Table Of Contents
- What is Reddit?
- What makes Reddit so special?
- The Reddit Algorithm: An Overview
- Become a Redditor
- The Right Subreddits
- Ideal Content to Submit
- Don't Try to Play Reddit
- Conclusion
Whether you're new to Reddit or just want a refresher, this guide is for you. By the end, you'll know how to get around and do just about everything.
Reddit has grown immensely popular in recent years but is a source of constant confusion for beginners. This guide will walk you through exactly what Reddit is, how to use it, and will give you tips to ace the platform.
What is Reddit?
Reddit is a social news website focused on user-generated content. Users can submit links or text posts which are then voted up or down by other users in the Reddit community. Users can also follow one another to receive updates.
When you're not logged in, Reddit's front page displays a slightly filtered version of all "safe" communities, arranged from top to bottom by most popular.
When you're logged in, Reddit's front page lists all of the subreddits you've joined, in order of most popular content from top to bottom.
Now that we've established what Reddit is, let's look at some of the main differences you'll need to know in order to succeed on this social media behemoth.
What makes Reddit so special?
Reddit is often considered an alternative to other social aggregation sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, from an SEO point of view, there are many more benefits to Reddit than either of these other social sites.
Not only does Reddit have a large user base (3rd largest in the US), it’s also highly engaging for users. This engagement centered around certain subreddits can produce a lot of traffic to your site quickly and should never be ignored as an avenue for content distribution.
Reddit is truly a unique social media site. As marketers of business, startups, or goods and services, we would be remiss not to at least try and tap into this audience. With the right planning and execution, your next advertising campaign could take off.
For marketers and business owners who are just starting to dip their toes into the amazing world of social media marketing, it's crucial to build a strong niche following on this site, so we can build a community around our brand, building trust and gaining credibility that is ultimately what leads to true long-term success.
With over 430 million monthly visits and over 30 billion screen views, Reddit is believed to be visited by 32 % of all Americans every month. Around 82 % of those are English speakers, with 60 % hailing from the United States.
Furthermore, Reddit has a pretty evenly split male and female audience, with 78 % graduates. Because the audience is so valuable, Reddit attracts the likes of Bill Gates, Snoop Dogg, Toyota, and a slew of other celebrities, influencers, businesses, and politicians on a regular basis.
Hopefully, you’re beginning to see why Reddit is an important marketing tool for online businesses. By using Reddit, you open up a completely new audience for your business, one that is more dedicated and interested in what you have to offer than the average internet user.
Social media marketing agencies in Dubai and around the world suggest marketers not to neglect Reddit because of its benefits for SEO and building brand awareness. It is indeed a platform that is ignored by some marketers but it’s high time we give this amazing platform its due respect and start leveraging it for our benefit.
Each subreddit has its own set of rules
It can seem daunting, at first, to dive into Reddit and not be sure where you belong or what you should be doing. But the key is to first find your niche—the one or two Subreddits that really interest you.
Once you find your niche, read over the rules carefully, so that you know exactly what is required of you. Then adhere to them! The pros of Reddit far outweigh the cons when you take the time to get comfortable with this popular site.
When deciding whether or not to engage in a Subreddit, you must carefully research and analyze the guidelines.
For example, you might consider uploading your most recent Infographic to /r/dataisbeautiful, which has over 13 million followers and is one of the most popular Subreddits. 'No infographics or other unautomated diagrams,' however, is plainly stated in the guidelines.
You will be promptly banned if you do not respect the Subreddit's rules, and there is little to no tolerance for this.
If you take the time to really understand Reddit and learn its nuanced quirks, you can successfully market yourself online via Reddit. That’s because, in many ways, marketing on Reddit is no different from promoting a brand on any other social media platform.
If you approach Reddit with this mindset, you will most likely have a great experience that serves your goals and meets your expectations.
Use a Pseudonym
Using a pseudonym is important because it adds another layer of character to the kind of Redditor you are and allows you to be more authentic in your participation on the site. If you are building or engaging an audience, participating on Reddit, then you should consider having a brand account.
