise. A year or two ago I did this for a popular topic – how to increase feed subscribers – but in a way that was new and promised value. The title was ‘How to Increase RSS Subscribers (One Method You Probably Don’t Know About)’. Are you more likely to read that article than an article with the same title, but without the brackets?

Headline example: The Real Reason Behind the High-Cost of Printer Cartridges

Ask a question: If the question you ask is relevant and intriguing, people are going to read your post to see why you feel a certain way about something. Headlines with questions are also one of the best ways to get people to leave comments on your posts. The question automatically gives them something to say in response.

Discussions start from questions, and this is a great way to get a conversation going in your community, especially if you make bold statements on a hot topic. There’s a great example of this kind of post at Copyblogger, where the author asks: Is Commenting on Blogs a Smart Traffic Strategy? [Link]

Headline example: Do You Know Why Printer Ink is so Expensive? We Reveal the Truth

I’ve received a lot of praise for the headlines I use in posts and I’ve been asked numerous times whether headline writing comes naturally to me. The answer is no, it doesn’t. I find inspiration from magazine covers, books, and other bloggers along with my own imagination. I also spend quite a lot of time on each title and it’s never something I just “throw out there.”

Keep these ideas in mind, and you’ll soon be writing headlines which capture the attention of your audience and help your content go viral.

Your Introduction

introduction

If the job of your headline is to get people to read your introduction, then the job of your introduction is to get people to read further into the post. I believe that if your introduction is interesting and compelling enough, there’s a better chance that people will read your entire post, rather than just skimming through or ignoring it all together.

I definitely have a lot of work to do on my own introductions, but do have some advice to share which I think can help you.

List some interesting facts: I think the introduction for this post, regarding newspaper journalists, would have been interesting for most people. The information it shares must have some value, simply because I was able to remember this myself and then pass it on to you all. If you’ve naturally remembered a small nugget of information about a topic, there’s a good chance it’s interesting.

If your facts are both interesting and relevant then it’s a great way to keep people hooked on what you’re saying.

Offer a teaser for later in the post: If you could easily work out who the killer was at the start of an episode of CSI or figure out the plot of a movie after the first 5 minutes, we just wouldn’t watch them. Smart television and movie producers “sprinkle” teasers throughout the length of the production to keep you hooked until the end where you find the answers.

Promise your readers the answer to something you know they’ll care about, and make sure you stick to that promise, but only by offering small nuggets of information as they get towards the end of the post.

Ask a question: Though questions can make very effective headlines, I personally don’t like to use them in this way. I prefer to use them in introductions. This way, you can both ask the question and answer it to offer value straight away, or you can use it as a hook.

Similar to the last point, you could answer an intriguing question and then promise to answer it towards the end of the post. A good one from the book Made to Stick is the question, “What are the rings around the planet Saturn made of?” I’ll tell you at the end of the post ;) .

Use Reverse Psychology: I recommend you use this sparingly as too much of this tactic will annoy readers rather than encourage them to read your post. I used this tactic in my ‘most important blog post‘ article when I wrote “This blog post is quite long so you probably shouldn’t read it. To the 50% of visitors who are still with me, I’ll say now that less than 1% of you will get to the end so you may as well leave now.”

I can imagine some people will take this too far and tell their readers in every post that they aren’t going to read it or they won’t enjoy it. Trust me, this tactic only works when you use it very, very sparingly. Think of some unique ways you can apply it and you’ll be on to a winner.

The Middle (The “Meat” of Your Content)

The middle of your post is where you get across your main points, provide value to your readers, and offer lessons you hope that they take away from the article. For example, in my post on How I received over 900,000 visits from Google in 30 days, I began by proving my facts and claims in the headline. The meat of the post was exactly how I was able to do that.

Although I mentioned this earlier, it’s very important that even if you have a great intro and a great headline, the meat of your content must match up to those high standards. If you have extravagant headlines and can’t follow them up with great information, you’re just going to annoy readers and they probably won’t come back.

In other words, if you’re going to offer some “secrets”, make sure they actually aren’t that well known.

Be personal: One of the best ways to get your points across is to speak about personal experiences. On the most basic level, this means that you should be open to sharing both your failures and your successes. In my article about generating more blog post ideas, I was more than willing to share that I had been struggling to come up with things to write about.

