How To Go Viral on Vocal

I'll be honest, for the last two years, I've probably written close to one hundred and twenty articles for Vocal. Only, I've never quite amassed the thousands of pounds that I had originally set out for. In fact, only a few stories have gone on to reach a much wider audience than I anticipated. And, it's those few stories that keep my wallet ticking over during the months that I leave my account to idle.

Now, I'm not saying I'm making a living from just a few published stories — but they do serve as a nice little addition in, honestly, a rather failed writing career. But, although I've written a bunch more, in what I assumed were "worthy" pieces of art; I still haven't amassed as much as a few pennies, and those long and gruelling hours of research sort of amounted to very minor gain. But then, upon further looking, I discovered that it wasn't really to do with the content — but more or less the keywords that I was using.

Of the few hundred dollars I've made on Vocal in two years, it really all came down to one certain article that I wrote about a year back. Somehow, although one of my least favourable works, the story managed to rack up around 96% of my earnings alone. And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.

So, I started to cross-check every single word, so I could maybe understand where the number of viral reads came from (75,000, to be exact). In the end, however, it all came down to one word that I happened to use in my subtitle.

"ADULT MOVIES"

Now, believe it or not, this wasn't intentional. It wasn't supposed to attract a certain clique or anything like that. It was just supposed to be relevant to the article, which was, surprisingly, about video games. And the subtitle I used, "when watching adult movies probably would've been a better excuse", was probably the thing that did it for me. But, at the time, I didn't even think twice about the keywords.

Think about what the world punches into their Google search bars, and that's where the solution to your problem lies. For me, in this specific instance, "adult movies" seemed to do the trick. Go figure.

Seasoned writers will hear the word "SEO" pass around the table a lot. But for a lot of writers who only wish to tell a story; SEO tends to drift into the very back of one's mind. But, sadly, without basic knowledge of the craft, those stories won't even be seen by your neighbour — let alone the world outside your home.

Now, I'm not telling you to go and cram explicit words into your every story, because that isn't the answer. What I am telling you, however, is to focus on your story, and devise a few keywords that you can use to help get your work ranked higher in the search bars. Take, for example, this story. This is mainly about how to write a viral story, without having to use explicit phrases or "adult movies" in every paragraph. But notice how I've used a few certain words a few times? Well, after using them a number of times, and by staying as relevant as possible; my odds might just stack up with this story. And then, perhaps, I might just make a dime.

Writing for Vocal is a beautiful opportunity. It gives us this canvas to spill out either our deepest desires or share our proudest achievements. It acts as a sanctuary where writers can not only write for themselves — but for a whole community of like-minded people, too. But, unless we're using keywords, a lot of great content can be left below the shadow realm where nobody will ever find it. And that sort of sucks for a lot of talented people.

Keywords, keywords, keywords!

Next time you fire up a new story, make sure to think hard about what your topic is, and how you can maximise your potential readership. Plan out three or four special words that relate to the topic, and make sure to use them wherever necessary. And, remember that not every article is destined to go viral. I, for one, feel as if I could've made at least thirty world-worthy stories, but have yet to redeem a few pennies from them. But that's totally normal. Plus, if everybody could write viral stories, there wouldn't be enough money to foot the bill.

Practice makes perfect, as they say. So, if you're keen to share your work with the world; make sure you know how to reach that far before you submit. And maybe — just maybe, the next thing you write could be tomorrow's headline.

So, what are you waiting for? Crack knuckles and get to work!