How to Turn Your Website Viral

We’re in the eye of the flu season in southern California, and in some way or another everyone is feeling its effects. In fact, I nearly caught walking pneumonia. In these types of seasons, a virus spreads throughout an entire population in a small amount of time. Shaking a hand, touching door handles, being in radius of someone sneezing – nearly every action can transfer the virus. And before you know it, nearly everyone is sick.

Just like the flu can go viral, a website online can go viral. I’m not talking about a website becoming a malicious virus that’s out to damage other computers. On the contrary, I’m referring to websites like Youtube or Facebook, where traffic levels spike due to the increasing popularity of the site. A website that is said to have gone viral attracts hundreds and thousands of viewers in a small amount of time.

This can happen for a number of reasons. However, the biggest is viral videos.

Viral videos are a huge way to increase traffic and popularity of a site. Everyone has seen viral videos, whether you know it or not. The most popular was a rendition of O-ZONE’s Dragostea Din Tei called Numa Numa. Less than three months after the release of the video, it had been viewed more than two million times on the debut website alone. Commercials for brand-name products are a type of viral video. Viral videos, when used correctly, can have an enormous effect on the web traffic.

Other viral videos more company-based would be commercials played during the Super Bowl, and then watched over and over again on the internet after the game.

This is just one of thousands of examples of how companies have got themselves off the ground by using viral marketing. To do so yourself, simply come up with an idea that would catch the attention of your target audience. It could be as long as five minutes or as short as commercials aired on the television. Then, put your plan into action. Use services like Youtube or Viddler or Vimeo to host your videos, and wait as the traffic soars. Additionally, you could use Twitter or other modes of social media to get the word out about your new video. Then, just sit and watch it go viral. You might just surprise yourself.