# Viral Website: Meaning, Types, Pros and Cons

![Person using a laptop keyboard while social media like and love icons float above the keys](https://www.investopedia.com/thmb/rehVQlOvtRb58LqanPPM5bk0mlg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/ViralWebsite-0cd66684a25e4ea589b3c7925d992ad9.jpg)

*— anyaberkut / Getty Images*

## What Is a Viral Website?

A viral website is a website receiving an abnormally large amount of web traffic, usually within a limited span of time, due to word of mouth, link sharing, and [social media](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-media.asp) sharing. Viral sites typically become popular through being shared on social media or forwarded to friends and family, who then forward it to their own network, causing traffic to the site to grow [exponentially](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/exponential-growth.asp).

### Key Takeaways

*   A viral website is a website receiving an abnormally large amount of web traffic, usually within a limited span of time, due to word of mouth, link sharing, and social media sharing.
*   Viral websites and content are highly desired for popularity, fame, and to generate revenue through advertising or product sales, which increase as the audience of the site grows.
*   Although virality is mostly used to describe certain kinds of content, such as videos or social media posts, websites such as BuzzFeed, Upworthy, Reddit, and even X's (formerly Twitter's) trending posts often host viral content.
*   Viral websites can help increase exposure, though companies must be mindful they have the capability to handle the excess short-term traffic.
*   To go viral, companies must be mindful to create easily sharable and likeable content, engage with their audience, and try different approaches across different social media platforms.

## Understanding Viral Websites

Viral websites and content are highly desired for popularity, fame, and to generate [revenue](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/revenue.asp) through advertising or product sales, which increase as the audience of the site grows. When people share the website's content with others through social media, email, or other online channels, this results in a rapid increase in traffic and visibility.

The content on a viral website is usually unique, interesting, and shareable. It usually taps into current trends or topics that are popular at the time or may loop in current events or current celebrities. Viral websites can take many forms, such as videos, images, articles, or memes, and they may be created by individuals, companies, or organizations.

## The Concept of "Going Viral"

Viral websites have been around since the modern version of the Internet emerged in the 1990s. They have some things in common, yet it's hard to predict what will go viral. Virality also has no predetermined definition based on the number of views. The sites are often based on user-generated content, in which a virtuous cycle is created: the more people that visit the site, the more content is generated, and the more traffic is created in return.

Viral websites make it easy to share content with others and remove barriers to users such as onerous registration processes or paywalls. They're often hosted on highly scalable platforms like [WordPress](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wordpress-cms.asp), which can adapt to mountainous traffic spikes. The sites often feature user rankings or voting tools to bring the most popular content to the top, as well.

Viral sites are what's known as sticky: they have features that keep visitors there longer. Behind many viral sites are [algorithms](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/algorithm.asp) that constantly look at content and move the most popular items to prominent pages and placements. Many viral sites have irresistible headlines as well, the kind that readers simply can't help clicking on known as "clickbait."

Although virality is mostly used to describe certain kinds of content, such as videos or social media posts, websites such as BuzzFeed, Upworthy, Reddit, and even X's (formerly Twitter's) trending posts often host viral content that is "upvoted" to illuminate virality.

Videos in particular are most likely to go viral the fastest. Weird, touching, funny, and strange events caught on video and uploaded to sites like YouTube can generate millions of views and even end up on network television news. Many of them were not created with the intent of going viral and often feature embarrassing moments.

## Types of Viral Popularity

A website can achieve different types of viral popularity. Each of these types are formed based on different strategic approaches in the types of content to use and people to leverage to raise the popularity. Below are some of the most common types of viral popularity.

### Organic Virality

Organic virality occurs when the content on a website is so engaging, unique, and shareable that it spreads naturally through word of mouth, social media, or other online channels. This occurs when people simply love content and want to share it with their networks on their own. Organic virality is often the most desirable type of viral popularity because it is driven by the audience's interest and not by paid promotion.

### Paid Virality

Paid virality is when a website's content is promoted through paid channels such as social media advertising, influencer marketing, or other forms of paid promotion. Paid virality can be effective, but it requires a significant investment of resources and may not be as sustainable as organic virality. Though paid virality creates exposure for content, it is a form of [advertising cost](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/advertising-costs.asp) that does not happen on its own and may be short-lasting.

> **Important**
>
> Consider the implications of your customers knowing you are paying in an attempt to go viral. Though there are major marketing implications, you are also sacrificing resources from improving your goods which may alienate customers.

### Influencer Virality

Influencer virality occurs when an influential person or organization shares the content on their platform. This is often seen when a celebrity or influencer is seen wearing a certain style, then that style becomes extremely popular. Influencer virality may be a paid or non-paid situation.

### News Virality

News virality occurs when a website's content is picked up by news outlets or media organizations, resulting in widespread coverage and exposure. News virality can be an effective way to reach a large audience quickly but may be difficult to control.

### Trend Virality

Last, trend virality occurs when a website's content taps into a current trend or popular topic. This strategy results in increased visibility and interest from the audience due to the popularity around an already existing popular item. Trend virality can be effective, but it requires a deep understanding of the audience's interests and behaviors. Note that trend virality may be combined with some of the other forms of virality above, and virality itself may help create trends.