The reason that being personal works so well is because people can relate to what you’re saying. And, if people can relate to your content, they’re more likely to take your advice to heart and engage in your site. Don’t be afraid to use personal stories to help get your points across. It’s probably one of the most effective things you can do.

Provide concrete evidence or examples: I’m lucky enough right now to be in an industry where people know enough about what I’ve achieved to trust what I say. However, that wasn’t always the case, especially when I was blogging about personal development. In order to get your point across and have your ideas stick, it’s good to have enough information to backup your points so that they really can’t be disputed.

I often include images of ‘roadmaps’ when I talk about complicated subjects like my SEO strategy in big industries, and always try to include examples to help people create a picture in their mind of what I’m talking about. Evidence and examples might not help your post be more viral, but it will help solidify the ideas you’re trying to share.

List your most important points first: I can’t remember where I first read this, but it makes total sense, and it’s something I’ve tried to implement in all of my posts. If you’re writing a list post or ever just listing points in a certain order, put the most unique and/or valuable at the top of the list.

I believe the simple logic is that if you’re going to share points that are interesting and someone hasn’t heard before, they’re more likely to continue reading than if your initial points are just generic and nothing new.

Keep Your message simple: In most cases, it’s best to keep the message you’re sharing simple. Or, if it is complex, at least keep it to one idea. The best blog posts tell you one thing and they tell it well. Seth Godin is a master at this. If there’s a key message that someone can take from your article that they understand fully, then they’re more likely to pass that message on.

An example of this is my post on blogging partners, which was one of the most popular on the site. I said a lot about the subject, and covered it in-depth, but I really just stuck to one idea: If you want to grow your blog faster, find a blogging partner.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo Da Vinci

Your Summary and General Readability

summary

The summary of your post, in my opinion, is the least important aspect of your article. The hardest part of anything you write is to get people to read it, and then continue reading it until the end. Similar to what newspaper journalists learn, your best information should be in the introduction and main sections of the article.

If you rely on the summary for people to “get” what you’re trying to say then you’ve just wasted 80% of your writing, in most cases. Although the summary isn’t as important as the other sections, there are some recommended ways to use it.

End with a powerful statement: The more articles I wrote, the more I found myself trying to end them with a message that left an impact on the reader. Movies do this all the time; if you’ve seen the end of Inception then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Just because you’ve got your main message out of the way, it doesn’t mean you should get lazy with your article. On two random guest posts that I’ve written, here were two of the endings:

  • “Those thousands of subscribers are waiting for you. You’ve just got to be ready for them.” from Copyblogger.
  • “Now, can you please promise me you’re going to share your value with the world? Because I can promise you, the world is waiting for it.” from TylerCruz.com

Start a discussion: This will be the third time I’ve mentioned starting discussions and asking questions. I do so because I believe that conversation is really at the heart of blogs, and one of the main things that makes them so different from static sites. Often times, people will want to leave a comment, but they just aren’t quite sure which part of the post to share their thoughts on.

You can use your summary to remind people of the most important points, and ask questions around any of them. This should help to get the comments flowing.

Summarise Your Post: Although very obvious (it is called a summary, after-all), I couldn’t leave this point out of the post. A good suggestion for ending is to pick the most important advice you’ve shared and repeat it in bullet-form. Another option, where relevant, is to give people an action plan as to the steps to take next after reading your advice.

My final suggestion, which is not directly related to making your content viral, would be to offer links to other relevant posts on your site. If people like what they’ve just read (and they probably did, if they made it to the end) then they’re likely going to want to see other articles you’ve written.

Readability

I generally break many rules when it comes to readability, but I still try to include the basics when I can. Even if you write the best posts in your industry, nobody is going to take the time to read them if you just list paragraph after paragraph without any formatting or line-breaks.

