There’s a catchy phrase out there in Internet marketing land called, “going viral.” Everybody wants their website, their video, idea, whatever, to go “viral,” and look at their search engine optimization experts with bright expectant eyes that say, “Well go on, then, make it go viral.”

Most people don’t realize that asking to make their product go viral is the equivalent of asking to become the most popular girl or boy in high school. Unlike high school, there are plenty of opportunities to succeed in creating a good optimized buzz around your website with creative Internet marketing and website marketing strategy.

The first way is a classic: gossiping. The more something is talked about, the more it sticks in people’s minds, and the more likely they are to pass this information along. So, how do you acquire this stickiness? Incentives and Inspiration, backed up by excellent website content that is optimized for your highest ranking keywords!

Incentivized marketing comes in the form of “chain e-mails” and other promotions that reward your loyal customers to refer their friends for some kind of monetary compensation. An excellent example would be sending out an e-mail campaign to your customers guaranteeing a discount on merchandize or some kind of freebie if they refer a friend, and the friend either signs up to your e-mail list, or purchases your product. It trickles down to the friends also receiving a reward for referring their friends, and so on.

Inspirational marketing is the tougher nut to crack. Think about it, viral videos on YouTube are generally of things like sneezing pandas and babies dancing to Lady Gaga. They have some unique emotional appeal that is universally liked and promoted by sheer “cuteness.” Unless your industry deals with cute, your approach has to be a little different.

To inspire passionate fans promoting your website out of sheer love, you need to market your industry or product properly. Basically, you have to have something people want, and you have to back it up with providing these customers a reason to love you: excellent customer support.

If you have these two website marketing strategies implemented, though, you’re on your way to going viral. Stay tuned for the next step!