When you’re writing viral content there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Here are a few of the most common problems. While it isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, it will get you familiar with obvious errors to avoid.

1) Your Title Sucked – The title is going to be what pulls in interested readers from other sites. If it sucks then people are not going to click on it. It really is that simple.

What You Can Do About It – Use tried and tested headline formulas. These can be applied to any niche or content and have been successfully used before so you know they work. Use one of CopyBlogger’s free headline swipe files or head over to Jay Abrahams list of the greatest headlines ever written.

2) The Idea Was Simply Not up to Scratch – Sometimes ideas just don’t work on the social web. Now, usually they are ideas dreamed up by incompetent marketing department executives who feel that ideas centered around “buy my product” will somehow go viral, but sometimes ideas that seem great just don’t take with a crowd either.

What You Can Do About It – Research, research, research! Before you commit to an idea, go and see what other ideas have already worked in your niche. Head over to Digg and use the search function. Use tags in StumbleUpon to see what has got a lot of votes and likes. See what has worked on Reddit. When it comes to viral content, don’t reinvent the wheel – emulate the successful campaigns that came before you and put your own slant on them.

3) Your Network Are Amateurs – You can have the best content in the world, but unless you have a solid online network of contacts with powerful social media accounts or websites, then the chances of your piece going viral is minimal.

What You Can Do About It – The best advice here is to start developing your own network of contacts from those sites. Start using internet messenger and contact folks from Digg or Reddit who are already doing well. Don’t ask for anything from them yet, but offer them assistance with their own stuff (like the occasional Digg or stumble). Make friends. Alternatively, you can hire people with an existing network to find submitters for you.

Final Thoughts

There is a LOT to think about when you are doing a viral or link bait campaign. All of the pegs have to be lined up and everything has to go more or less perfectly. Hopefully you won’t commit these mistakes for your next campaign though.

We’re always keen to create more link bait campaigns, so feel free to contact us to get the ball rolling.