Content Strategy for Freelance Writers and Bloggers
The Beginner’s Guide to Write Viral Articles and Blogs
Learn 17 proven techniques and unique metrics. Find the key points that may work universally for every platform on the web.
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2022 Update
Introduction and Context
Going viral on the net is luck, and it gives the biggest pleasure to content developers. Viral stories have distinctive features. However, by following specific patterns, we can significantly increase the chance of our articles going viral. Content development and distribution are strategic activities.
The anatomy of viral stories is unusual. They depict quantum qualities. Viral content does not necessarily mean high-quality content. They are more emotionally laden pieces of content rather than logical ones. Emotions dictate virality. So serendipity plays a critical role.
Frankly, no one cares what you ate yesterday and what you did with your friends. They do care about a novel idea or an interesting occasion. Viral content requires a more attractive substance.
I tasted viral articles on several writing platforms and my own blogs. They all depicted communal patterns. I did not write my content to go viral purposefully. However, the time, effort, and diligence produced unexpected outcomes.
In this post, I provide 17 proven techniques and distinctive metrics from my experience with freelance writers and bloggers. I present those patterns with explicit language and generic examples so that my readers can get benefits from these pragmatic points. This is not a theory piece but more practical content with actionable ideas. I cut to the chase and focused on vital points.
It is my pleasure to see viral articles in my publications. I encourage contributing writers to increase the quality and quantity of their articles. Previously I provided several stories to help the writers. I keep these stories in this repository.
I share samples of viral stories on my publications, such as 76,000 Views of a Single Story, Top Five Medium Stories Trending on ILLUMINATION, Another Viral Story on ILLUMINATION: 89,000 Views, A new viral story: Kylie did it!
I am a top writer in 14 categories on this platform currently, including Transportation, Leadership, Writing, Health, Self Improvement, Innovation, Books, Government, Entrepreneurship, Education, Future, Social Media, Investing, Business. My viral stories helped me gain status.
Even though I am a technologist with a leadership and entrepreneurship flavor, interestingly, my articles related to health and fitness gained more visibility on this platform, and several of them went viral. Perhaps sharing content from one of the best-selling books contributed to this achievement. On some platforms, my technology articles received more visibility.
Viral stories bring many benefits. The tangible one is passive income. Viral articles on some platforms may generate substantial money for writers and bloggers. For example, in one of the platforms, a single ten-minute story generated over one year of income compared to hundreds of other articles.
Having such a viral story is a rare situation. However, if it happens even once a year, it is worth the effort.
I identified many patterns for viral stories. To keep this article in a reasonable size, I categorized the critical ones under 17 headings. I also provided some links that may provide more information.
1 — The Power of Novelty & Controversy
People love novel ideas and controversial narratives. From my observations and experience, this is the number one factor for viral stories.
The more novel and controversial your content, the more viral it goes.
Controversy doesn’t mean unethical. You don’t have to be a nasty person to create disagreement. For example, you can propose an exciting idea that may make the reader see the other side of a coin. It is not necessarily a radical idea, but just a simple re-framing can do.
For example, presenting your views differently from a majority and mainstream can create substantial interest from the readers. These types of statements can create heated discussions. The more arguments your content has, the betters signals it shows to the platform algorithms.
Your authentic presentation can create novelty and controversy. These are specific skills that you need to develop. You can learn from exemplary bloggers and writers who create controversy with a novel approach.
Sometimes emotional tone can create controversy. For example, asking powerful questions may trigger emotions.
2 — The importance of Serendipity, Engagement & Collaboration
Content developers need to engage with fellow writers, bloggers, and community members. Collaboration with them brings many benefits.
Being a guest blogger can bring an unexpected audience to your content. In addition, joining various publications, communities and engaging with other writers in a meaningful way can create a lot of visibility for your content.
The more you engage and collaborate, the more chance you create for the discovery of your content. I participate in many communities and conferences. For example, some freelance communities that I found via this membership site brought many readers to my content.
For example, one day, I left a very brief comment on a blog adding value to the blog post. I did not even link to my article about my comment. Since I used the keywords carefully, the audience seemed to google the keywords. These carefully chosen keywords showed on the top page of Google. In a few days, the article mentioned with the keywords went viral.
I also find Twitter threads serendipitous. There was once a thread with hundreds of comments. I added my comment and linked my blog post. As you may guess, the post went viral, as there were over a million views of the thread. If you leave relevant and valuable comments, your chance of being discovered via Twitter threads is very high.
My engagements in social media took over four million impressions this month. And I did not spend too long, but I engaged in powerful forms that can have an impact.
3 — The Power of Re-purposing
Repurposing is not rocket science. However, its practical use makes a great impact on the success of content developers.
Re-using your content deliberately and innovatively can bring many benefits. In addition to extra income generation for your content, multiple forms of your content may increase the chance of virality.
