Making A Viral Video : A Short Guide
You often hear that making a viral video is pure luck, but that’s just not true. Most of the videos that do go viral online were created with that goal in mind. The creators have to work quickly to push the video and get as many views as possible. By following the proper steps and using the right tools, you can get your video to go viral too.
Video quality isn’t as important as the video content. As long as it entertains, viewers will put up with a lower quality video. Humor is always a big winner when it comes to viral videos, but so is outrageous. If you can get someone’s attention and make them say, “Wow,” you’re on your way to a viral video, because if they are impressed, they will share it, and that’s your goal. The more it is shared, the more likely it will be listed on YouTube’s “Most Viewed” page, and that’s the best place to get it.
Ideally, you don’t want your video to be very long. Thirty seconds is a good length, and while it can be longer, you may lose viewers to anything that’s too lengthy. Choose your title carefully; a great title is where you will get the most interest. If you have to, use a title that misleads viewers and gets them clicking your link. Use plenty of appropriate tags with the video that will get it to show up in more searches. Most importantly, make it embeddable so it can be posted and reposted on as many sites as possible.
Once you have uploaded your video, you have a window of opportunity to get is seen. Start by emailing it to all your friends and ask them to forward it along to their friends. Next, share the video on your social networking sites. Post it to your friends profiles so that it can be seen and watched by all their friends. Also, post the video in forums and blogs if you can; the more exposure it has, the better.
Start some controversy around your video by posting comments from multiple accounts, or get friends to help. A little debate can really get a video noticed, and although very few viewers will leave a comment, most will read them and may make them more willing to send the video along or talk about it to friends.
When posting your video on YouTube, you will have three thumbnail screenshots to choose from to post with the video. One of the three, one always comes from the middle of the video, so make sure that as you are creating the video, you have something in the middle that will make a good thumbnail. As soon as you have people sharing your video with friends and it’s getting all that exposure, it’s as good as viral.
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