There aren’t many things to remember when it comes to making your posts scannable. Here are a few things that I think you should:

  • Use Bullet Points: Just like I’m doing here, separate some lists into bullet form which not only breaks your post up into sections, but helps people skim your ideas if necessary
  • Use Section Headings: I often use H2 and H3 tags to define different sections of my posts. This way, I have a clear outline of my beginning, middle and end, so visitors can decide to read just one section or all of them combined.
  • Bold important sentences: If people are going to skim your posts, make it easier for them to take value from it by highlighting your most important points
  • Use clear sentences: Unless you’re trying to appeal to English literature graduates, you don’t need to use fancy words or complex-sentence structures. Keep your sentences simple. And remember: What you say is far more important than how you say it.
  • Break things up with images: Another good way to structure your content, without using headings, is to use relevant images to break things up. I like to have one in the introduction, as do many other bloggers, and more throughout the post, depending on the length of it

Many of these suggestions are aimed towards people who aren’t going to take the time to read every word that you write, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The whole point is that they’re reading your content and enjoying it in their own way, and then sharing it if they like it.

Many people will also skim an article first, and if it looks interesting, go back to read the whole thing in detail.

To those of you who read the whole post, and want to know the answer to my question about Saturn, the rings are believed to be made out of dust-covered ice. Are you going to use these tips to make sure that your next article is a hit?

Tweet



93 Comments


  1. Dan says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:35 am

    Great piece, I love how your using this article to show the tips you are suggesting.

    And yes I will be using these tips to make my next article a hit!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:03 pm

      Hey Dan,

      Awesome! Let me know how it turns out :)

      Reply
  2. BritinBeirut says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:35 am

    You’re spot on, interesting titles are the way to go. If I hit it with a good title I always see my numbers go up. I’m blogging for a specific, niche audience, so it’s quite easy to create witty titles they’ll appreciate.

    Great article, as always.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:06 pm

      Hey Brit, good to see you over here.

      Thanks for the comment and kind words!

      Reply
    • Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek says:
      August 12, 2010 at 2:08 pm

      Not only does a good title help people get interested, but if you can mix in some SEO/keyword research AND still make the title interesting, it seems like you could really have a powerful combination of natural interest and search engine traffic.

      Reply
      • Glen says:
        August 12, 2010 at 3:30 pm

        Indeed.

        Good point :)

        Reply
  3. Mike says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:36 am

    First!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:02 pm

      Third ;)

      Reply
  4. Nabeel | says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:38 am

    Hi Glen,

    What I loved about this post is the detail that you gave to make any article/post an excellent piece.

    I also loved how you implemented the points that you mention in this very post and how you mentioned the headline first, then the introduction, then the middle then the summary. It made it really easy to understand your point!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Kindest,
    Nabeel

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:02 pm

      Thanks Nabeel

      Reply
  5. Devesh says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Awesome long depth post.. You’ve made some awesome points. I think headline and content plays a major role.
    Thanks for sharing this great Post Glen. Keep up the good work man.

    ~Dev

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:02 pm

      Hey Devesh,

      Definitely, the headline is huge when it comes to getting people to read and share your post.

      I hope all is well…

      Reply
  6. Felicity Marsh says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:48 am

    Some really great stuff here! Writing doesn’t come naturally to me and this has definitely given me some great ideas!
    Thanks Glen!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:01 pm

      Hey Felicity,

      It certainly didn’t come naturally to me either. Thanks for stopping by :)

      Reply
      • Felicity Marsh says:
        August 13, 2010 at 10:51 am

        Hi Glen,

        I think it’s great that you reply to everyone that has commented!
        I have only recently discovered ViperChill and it’s definately one of the best blogs i have come across and soooo helpful too!
        Thanks

        Reply
  7. Anne Lyken-Garner says:
    August 12, 2010 at 11:48 am

    I read the whole article even though I already knew the answer to the Saturn question. :-)
    This is very good advice. I especially liked the point you raised about including a personal twist to your articles. I’ve said this in an article I wrote once. My point was that most articles have been done several times before (even this one). However, the way you’ve made this different is by giving your personal experience on the matter. You can rest assured that no matter how many others write this article, they can never say it in exactly the same way because they can never have your experience.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:01 pm

      Exactly Anne, great point.

      I hope things are going well your side? :)

      Reply
  8. Tanya says:
    August 12, 2010 at 11:52 am

    Thanks so much for such useful information!!

    I’ll be sure to implement some of these in my next post.
    Especially the title. Its always the most challenging part for me and now I have some guidelines :)
    T

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm

      You’re very welcome Tanya,

      Thanks a lot for the comment!