## How to Build a Viral Website

There is no surefire way to make a website go viral. Instead, it is a combination of strategic planning, quality content creation, and targeted promotion with a little bit of luck that still doesn't guarantee success. Here are some tips to help increase the chances of your website going viral.  

*   **Create Shareable Content:** The content on your website must be unique. It also must be easy to share. The more compelling and shareable your content is, the more likely it is to go viral especially if you hope to organically have followers redistribute your content.  
    
*   **Leverage Social Media:** Make sure to promote your website on your social media channels. Encourage your followers to share your content with their networks. Understand that different forms of social media may be more or less inclined to interact with various types of media.
*   **Use Influencers:** Partnering with influencers who have a large following in your niche can help increase visibility and drive traffic to your website. This is especially true if your social media channels do not have a lot of followers. This is also especially helpful when partnering with influential leaders who customers resonate closely with.
*   **Optimize for Search Engines:** [Search engine optimization (SEO)](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-media-optimization-smo.asp) is essential for driving traffic to your website. Make sure your website is optimized for keywords that are relevant to your target audience.
*   **Offer Incentives:** Offering incentives can encourage people to share your website with others. Most often, individuals can have personalized referral links that can be shared with their network.
*   **Engage Your Audience:** Engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages on your website and social media channels. This also helps foster a long-term relationship with your network to help foster a viral moment to happen or retain customers after a viral moment has occurred.
*   **Use Different Formats:** This is especially true when considering using different media across different platforms. Be mindful of how different forms of media may be easier to reshare or may more strongly resonate with your customers.

> **Tip**
>
> Like may things in life, sometimes things happen when you try for them the least. Websites may become viral without any attempt from a company.

## Advantages and Disadvantages of Viral Websites

### Pros of Viral Websites

There are many obvious advantages of viral websites. A viral website has the potential to reach a large number of people very quickly, resulting in a significant increase in traffic to the site. This can help increase [brand awareness](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brandawareness.asp) and recognition, bringing great exposure to a company in a very short period of time.

A viral website can be a cost-effective way to market a product or service. A viral website's popularity can spread quickly and organically through social media and other online channels. This can also help improve a site's SEO by generating backlinks and increasing the site's visibility online.

Last, a viral website can potentially lead to higher conversion rates. As the site's content and messaging resonates with a large audience, this can resonate with more people taking action. This also creates more opportunities and exposure for potential customers to purchase goods or sign up for a service.

### Cons of Viral Websites

Though people often associate viral websites with positive outcomes, there can be massively detrimental downsides to become viral. From an infrastructure perspective, the traffic generated by a viral website can be unpredictable, and it may not always be sustained. Once the initial excitement dies down, traffic to the site may decrease significantly. Should a website not be able to handle the traffic, customers may have a negative experience with technical difficulties.

With increased visibility comes the potential for negative feedback or criticism. This can harm the brand's reputation and lead to a loss of customers. Be mindful that not everyone enjoys every trend, and associating with certain celebrities or influencers may actually upset part of the consumer base.

With a viral website, there is limited control over how people share and interact with the content. This can result in unintended consequences or misinterpretations of the brand's message. It may also distort a company's intended messaging, taking the marketing elements of a company out of the firm's hands.

A viral website may be a short-term success, but it may not be sustainable in the long run. It can be difficult to maintain the momentum and continue to generate viral content over time. For this reason, the quality of the content can be compromised when striving to become viral. Instead of focusing on building long-term resources, striving for a quick hit may lead to a loss of interest from the audience.

Pros

*   Leads to short-term significant increases in traffic
    
*   Creates brand awareness and recognition
    
*   Is a cost effective way to get exposure
    
*   May improve a company's SEO
    
*   May result in higher conversion rates
    

Cons

*   May result in unpredictable website traffic that can cause technical difficulties
    
*   May result in some negative feedback
    
*   Takes marketing control out of the hands of the company
    
*   May not be sustainable
    

## How Does a Website Go Viral?

A website can go viral through a combination of strategic planning, quality content creation, and targeted promotion. When likeable, sharable content is created, that content may become intriguing enough to be engaging to a wide audience.

## How Many Views Do You Need to Go Viral?

There is no single universally accepted calculation of how many views are needed to go viral. In general, the term simply means that content is popular and being widely distributed in a short period of time.

Some marketing and business experts may say content needs to have at least a million views within a week of its initial posting to have gone viral, though different experts will have varying opinions. Also, be mindful of how smaller platforms may have smaller thresholds for having saturated a platform.

## How Much Money Does Viral Content Make?

For companies, the value in viral content is not in the actual content itself but in the exposure and opportunity to engage with more customers. A single popular video may create some short-term financial prosperity, but companies should be mindful to leverage resources, customer data, and connections to foster for long-term financial opportunity.

## The Bottom Line

A viral website is a website that become popular in a short amount of time, often though social media channels. This often occurs when people share content across their network, through e-mail, or through other forms of online distribution. Though viral websites create tremendous opportunity, there are infrastructure, branding, marketing, and publicity downsides to consider.