Early this morning the Daily Dot published an incredible article about the extent of the FBI’s awareness of the 2011 Stratfor hack. It’s a huge story — with more articles coming in the weeks ahead — and we’re already seeing people share and discuss this latest development. It’s a piece that will go viral because it’s important, not because we made it so.

Publications can get lost in the game of trying to anticipate which video or infographic will go viral that day. Many editors pride themselves on being able to spot these pieces of content. But there’s a difference between a story going viral because it’s funny or cute and one going viral because it’s important and affects everyone’s lives.

Newspapers used to measure success based on a rough circulation estimate. Nowadays we define success with extremely precise metrics, down to what time of day someone reads a story and what other sites they subsequently visit. But if you consistently put out engaging, informative journalism about issues that matter, these metrics won’t have to drive your content; they’ll instead fall in line.

We also had an internal win at Daily Dot Media this week, hitting a milestone of 11.5M uniques. That was 40% growth from April and proof that our contrarian growth strategy of original journalism is working. If you want to ensure that people will buy something, a quality product is key. Ditch the viral games and devote resources to solid, sourced, relevant stories for your audience. The metrics will follow.