An expert shares how to become a viral hit

What's it like to be a viral sensation? Well . . . it's surprising.

I realized that I was a viral sensation recently when poking around on the admin side of the Daily Republic website. I found a way to calculate what articles are the most-viewed in the history of the site and learned that one of my columns ranked sixth, with more than 79,000 views.

(For clarity, my ranking includes only articles that appeared on the website. Among the most-viewed pages are such things as the home page, the classified ads page, the list of comments made, etc. For further clarity, my definition of "viral sensation" is anything that receives more than 78,000 views.)

Of course, Tony Wade is also the list.  His 2013 "Back in the Day" column about "The medieval history of Fairfield, California" checked in at No. 38, with 23,000 views.

Isn't that cute? Keep trying, Tony.

Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to share some tips on becoming a viral sensation. First, though, here's a list of the articles on the website that have more views than mine.

The most-viewed article is Ted Puntillo's column from 2013 on who qualifies as a veteran. Puntillo's post is a runaway winner, with more than double the number of views of any other article. Second is a Tim Jones column from 2014 asking whether a renter has to cooperate if their landlord wants to sell a house. Third is a syndicated column from 2017 on the "10 Worst Things Trump Has Done" (For my money, I hope "ruined the United States Football League" made the list). Fourth is an article by Todd Hansen about the massive October 2017 fire in Solano County and fifth is an Annie's Mailbox column about there being a huge difference between a "father" and a "dad."

Sixth is mine: Ranking the greatest (and worst) generations.

From 2015.

With 79,000 views.

It's an ongoing thing, too. On Wednesday, I checked to see where my article ranked in the past 30 days. It was the 17th-most viewed article during that period. Four years after it was posted!

So you're asking: How do you become a viral hit like that? How do you connect with people in such a way that four years later, they're still clicking on the Daily Republic site to see your article?

Frankly, the answer is simple.

Ready?

The secret: Be the only person to write about something. And put that unique thing in the headline (Again, the headline was "Ranking the greatest (and worst) generations.")

That's it. I believe I am the only person in the world who written a column ranking the generations.

If someone types in the phrase "ranking generations" into Google, what comes up first? Generally, that Daily Republic column from 2015 (Google results may vary for different users, but the principal is the same).

You want to be viral? Whether it's on social media, in a blog or some other way, there are options:

• You can post an amazing video of a cat juggling chainsaws.

• You can write a touching post that says something in a way that strikes people ("Sadness is just happiness waiting to bloom.").

• Or you can write a column or blog post on something no one else has addressed.

Me? I'm hoping to knock Puntillo off the top spot with my next column: "How ranking generations determine who qualifies as a vet and whether that person has to help their landlord sell a house."

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.