You can repurpose your content on multiple platforms with minimal change. You can also use various formats, such as voice and videos.
For example, one of my blogger friends created a podcast and YouTube video of the blog post. As a result, the post was discovered via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube and received thousands of views from a brand-new audience.
Repurposing your content using collections can be very useful. For example, after creating this collection, the number of views and reading times of my articles have substantially increased: Heath, Fitness, & Lifestyle Topics Collected on Transhumanism Leadership: Eclectic articles addressing interesting and important life matters for individuals and society.
4 — Bespoke Use of tags
Some unique tags perform well.
We need to use tags very carefully. Writing and blogging platforms distributed the articles to readers based on tags in their interest areas. There are a few key points to consider.
Ensure that the tags you choose represent your topic. For example, some people think that the more followers a tag has, the more views it can provide. However, it is not necessarily true.
For example, I don’t use trendy tags because competing is difficult. I also change the tags if a story does not hit the top pages of the corresponding marker. Many users follow certain tags.
I also syndicate tags in my publications using RSS for selected readers. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” It is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing web content.
For example, I use the following tags for my publications on this platform.:
https://medium.com/feed/technical-excellence
https://medium.com/feed/sensible-biohacking-transhumanism
https://medium.com/feed/illumination-book-chapters
These tags can be syndicated to several blogs and RSS services. Using this service, the articles in my publications reach a broader audience.
5 — Being a Top Writer or the Best Contributor
Different platforms have different badges for writers and bloggers. For example, some platforms use top contributor and top writer status.
From my experience, the more top writer status you have, the more visibility your articles or blogs gain.
Naturally, platform algorithms favor top contributors. The more you post, the more chance you have to become a top writer or contributor. In addition to quality, quantity also matters.
I provided step-by-step guidance on How To Become A Top Writer In Three Months. You can find some top writers in this list.
6 — Establishing Good Relationships with Platform Owners, Publication Editors, & Community Members
Platform owners, publication editors, and community members play an important role in distributing your content. These people might have a significant influence on their readers.
For example, if platform owners enjoy your article or blog post, they may share it in their network. They may also feature your content. Featuring is a critical factor for your content to go viral.
On one platform, the owner loved my article and shared it in his network. Six different media outlets curated the piece, and it went viral.
7 — Innovative Use of Social Media Platforms
Social media has an excellent potential for articles and blogs to go viral. However, we need to consider a few items.
Social media platforms don’t like spammy content. So you need to make your posts informative, attractive, and relatable rather than promotional. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Pinterest, and Reddit help some of my articles and blog posts to go viral. However, each platform has specific rules.
For example, for LinkedIn, professionalism is critical. For Twitter, threads are crucial. I also schedule some of my essential tweets using this tool. For Quora, managing spaces are very important. The Quora Space called ILLUMINATION-Curated helped one of my articles to go viral a few months ago. Reddit is community-based. ILLUMINATION writers have a Reddit community.
From my experience, even though it is the most viral platform, Reddit is the most restrictive platform. If your post does not fit the community guidelines, even it is beneficial for society, they ban your account for a lifetime. It is odd but we need to watch the rules for those restrictive communities. I stay away from those conceited communities. So be careful when posting to Reddit.
The power of Pinterest is underestimated. So far, most of my viral articles gained exposure via Pinterest. Even though I was not very active on this platform this month, my story pins received almost two million impressions. My articles were saved by over 5,000 people.
I guided the intelligent use of social media in this article titled How Can Writers Use Social Media Productively?
Here is a sample story that had almost no views for months as it was not distributed to topics. However, some readers picked it up on search engines, and it went to a viral state in a few days. I call this SERENDIPITY.
Eliza Shed 30 Pounds In Six Months With Two Tips: And she never gained them again
And another example with no views for months and only recently started trending via a search engine and social media serendipity.
Fat Loss Has Nothing To Do With Calories: Our hormones have the final say for fat burning.
8 — Creating Your Own Online Magazines
There are many magazines and services. I used Flipboard for my articles, blogs, and publications. I created one for each publication.
I also use Paper.li. This online magazine helped a few of my articles to go viral. For example, an influencer picked up one of my Twitter posts and added it to Paper.li. The next day the post received thousands of views. Then, it was curated by more platforms and went viral.
The benefit of a Flipboard magazine is to share hundreds of stories with just a single link. You can tweet the link, post to Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit or any other social media platforms. Readers can flip your stories and share with their audience. Flipboard can be serendipitous. One of my articles was curated by a major media outlet. It naturally went viral.
Here are a couple of my personal magazines that can guide you.
https://flipboard.com/@mehmetyildi2020/selected-articles-from-vocal-media-vl8qvriqy
I also recommend creating your own publications and keeping your special stories on that. For example, this personal publication helped me a few of my articles go viral.