      Reply
  9. Rizzy says:
    August 12, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    Thanks for the great content. It has been bookmarked.
    I know I will be using these tips to help start and grow my blog.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 12:54 pm

      Hey Rizzy,

      You’re welcome. Let me know how things go

      Reply
  10. Tim Brownson says:
    August 12, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    I wish I’d read this sucker yesterday morning when I was struggling like hell to come up with a post title. I went with Creativity Guaranteed and on reflection it sucks a tad. “A Way To Creativity You Have Never Heard Of” would have rocked!

    I like the twist thing too because that creates an anchor and people are more likely to remember the information. Even an average film can leave you being blown away with an incredible last 5 minutes.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:11 pm

      Hey Tim,

      It has been a while!

      Great to see you over here. Liking the redesign of the site :)

      Reply
  11. Martin @ veebimajutus says:
    August 12, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Well, 2,897 words worth reading, definately! Great post as always, Glen. Bookmarked this post and will re read it when starting a blog.
    I totally agree that people are more likely to read your posts if they feel similarity with you and your experiences. So it’s a great tip to be personal and write about your failures and successes.
    Waiting for the next post, Martin.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:49 pm

      Thank you very much Martin,

      Hopefully the next post will be up on Monday / Tuesday ;)

      Reply
  12. AM says:
    August 12, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    Hi Glen,
    As always you did great job and provide solid knowledge to your readers.

    But putting sweet talk aside :) I have a question regarding my current project. Couple of weeks ago I started to develop my own CMS system. I know, I know, there are gazzillions of them already. But I was inspired by one of polish bloggers who wrote that on polish web is hard to find solid and trash free website which could serve for article marketing purpose. So I started to code and progress is nice and probably in few weeks more I will be ready to launch it. What I see as foundation of this project is quality of articles that will be approve to publication (probably I will be reviewing them at the begining) and usability for visitors. Why I code it from scratch? For fun, for knowledge, for having exactly what I need and for relatively easy fixing of errors.

    So, my question is: does that project have a chance to survive and hopefully gather some recognition and some profit (I intend to place two AdSense banners per one article page, at top and at bottom of article content)? Or it’s just a waste of time and I will gain only new programmer’s skill? What do you think? I have my moments of doubts so encouragement will be appreciated :)

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 7:24 am

      Hi AM,

      Building one of those sites is really not my area of expertise. I believe they can be great for getting search engine traffic (and making more money from Adsense) but only for now. Traffic to sites like ezinearticles is declining, and I think higher quality information and sources will eventually take its place on an individual, rather than sitewide, level.

      Reply
      • AM says:
        August 13, 2010 at 8:05 am

        Thank you very much for your answer. In fact I noticed some info around the net indicating that article hubs are no more so effective way for promotion as they used to be. My biggest concern is that I know very little about SEO so getting high ranking in search result probably won’t be easy. Hopefully I will manage to get it high enough before google will ban that type of sites :)

        But on the other hand I know that if I can pull this off and finish this project and at least couple of people will sign in and write some good content I will have motivation to create another site (or sites), probably on subject familiar to me like software development with very narrow specialization of topics. Maybe whole site about how I managed to write my own CMS for marketing purposes and earned $1 from it :)

        Once again, thank you for your comment and the job you are doing here for all of us :)

        Reply
  13. Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot says:
    August 12, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    What happens when everyone starts using killer headlines?! That will be confusing. I rate you for writing and teaching by the way:) Did you mention that you have to get the most important part of the headline in first? And that numbered posts like this one are recommended for a reason – people do love it. I like the way you got a number in here.

    I’m having fun with my headlines. It’s one of the most enjoyable part of writing the post and wraps it all up nicely. I try to make it fun too. For example I wrote about SG’s books and called it In Bed With Seth Godin – got a few people interested and at least made people smile:) Then I went to a blogging conference with Darren Rowse and made the headline Would You Travel 1,846 Miles to Meet This Man? Oh well, it keeps me happy:)

    Reply
  14. Mars Dorian says:
    August 12, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    Nice Glen !

    That’s what I call an essence article. Personality and readability are everything to me, and I try to make my articles as informative and entertaining as possible. It’s a pure challenge, because English is my second language, and I suck at writing and grammar in general. But with enough passion to melt the sun, I will master this sooner or later.

    This is the kind of magic that one can read over…and over…and over again !

