I had a funny incident last week. A new client came to us and asked if we could make his video go viral. We asked if could have a look at it and we did. There was nothing outstanding about the video. It was well made and all that. Apparently, this was the first time the company (a small one), had got a professional video made for a new product that they wanted launched.

It took me sometime to explain to them that SEO experts have only about a 10% role to play in making the video go viral – the rest, depends on the video itself.

How to make your video go viral
You have to start with a idea and then work on it until you have a script that is absolutely outstanding in that it has the ability to catch the audience unawares and present them with something that is well, mind-blowing. They need to be dazzled by it, the video should make them suck in their breath and say “wow! My friends need to see this”. That folks is what makes a video go viral. Not a promo blitz by your SEO consultant.

An SEO consultant that claims an ability to make your vide go viral is fooling you. The “viralness” of a video comes from the people who watch it and their desire to share the video with their friends. An SEO Consultant cannot force people watching your video to share it that is, not unless there is some kind of offer or reward associated with it. Even if a reward were to be offered (a discount coupon for example), you would still get nowhere near the numbers that would define the viralness of a video. Besides, it would not be called viral. A viral video is something that happens voluntarily. There are no rewards on offer.

You can’t just wake up one fine morning and say “we’re going to make a video that will go viral”. Usually, when a video is made, it is not made with the intention it goes viral (although everyone hopes it will). The video is made with the intention of conveying a message and doing it well in the shortest time possible. In rare cases, it results in the video going viral. That’s right folks – the operative word is “rare”. There are very few videos that do go viral. So don’t visit your SEO consultant in the hopes that they can make your video go viral because they can’t. Concentrate on making a good video and if it goes viral, well, that is a big bonus for you. Grin and be happy.