Blogosis

I’m hoping most of you were able to catch my post, “Dropping the F-Bomb: Blogging with Naughty Words,” over on Problogger (and I know a big chunk of you came from Problogger). If not, check it out. Now look at the comments. 120 comments. It got such a huge reaction, Darren posted a follow-up poll to it here. I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction at all. There were people supporting why they swear, why they don’t, arguing with each other, people subscribing to my blog, then people unsubscribed from my blog, and Blogger Unleashed took a swing at my blog stats as well. This was my first dip ever into viral blogging. So, now knowing what I know from this I will be able to write many more viral blog posts. I want to share in my success with every other blogger, cause the more we write virally, the less Google owns (That was a joke, Google is now signing deals to own Al Gore’s soul).

Get Support

My swearing post would have never got the reaction it should have on my blog. I didn’t realize this, because all I wanted was a guest post on Problogger. I was proud when Darren accepted my post, but didn’t know if it would really help my blog grow. It sure did, but the post is what really shines. You are going to have to get your blog post out to as many people as possible. Submit it to big blogs if you don’t have a large readership on your blog. Had Darren not taken my post I had a list of backups (Shoe, Chow, Cow, Noob, even Blogger Unleashed).

Write About Something with Two Sides

You need to force the readers to pick two sides. I evaluated both sides of swearing or not swearing on a blog. I chose, and explained why. People followed suit on the comments. They were forced to say they swear or don’t. They like it or don’t like swearing on blogs. People will naturally try to persuade their view is better than others. This creates stimulas for arguement.

Write About Something Controversial

When John Cow wrote a blog entry using the C-word, lots of people were shocked. I had this in the back of my mind, but didn’t want to list anyone specifically in the post. Swearing is something that is still controversial, despite its wide coverage of the earth. Do we allow because of its commonality, or shun it because of history says we should. This is a point that conjoins with forcing your readers to take sides. Controversial topics generally have 2 or more sides, so we are forced to pick.

Leave the Ending Open for Discussion

In the end of my post, I did not specify which one is better, swearing or not. I left it up to those who wanted to comment to decide. This is an excellent way to bring your readers in. Make them want to comment by asking a question, asking for their opinion or leaving a very broad ending that implies you want answers. Basically, let your readers finish the post for you.

The implications of that post are still lingering strong on this blog. My daily unique views have more than doubled, my subscriber count went up by about 35%, and oh my god, I made some CPC money. Write something viral, study the effects it has on your blog, and get back to me on how it was. What other tactics can you take to help make your blog posts viral?