    Do you have a tip on writing faster ? I sometimes take hours to create a post, and it’s like one third of your size ;)

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:22 pm

      I write articles like this in about an hour and a half (before re-reading, editing, adding links etc) Luckily, I don’t have to do much research…I just write.

      Cut out distractions, create a structured outline, and don’t stop. Also, learn to touch-type if you haven’t already :)

      Reply
  15. Srivathsan G.K says:
    August 12, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    I just came to the page and read the whole awesome article because of only reason, The headline. If you had not included the word 2897 words, i wouldnt have come. because I can see lot of articles on web writing abt creating a viral content. But this post is worth reading :) You simply rock !

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:16 pm

      I actually thought that would have put most people off, rather than attract them.

      Interesting.

      Reply
  16. Evan says:
    August 12, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    I think people read posts differently to books or newspapers or ads.

    The best way I’ve heard this described is that people scan newspapers but mine blog posts. The headline probably matters but after that people may skip around looking at the bold and bullet points and so on – and maybe go back and read the whole thing or one whole paragraph that has the bit they are interested in.

    It would be interesting to know how people read this post.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:17 pm

      Hi Evan,

      That’s the exact point I made towards the end of the post. A lot of people will skim an article then and then read it in full if they like what they saw.

      Thanks for the comment :)

      Reply
  17. Dean Saliba says:
    August 12, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Wow this was certainly an eye-opener.

    I never knew newspaper journalists worked like that, which is worrying because I wanted to be one years ago!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:48 pm

      I’m glad you took something from the post, Dean :)

      Reply
  18. Mark Thompson says:
    August 12, 2010 at 1:42 pm

    From my experiences it seems that when you use statistics or numbers in your Title, it can double your CTR! For example, “How to Increase Your RSS Subscribers by 200% in 7 Days”. This is very similar to what you were talking about at the beginning of your post and I think your blog does a great job with that. Using stats can also be a great way to get people to download or provide their contact information for a whitepaper.

    Great Post Glen.
    Mark

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 1:46 pm

      Hey Mark,

      Thanks for the comment and tweet. For anything other than word count, I would definitely agree with you.

      Good to see you here.

      Reply
  19. Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek says:
    August 12, 2010 at 2:06 pm

    Love this post, Glen. It’s amazing how you take a topic that’s been written about a million times (basically, how to create good content), and still turn it into a compelling, useful article. Thanks man.

    Reply
  20. Vincent says:
    August 12, 2010 at 3:02 pm

    Hi Glen,

    I used to neglect this area when writing my articles. Now I understand why are other articles faring better than the one on my site. Writing is a skill that we need to polish consistently. Anyone can create content but only a few can create great content that are worth sharing. One example would be this article here.

    Regards,
    Vincent

    Reply
  21. Rebecca says:
    August 12, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    I attempted basically this same post today and you really out-did me. I love how you break this down and I am taking many, many of your lessons to heart for my next post. I espeically like the headline examples as headlines are really as important as they say. Thanks for such great information.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 3:29 pm

      Hey Rebecca,

      Sorry about that ;) — I’m sure yours will be great too.

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  22. Caion says:
    August 12, 2010 at 3:13 pm

    I have a humor blog with videos and pictures, the posts do not usually have text, but the headline on twitter and content aggregators much influence, that is visible!
    Glen Thanks for the post! Hug

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 3:31 pm

      Hey Caion,

      In a way then you’re lucky. Just make sure those headlines are powerful :)

      Reply
      • Caion says:
        August 12, 2010 at 4:40 pm

        In fact, after watching Viperchill tried to optimize the titles, and studied about it. So they create powerful :D

        Reply
  23. Alessio says:
    August 12, 2010 at 3:27 pm

    Glen,

    Thank you once again for sharing your insights with us! I love the way you keep producing quality content that delivers so much content to your readers. Bookmarked this one, along with many other ViperChill posts and hope to produce such valuable content myself.

    Thanks again, Glen.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 12, 2010 at 3:32 pm

      Hey Alessio,

      Your domain name made me laugh :D

      Glad you liked the post!

      Reply
      • Alessio says:
        August 13, 2010 at 9:25 am

        Haha!

        Glad you liked my domain name! :)

        Reply
  24. Jeremy says:
    August 12, 2010 at 4:17 pm

    Great article! I am always inspired, but have a hard time focusing, this gives me the template I need to get my thoughts together and publish. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 7:07 am

      That’s awesome Jeremy,

      Thanks for the comment!

