The Secret to Getting More Links and Social Media Love

If you want your WordPress blog to rank higher in search engines, you need links and social media shares (and lots of ‘em).

You know about the “normal” ways of getting links, but you’re stuck. Guest posting, article marketing, and all that nonsense (heh) just doesn’t work that well.

So, today, as part of the WordPress SEO for Everybody series, I’ll show you an awesome way to score natural, organic links to your blog.

If You Want Links and Shares, Provoke Conversation

Duh.

But how do you get people to talking?

A few years ago, I stumbled on the book Buzz Marketing by Mark Hughes. As you probably guessed, it’s all about generating buzz online, but here’s the real gem from the book:

Mark presented “The Six Buttons of Buzz,” and when you know how to use them, you can make your content go viral (more links, more social media shares, and more conversation).

And it gets better.

I’ve used these six buttons of buzz ever since I learned about them. And every time I do it, and execute it well, I get tons of new links AND social media love.

Quite simply, the six buttons of buzz are as follows:

1. Taboo
2. The Unusual
3. The Outrageous
4. The Hilarious
5. The Remarkable
6. Secrets

Let’s go into more detail…

The Six Buttons of Buzz Explained

I know you’re ready to start pushing buttons, but you’re probably wanting some more information about each individual button, right?

Right.

Here’s a quick synopsis of each button:

1. Taboo

Find something your audience thinks they shouldn’t do, and then do it. Or find something you shouldn’t say, and say it. (Disclaimer: don’t do anything stupid, illegal, life-threatening, or any of that jive. If you do, you hold no one but yourself accountable).

2. Unusual

Find something your audience thinks is strange, and connect it to your topic. For example, if you’re writing about weight loss, simply write an article like “Weight loss tips from someone who’s overweight.”

3. Outrageous

This is the dangerous button. It almost always works, and Hughes says that. But you must make sure your outrageous actions or comments are connected to your overall results.

4. The Hilarious

This is self-explanatory. If you make people laugh, they’ll share your stuff with their friends. For example, when I often talk about font sizes, I say “Size 14 is the new size 12,” and people laugh. And thus, people always quote me for my comment.

5. The Remarkable

You can’t engineer this. You need to write great content, but luckily, there’s certain types of articles that are perceived as “great content,” and we’ll go into that in a later article.

6. Secrets

People like secrets, and they like to share them with their friends, too. Why? Well, first, sharing secrets is a little Taboo, but people like to feel like they are “in the know.” So, calling something a secret, and delivering a secret, will work.

Now how does this work out in the wild?

When Writing Articles, Hit One (or several) Buzz Buttons

Easy enough, right?

Well, sort of…

You may think your articles hit one of these buttons, but unless you make it overtly clear, you’re doing it wrong.

I’ll explain.

If you write an article and push the “Taboo” button, you must make it clear, and explain why.

For example, when I wrote the article “The Content is King Myth Debunked,” I did just that.

Everyone parrots “Content is King.” So, when I called it a myth, I was pushing the taboo button in the eyes of my audience.

But when I built my case, the magic happened. People either agreed with me, or disagreed with me.

And what were the results?

People started buzzing, and my site scored 150 comments, 5,000 pageviews, 343 Tweets, 68 Facebook Shares, and scores of new links.

Key takeaway: If you’re going to push a button, really push that thing down. Smash it if you have to.

The Bottom Line

If you want links and social media love, write something people talk about. Hit one of those buttons of buzz, and watch the magic happen.

Have you written any articles that hit any of these buttons? Talk about it in the comments.

About the Author: Derek Halpern runs marketing at DIYthemes, and founder of Social Triggers. To get more tips on list building, sign up to his list here. He also runs the web tv show Social Triggers TV where you can learn how to be confident, persuasive, and more.