35 Steps To Your Perfect Viral Blog Post + Free Checklist

Writing and publishing a viral blog post is often more work than we think. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to write down your thoughts and hit “enter” – as if this wasn’t hard enough already. Because the goal isn’t to just write the post, but to get some people to read and engage with it. I’m sorry to break this to you, but there is no shortcut. It’s a lot of work.

To make our lives a little bit easier, I created a step-by-step guide, that walks you through the process of creating a viral blog post. Now, it’s up to you, to use this list and get shit done!

This post contains affiliate links. Read the full disclaimer here.

Writing Your Viral Blog Post

1. Research your topic
2. Research engaging headlines using buzzsumo.com
3. Write a catchy headline
4. Write the post If this is your biggest struggle, check out How To Never Experience Writer’s Block Again.
5. Divide the post using sub-headings
6. Add affiliate links (if necessary)
7. Add affiliate disclaimer (if necessary)
8. Add deep links to related posts on your blog See, how I did this at 4? 😉
9. Add images
10. Change the image size to make your page faster I usually make the longer side of the image (depending on whether it’s horizontal or vertical) 800px. This reduces the size, while maintaining a high image quality, even on big screens.
11. Add a question at the end of the post to engage with your readers
12. Add a featured image (when using wordpress)
13. Add SEO-friendly „alt texts“ to your images If someone pins an image from your post, this “alt text” will be the default pin description.
14. Check SEO quality I highly recommend the free Yoast SEO plugin for wordpress!
15. Proofread or let it proofread, using a service like Grammarly. Click here to try Grammarly for free!
16. Hit Publish

After Publishing Your Post

1. Create at least two pinterest graphics
2. Schedule the pins I recommend using tailwind. Click here to get a free month of tailwind!Also try out their new SmartLoop feature.
3. (Automatically) Share the post on Facebook and Twitter Use IFTTT (IF This Than That) for that. It’s free and makes your life so much easier.
4. Create a tinyurl for Instagram A long URL doesn’t look good in your Instagram bio. On https://tinyurl.com you can shorten your link. It’s easy and free and doesn’t require an account or anything.
5. Add tinyurl to your bio
6. Share a related Instagram post and refer to the link in the bio.
7. Create an Instagram Story with the link
8. Share the post on related Facebook groups Most facebook groups only allow promotions of your blog posts only on a certain day of the week. Check this, before posting anything to avoid getting banned.
9. Check / Track engagement
10. Answer to comments on all platforms

Optional: Make your blog post go viral with a freebie! + Expand your Email List.

1. Create a freebie related to the blog post
2. Add opt-in form to the post
3. Create a mockup of your freebie 
4. Add freebie (mockup) to your pins
5. Share freebie on Facebook
6. Share freebie on Twitter
7. Share freebie on Instagram
8. Add freebie to freebie-library 
9. Add freebie to the „What’s In There For You?“-Section of the freebie-page

Now it’s your turn. Try these tips and see, how your blog traffic takes off. Do you have any other recommendations and tips on how to write and publish a viral blog post? Feel free to share them in the comments below. 🙂

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