      Reply
  25. Bamboo Forest - Tick Tock Timer says:
    August 12, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    Quite the piece you put together.

    I’ve recently realized that I don’t do subheadings in my posts as often as I should. Reason being because I wasn’t really a fan of them. But I’ve realized that they’re essential for blogs.

    I guess I was never that drawn to them because when I read a post I almost always read it in its entirety. I’m not a skimmer, though many people are. So you have to cater to them.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 7:08 am

      Hey Bamboo,

      Long time no comment ;) .

      Couldn’t agree with your last sentence more. Don’t forget that not everyone takes in posts like you do.

      Reply
  26. Oscar - freestyle mind says:
    August 12, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    I honestly think this is the best article I’ve ever read about writing. Good job as always.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 7:09 am

      Wow. Big statement Oscar.

      Thank you!

      Reply
  27. Dawn Marrs says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    Hi Glen, Thanks for this great refresher… this article really was a great reminder to remember who you’re writing for. I also wanted to stop by and say thanks for the great content on the SPI podcast… You and Pat are just as fun to listen to as you are informative… high five :)

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 7:17 am

      Haha, thank you Dawn,

      Glad you enjoyed both!

      Reply
  28. Craziest Gadgets Jeff says:
    August 12, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    I’m impressed that you wrote a headline like “2897 Words on How to …” and then managed to write an article of exactly 2897 words (yes I counted). my site is more photo based, so some of the advice isn’t applicable but the headline stuff certainly is. but i think my problem is that i’m not getting “viral spreaders” to spread it around. how do you attract those type of people?

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 6:59 am

      You attract them by either hanging out where they are, or building an audience of them.

      P.S. I wrote the headline after I counted the words ;)

      Reply
  29. Joe Wilner says:
    August 13, 2010 at 2:46 am

    Glen,
    Awesome post as usual. Very good advice on writing an appealing title. This has been something I feel I struggle with at times. Sometimes I want to get fancy and creative, but also want people to know what they’re going to get. It’s a balance between the two I guess. Thanks!

    Reply
  30. david says:
    August 13, 2010 at 3:01 am

    Glen,

    You can’t do that! I think it should be illegal to write misleading headlines. My dad often times only read headlines, he will tell me the ‘news’ all the time and he is often wrong! He thinks it is bad for him to stretch now! All because of misleading headlines. I feel writers, especially those affiliated with the news have an obligation to be as straightforward as possible. Otherwise you will misinform people.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      August 13, 2010 at 7:21 am

      Hi David,

      I think you’re missing the point. For example, in my post about Smoking is Good for You, the headline was misleading. Yes. However, the core message was not to take what other people around you say as fact, and be sure to test things on your own in life. Having a message like the smoking one, caused far more people to get the message, and helped them relate to it a lot more.

      The point isn’t to be deceptive. It’s to cause a reaction in the mind of your reader so they can grasp the lesson.

      Reply
  31. Felix Albutra says:
    August 13, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    I guess I am included on the 1% of readers who have read this long post till the end.

    Thanks for sharing this great information my friend. It really benefited me. I really love reading your contents on this blog.

    - Blogging Access.com

    Reply
  32. Paras says:
    August 13, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    Hey Glen
    Could you be more specific braking the paragraphs so that they continue the readers attraction?
    Thanks
    Paras

    Reply
  33. Carolee says:
    August 13, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    Wow, this was great!

    I love that you mention to be personal- people buy from people, not companies. If you have personally experienced what you are talking about, it will have more clout than just a bunch of words.

    I am a skimmer, then a reader!

    Reply
  34. Asha - 13 Years Later says:
    August 13, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Thanks, Glen, for this really helpful post. As someone just getting started in this area, I’m glad I ran across your article now, rather than after spending months posting ineffectively. I’ve actually bookmarked this post so I can come back to it for pointers as I go. Thanks!

    Reply
  35. Salman Munir says:
    August 13, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    As usual another beautiful article. Thank you Glen for sharing these wonderful tips

    Reply
  36. Alex Wideman says:
    August 13, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    I have to say Glen, this article is complete garbage! You completely missed several points!