9 — Creating Blog Posts That Link Your Stories Regularly
Blogging is good for blog posts and articles. What I mean by that you can blog your published blogs and articles in a new blog. It is called re-pressed on some platforms.
For example, I blog my blog posts and articles in daily, weekly, and monthly posts. This is one of the best ways to increase the chance of your content going viral on the web.
Regular blog posts can help your stories to gain backlinks in search engines. Creating backlinks is essential for visibility. They keep your content active. The more backlinks, the more visibility your content gets. To speed up your backlinks, you need to learn SEO principles and tricks. There are many resources on the web to guide you.
Some of my stories went viral after six or even 12 months. There were zero views for several months, and one day I saw over 5K views out of nowhere. Then it kept continuing as some of those writers left messages and shared the story. When readers share your stories, search engines receive signals for the articles and show them to more audiences.
10 — Using Catchy Headlines
There are millions of blog posts and articles on the net. If your content doesn’t have an enticing title, the chance of readers’ clicking on it is meager. Headlines create the first impression for the readers.
Your title and subtitle must make it very attractive to the reader. While cute headlines are critical, readers hate clickbait, so ensure your content delivers the title you promise.
I learned that enticing titles and cover photos are primary success factors for viral stories. Readers click on a story based on its title and the cover photo. Therefore, creating an attractive title, subtitle, and photo is a critical opportunity for writers to make a first impression.
Another critical point is the character size of your headlines. Some search engines do not catalog (index) headlines over 200 characters. So the shorter your title and subtitles, the higher chance for indexing.
If your title, subtitles, and cover photos are compelling enough, your readers will most likely click on them. This is the initial impact.
However, if your title is clickbait, you may miss an opportunity for next time. Just having one viral story is not a desirable premise.
Initially, you may have many views, but reading times can suffer. Yet, reading time is essential for your stories’ success from a financial and recognition point of view on many platforms.
Your reputation as a writer depends on the quality and promise of your title. If you can deliver what you promise in your title, it is the first step to the sustainability of your readership basis.
11 — Using Design Thinking Principles for Visibility and Sustainability
When writing your content, put yourself in the shoes of your readers. Focusing on the needs and wants of readers is a critical success factor for creating viral content and creating a sustainable reader base.
By using the Design Thinking approach, we empathize with our readers. Design Thinking helps us have compassion for the learning needs of readers. We need to keep reader requirements and expectations as a priority in our content.
I use Design Thinking principles for my writing practice. You can learn about The Importance of Design Thinking Practice & Thought Leadership.
12 — Using Catchy Illustrations
Images, graphics, and media files are essential to make your content outstanding. For example, an attractive cover photo can be handy.
Many readers love visual objects such as diagrams and drawings. Media files such as from YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter can be instrumental for visual readers. You need to present them professionally. Many platforms allow embedding.
Ensure that your illustrations match your content.
SEO can be vital for your images. Web crawlers use alt text for indexing. So always consider annotating your pictures. For example, an annotated book cover image in an article brought me thousands of readers.
13 — The Importance of the First and the Last Paragraph
Even though your first paragraph is critical, your last section is as important as your first paragraph. Using conclusive remarks, action points, and takeaway points increases the value of your overall content.
The purpose of your first paragraph is to hook the reader. The first paragraph determines whether a reader continues to read the rest of your content.
It should be narrated in an interesting and informative way. This may be a one-time chance for your content. If your first paragraph is not attractive, you might lose the reader.
If your last paragraph is not conclusive again, you also lose some readers. From my experience, discerning readers check the conclusion of articles before deciding to read the content. If the final paragraph provides an attractive value proposition to the readers, they will be curious and read the entire article. This is critical for reading times.
The first and the last paragraph must be very elegant. I use the criteria of simplicity, brevity, and clarity reflecting high impact. I usually write my first and last paragraph in grade 7 or lower levels, even for very complex and challenging technical content.
If your first and last paragraphs are not enticing enough, you may have many views, but the reading score of your content suffers. For many platforms, reading time is the gold standard and is used for content monetization.
14 — Articulated and Enticing Content
Many readers dislike convoluted and confusing content.
Not many readers have the patience to read intricate articles and blog posts. Academic papers are exceptions. Even for academic papers, articulation is vital.
Attention-grabbing is very important. We can maintain this with simplicity. Using modest words, short sentences, and short paragraphs are always the winner in the eyes of readers. Simplicity and clarity can increase the chance of your content going viral.
Always check the readability performance of your content by self-editing, obtaining feedback from your regular readers, and using various tools such as Hemingway Editor and Grammarly.
15 — Depicting Credibility Subtly
Readers like reading content from qualified and credible writers and bloggers. You may depict this subtly in your first paragraph without bragging.
