6 things to double check when a blog post goes viral

Every once in a while a post from deep in my archives suddenly brings in a ton of traffic. It happened last week when this post was shared by a popular pinner on Pinterest. So I took a few minutes to check it over and make sure it was lookin’ good for all those brand new visitors.

Anytime a post is linked by a popular source and goes viral, I highly recommend jumping in as soon as possible to sure it’s up-to-date and helps put your best foot forward, especially if that post is a few years old! H

Here are six things to check to make sure everything is lookin’ good and increase your chances of gaining new readers…

Is the content current?

If you’re like me and your blog topic is technology-related, some information in your post may be out-of-date. Scan through and update anything that doesn’t work or apply anymore. You can always add a note to the bottom of what’s been updated since the initial post.

Does your image match your current design?

I left the image with the blue background on that highly-trafficked pot even though it doesn’t match my current design, but I did update the text by adding “from xosarah.com” at the bottom because I had skipped that on the original image.

Are you linking to related posts?

Chances are, most of the traffic coming to your site is brand new readers. In order to create a connection and keep them coming back we want them to read more than that one post. Links within the text and related links at the bottom help keep new readers moving through your site and turn them into repeat visitors.

Update the styling

If your post is years old, like mine was, it may not be formatted the same as newer posts. I went through and switched the previously bold titles to my green H3 headings so it looked a little more fresh.

And a note about headings: Instead of using in-line styles (HTML for colors or fonts directly in the post), use those h2, h3, h4 tags. This way when you update your design, those will change throughout the site instead of leaving random colors and fonts in old posts. (More info on styling the heading tags)

Spelling and grammar

Double check for typos and bumpy sentences. There’s nothing worse than a giant typo in the middle of a fantastic post. If you’re not a confident editor, have a friend read it over for you :)

Promote a related product

Since the post that was linked is about “10 things that shouldn’t be on your blog,” I added a quick note to push readers to my blog traffic ebook. Obviously they came to my site because they’re interested in improving their blogs, so my ebook is a perfect continuation of that content. You could also ask readers to subscribe to your email list, promote a service, or give them a freebie.