    I am completely kidding of course. Even though most of this isn’t new to many of us, you have compiled an amazing resource that includes almost every tip out there. No more reading 100s of blogs and articles. Whenever someone asks me a question about SEO, backlinking etc. I refer them to this blog.

    Reply
  37. Kathy says:
    August 13, 2010 at 3:51 pm

    I see that you are not shy about covering a topic in full with just one post. Kuddos to you for being thorough. In the beginning of the article you mentioned how journalists are taught to start with the most important information first. I had never realized this or thought about this protocol before. Yet, now that you mention it, I often recall reading only first half of an article and then getting bored with the way the article was heading. I think this might be the reason why. Very interesting indeed. You learn something new every day.

    Reply
  38. wilson says:
    August 13, 2010 at 7:07 pm

    Just reading your posts I’ve learned so much from the way you format. Every time I read your post I remember the stuff I read unlike other blogs. The best thing I like s the heading and the pictures, I think that kind of gives the reader a little break or room to take the information in and then go on.

    Thanks man I am glad to see you posting more often.

    Reply
  39. James M says:
    August 13, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    ViperChill is quickly becoming a bible of sorts for blogging. If I were a poet, I’d write an ode to it, but instead I wrote a quick blog post to spread the word to my five readers (have to start somewhere).
    Love the information, keep it up for all of us.

    Reply
  40. Lye Kuek Hin says:
    August 14, 2010 at 10:45 am

    Hi Glen,
    I think you have list several important points in writing a viral content. That certainly helps in my planning of the next posts and i will be bookmarking this article for my reference. There is a lot examples in your posts that i can learn from, this is indeed useful. Thanks.

    Reply
  41. Michael says:
    August 14, 2010 at 11:22 am

    Hi Glen
    I agree with everything you say here and enjoyed how eloquently you say it.

    Reply
  42. zezebel says:
    August 14, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    Hi Glen.
    Thank you for sharing all this.
    I am still new in blogging and will try some of your tips in my blog.
    Keep on giving ideas on how to be a great blogger like you.

    Reply
  43. Podcast Host, Tim says:
    August 14, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    Hi Glenn,

    I just found your blog through Pat Flynn’s Podcast and I have a strong feeling that visiting this site will become part of my weekly routine.

    Keep up the great work.

    Reply
  44. Haider says:
    August 16, 2010 at 12:04 am

    Hi Glen,

    The title of the post had a “reverse psychology” effect on me.

    2,897 words? Oh, so you think I wouldn’t read a post that long? We’ll see about that! :P

    Great tips. It’s definitely crucial to write attention-grabbing headlines, and an engaging introduction. A couple of things I may not be doing much justice to.

    Reply
  45. SnowmanUT says:
    August 16, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    This is a great post full of information on how to do quality blog posts the attract readers. I have been scouring the internet for information on blogging in preparation of starting my own blog and came upon ViperChill. This is a easy to understand and straight forward blog on blogging that provides valuable information compared to most out there. Thanks for the good info.

    Reply
  46. Arlene says:
    August 16, 2010 at 11:59 pm

    Good information about the titles. This help me to think outside of the box. Thanks

    Reply
  47. Kevin Matthews says:
    August 17, 2010 at 9:15 am

    Hi Glen,
    Just heard your interview on Pat Flynn’s podcast – really excellent to listen to and congratulations on all the achievements you have made so far in your life.
    Subscribed to your blog now so I can keep up with all your excellent posts!
    Kevin

    Reply
  48. Alex says:
    August 17, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    This is a hit! These are great tips I’m going to implement. I like how you mentioned write simple, and the way you write is so simple but its better than writing complicated. Its only important if you learn something out of it.

    Reply
  49. Dustin Stevens-Baier says:
    August 19, 2010 at 5:56 am

    Good post Glen! Its interesting to read about what makes a good post from someone who writes so many of them. I am not sure how you come up with such long insightful posts but I will definitely take advantage of it and keep reading. Thanks.

    Reply
  50. Richard Chidike | Motivatory says:
    August 21, 2010 at 10:20 am

    yeah Glen.. i agree with most of the points mentioned in this post. I have to stat making the most of some of your recommendations. most blogger writer and not to note that they are not just writing for themselves alone.