For example, rather than saying, “as a medical doctor for many years working in hundreds of clinics for millions of years”, you can say, “As a medical doctor, I am astounded by these findings in recent surveys.“. I exaggerated this example to make my point subtly.
The tone of your story also shows your credibility.
If you are using the stats and perspectives of other people, always quote them and add links in the reference section. This section is an indicator of your professional traits and credibility. They reflect your rigor and research skills.
16 — Effective Style and Attractive Formatting
This may sound petty, but from my experience, it made a significant impact on the visibility of my content.
I tested this multiple times. For example, I used various formats for a blog post using precisely the same content. The better-formatted one with an attractive style received many times more views and reading times.
Clarity is vital in the style of your content. A standard and eye-appealing content is essential as well. The style also depends on your content. Novelty plays a role in presentations. You can check viral articles to get an idea of various styles.
17 — The Power of Mailing Lists, Newsletters, & Affiliate Marketing
I left this to last because this one made the most significant impact on the visibility of my content. Having a mailing list is not a luxury for content developers anymore.
Mailing lists give us control over our content and our writing business. Platforms may change, but your mailing list stays as your guaranteed audience.
Since mailing lists consist of trusted readers, they not only read your content but also share it with others if they see the value. All my viral articles and blog posts were empowered by my mailing list and newsletters.
I don’t randomly post my newsletters to my subscribers. I do it with utmost precaution seeing my subscribers as gold. Spamming turns them off. This caring approach helped me gain and sustain a large number of subscribers.
In addition, affiliate marketing through your mailing lists and newsletters can generate extra income and introduce your content to a new audience. I shared the chapters of my book The Power of Digital Affiliate Marketing book on this platform.
This book sold thousands of copies as mentioned in this story titled The Joy of Selling 1,000+ Books In A Month With Minimal Investment. You can read a successful use case of affiliate marketing for freelance writers in this story titled I’m a Writer/Editor: Why the Heck I Built An Affiliate Marketing Business After the Age of 60.
Conclusions
Going viral on the web is undeniably a matter of serendipity. But we witness many lucky people whose content consistently goes viral on the Internet. Besides, some writers and bloggers repeat their results by using exclusive patterns.
I know some bloggers regularly produce viral stories. Virality breeds virality. And always leverage your viral content with follow-up posts. It can be valuable for your growth as a writer and blogger.
Various reasons motivate different writers and bloggers to go viral. Some of us do it to earn income, some create thought leadership in the industry, and some for fame, such as becoming an influencer. It is an individual matter and choice. There is no right or wrong approach, but we all desire to create viral content.
However, developing visibility on the Internet requires a significant investment of time, effort, and dedication. Even though it has a significant luck factor, virality usually does not happen by itself. We need to initiate it meaningfully and purposefully. Following the patterns in this article can greatly increase your chance. Good luck!
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you all the best.
I’d love to obtain your feedback. Please feel free to extend and enhance my points by sharing your success stories in the comment section.
Essential Guides for New Writers
Other Sample Practical Guides
How To Create A 30,000 Words E-book In A Month, Publication Conduct Guidelines,
Social media platforms that I created for writers.
Quora
https://www.quora.com/q/illuminationonmedium
https://www.quora.com/q/illuminationcurated
https://www.quora.com/q/sharenewsbreakstories
https://www.quora.com/q/vocalstories
https://www.quora.com/q/technologyhits
https://www.quora.com/q/fictionclubillumination
https://www.quora.com/q/poetryclubillumination
https://www.pinterest.com.au/myildizmel/illumination-curated/
https://www.pinterest.com.au/myildizmel/illumination-on-medium/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/illumination-curated
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13914581/
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13911841/
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13923566/
https://www.facebook.com/MediumIllumination
https://www.facebook.com/illuminationcurated
https://www.facebook.com/Stories-from-Vocal-Media-103203291646130
https://twitter.com/DigitalMehmet
https://twitter.com/illum_official
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1241994806374481922
https://www.reddit.com/r/ILLUMINATION_Writers/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Writers_News_Break/
https://flipboard.com/@mehmetyildi2020/synergy-9pngasqsz
https://flipboard.com/@digitalmehmet/illumination-on-medium-hmov53ldz
https://flipboard.com/@digitalmehmet/illumination-curated-7lnkt1i9z
Story Collections by the author
These collections include hundreds of stories posted by contributors of ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curated, SYNERGY, and Technology Hits publications.
NFT Story Collection on ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters.
Petechiae, ALS, Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Thyroid Disorders, Anemia, Dysautonomia, cardiac output, Neuromuscular Dysfunctions, and urinary track disorders.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, Cod Liver Oil, and other nutrients.
More stories like these are on EUPHORIA.
Disclaimer: My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.
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