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September 13, 2012

Tips on Thursday: Reddit

Reddit Sticker
Reddit Sticker (Photo credit: cambodia4kidsorg)
In last week's tips post, I shared an experiment I did with Reddit. In addition to huge amounts to comments, Reddit can also drive a lot of traffic to your site (for me, a post gets more traffic from Reddit than it does from StumbleUpon). However, Reddit is a bit tricky and my first go around with the site I was banned. In an effort to help you not get banned and also increase views to your blog I'm offering a few tips.

Tip #1 Understand what Reddit is

Reddit is a social news site. Users submit links and text posts. Users of Reddit are looking for newsworthy items and discussion.

Tip #2 Build Karma

There is no user profile on Reddit. Instead, a users credibility is built through link and comment karma. Users are able to up and down vote the content you submit. I submit content from big sites like Huffington Post, Galley Cat, Book Riot, Publisher's Weekly - these stories almost always do well. I will also occasionally submit content from blogs I follow - these do moderately well.

I recommend having 50 - 100 link karma points before submitting any of your own content.

Build up comment karma by leaving useful comments on your content submissions as well as other submissions. Remember discussion is an important component of Reddit.

Tip #3 Read the Rule of Each Subreddit

Subreddits are categories to which you submit content. Each subreddit is its own community with its own moderators and its own sets of rules. Some subreddits do not allow any self promotion (no links to your content). Sometimes the moderators are nice and will just remove your content if you violate their rules, others will report you and you will be banned. Reddit moderators are strict and patrol their communities more so than any other site I've been a part of, so be careful.

I typically stick to Books and Selfpublish (selfpublish is a small group, but really nice). Writing and Blogging are other subreddits to check out.

Even if a subreddit allows self-promotion, many times they require special tags. Always read the subreddits rules before submitting

Tip #4 Submit Self (text) Posts

One way to get around self-promotion bans, is to do what I did in my experiment. Do a self or text post. Summarize the content you had on your blog into a post on Reddit. It will generate discussion and during the discussion mention that you said more on the blog post and perhaps leave a link for those interested.

Self posts also demonstrate you are interested in the Reddit community and not just there to drive traffic to your site.

Tip #5 Spend time on Reddit

Like any other social media network, you need to spend some time there. I find Reddit to be a fun place to have discussions and one of the easier (once you understand the rules) tools to use. There are always trolls, but for the most part people are friendly and helpful. I make checking into Reddit part of my daily social media checks. See what's new, upvote a few submissions and comments. If a big discussion gets going (like for my Mockingjay post) then I will set aside a larger chunk of time.

If you want to friend me on Reddit here is my page: http://www.reddit.com/user/Girl-Who-Reads/

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