    Reply
  51. Tej Kohli says:
    August 23, 2010 at 9:20 am

    Its a best Advice who looking for viral marketing , but sometimes its need knowledge into some other tools which needs many attention that make blogger to unable to get the desired affect

    Reply
  52. Haroun Kola says:
    September 1, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    Thanks for this great post. so much valuable insights you’ve shared and I’ll use to get my posts worthy of being shared in a big way :-)

    Reply
  53. Ryan Biddulph says:
    September 4, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    I certainly will use the tips Glen, thanks for sharing your in-depth insight.

    Readability seems to be a chief factor. Even when you get the content down the delivery determines if people stick around to read it. Think short and punchy when designing.

    I like your advice on titles. I will give more thought to titles in the future.

    Ryan Biddulph

    Reply
  54. ViperChill Monthly Report 11 says:
    September 6, 2010 at 9:06 am

    [...] 2,897 Words on How to Create Viral Content (The Key Element Behind Every Successful Blog) [...]

    Reply
  55. Alin says:
    September 24, 2010 at 8:22 pm

    Just found about you today. I’m going to read all your posts these days.Thank you for all the info you share!
    I decided few days ago to start again some websites and try to make a living from them so all your blogs are helping me a lot.
    I have a question: I see you use many great images in your posts, where are the pictures from?

    Reply
  56. Jonathan Manor says:
    October 5, 2010 at 12:39 am

    Awesome work! This is about the 4th post I’ve read from you and all of them seem pivotal to my progress as a blog owner. Such great timing too, I’ve seen a plateau in much of what I could do with my blog earlier this week, so viewing a blog with such essential work that also links to even more incredible sources is quite valuable.

    Thanks!

    - Jonathan Manor

    Reply
  57. 多多秀 says:
    October 9, 2010 at 2:21 am

    I certainly will use the tips Glen, thanks for sharing your in-depth insight.
    thanks!!

    Reply
  58. Usman says:
    November 30, 2010 at 5:55 pm

    Good Headline Title to a blog Posts attract Users towards reading the Post

    Reply
  59. Robert Vayner says:
    March 26, 2011 at 12:44 am

    Glen,
    any lean startup can make this article part of the tool kit for preparation or execution but especially during launch, thank you !

    Reply
  60. Daniele says:
    May 11, 2011 at 9:57 pm

    Very nice and usefull post. Thanks fronte Italy

    Reply
  61. Zakariyya M Spain says:
    September 22, 2012 at 1:19 am

    Hey Glen,

    I do appreciate all this guidance you are providing through these emails. I have come to expect them to educate myself more. And to say the least, emailing blogging makes sense to me. For quite sometime I have been trying to make sense of it all and what pertain to internet marketing and how it works to no avail.

    I have taken a new turn and focus. Hopefully, I should attain some success.

    Thanks, Glen.

    Reply

Did you enjoy this post? Please leave a comment below...

Comments are my number one indicator as to which posts people enjoyed the most, so your feedback really does help me. If you have any questions, feel free to ask those as well...

Cancel Reply



  • - Get all of the latest ViperChill posts

    - Exclusive access to my favourite SEO Tools

    - Free 18-page PDF on SEO products I've purchased



    Popular Posts

  • How to Really Build Backlinks and Dominate Google
    518 Comments
    Unmasking the Biggest Tyrant in Blogging
    438 Comments
    WordPress SEO: The Only Guide You Need
    417 Comments
    The Future of Blogging: I Had to Tell You This
    403 Comments
    The Highest Converting Facebook Page I’ve Ever Seen
    350 Comments


  • Get Free Updates






  • Topics










 
  • About

    Hey, I'm Glen. In February 2009 I quit my full-time job and have made my living from the internet ever since. Having previously worked as the Social Media Manager for the likes of Nissan and Hewlett Packard, I took my skills and successfully applied them to my own projects. ViperChill is the place I share everything I've learned in order to help other people make a living online, and to live in the Cloud.

    Unlike most people in this industry, I don't make my living online by teaching other people how to make their living online. If you would like to learn more about me, then click here.
  • Free Guides



    Over 100,000 people have enjoyed our free guides.
  • Community

    RSS Subscribers: 28,975
  • Followers: 12,228
    Fans: 14216
    Number of Comments: 13,272
    Monthly Visitors: 90,000

 
Copyright © 2012 ViperChill : Privacy Policy