Almost everyone on Reddit, including the founders, admins (those who work for Reddit directly), and moderators, utilize a pseudonym (the individuals who run the Subreddits).
Use a pseudonym when creating your username unless you plan to create a branded account for running ads, managing a profile, or building your own branded Subreddit.
Even if you create a branded account, I strongly advise you to create a pseudonymous account to engage and participate in the many communities outside of your branded account.
The Reddit Algorithm: An Overview
Reddit utilizes a logarithmically scaled combination of upvotes and downvotes to determine the popularity of content in both Subreddits and the front page of the site.
If you're unfamiliar with logarithms, consider this: the first ten votes have the same effect on your submission as the next 100 votes, and those 100 votes have the same effect as the next 1000 votes, and so on.
This means that your first 110 votes are likely to be the most crucial, as they will determine the success of your proposal. This isn't to say you shouldn't try to manipulate the system and compel those first votes. This is something that Reddit is quite skilled at identifying, and it will almost certainly get you Silent Banned.
It's vital to understand so you can put in the extra effort to ensure your Title / Description is correct and of high quality, as well as maybe earning a good comment or two to assist your application start out on a favorable note.
Become a Redditor
I know it may seem obvious but take the time to truly become a Redditor so you can grasp the platform, its features, and its users.
- Find the Subreddits that interest you so that you can better comprehend the discussions taking place. Learn the complexities of each Subreddit and contribute with a sense of expertise around the topics and discussions you're already familiar with.
- Take the time to learn about all of Reddit's features, including the many settings options and areas of your profile.
- Learn the Reddit lingo so that when you participate in each Subreddit, you appear to be a participant. There are a number of Reddit terminology and phrases you probably don't understand but should if you want to succeed on the site. Check out the Reddit Lingo Guide for more information.
Learn the rules... not only for Reddit as a whole but also for the specific Subreddits you choose to join or engage in.
Comment, comment, comment...
The most important aspect of being a Redditor and fitting into the communities is commenting.
In fact, if you aren't careful, not commenting or responding can lead to you being labeled as a spammer.
Take the time to comment on threads in Subreddits that you care about, and if you really want to cheat the comment karma game, look for threads that are about to become popular on Reddit and comment early.
You Might Be a Spammer if...
Unlike many other social media sites, Reddit has a unique perspective on what qualifies someone as a spammer, and it's probably not what you think.
Here are some of the things that could turn you into a Reddit spammer:
- It should go without saying that you should submit your own stuff. It's worth noting that Reddit has always maintained a 9:1 guideline, which allows you to submit around 10% of your own content. Also, there is no punishment for breaking the 9:1 rule if you publish content to your own Account and any Subreddit you own.
- If you do not respond to or remark on other people's submissions.
- Submitting stuff to a Subreddit that is off-topic.
- Over-submitting to a Subreddit, regardless of whether the content is your own or of good quality.
- You keep submitting content that gets downvoted, yet you keep submitting it anyhow.
- Submitting the same stuff to different subreddits
The Right Subreddits
Again, it's critical to join a few Subreddits that you're enthusiastic about, but after that, you'll probably start looking for Subreddits to join for marketing purposes.
You want your material to succeed in these Subreddits, so let's go over some key factors to consider when selecting the ideal Subreddits.
Find engaging subreddits
Use the site:domain.com parameter in the Reddit search to do this. You'll get a number of results for content from that domain, and you can look through the subreddits to see where the content is frequently posted. Once you've found a few Subreddits, change your search to include the subreddit:nameofsubreddit option to see the selected content that was submitted to that Subreddit only.
Simply click on the material to see if users have positively reacted, and then add it to your list of possible Subreddits to join.
If I searched site:searchenginejournal.com, for example, I'd notice a lot of submissions in the Technology Subreddit, so I'd change the search to site:searchenginejournal.com Subreddit: technology to view that domain exclusively in the Technology Subreddit.
Look at the rules
Check the rules in the sidebar for each Subreddit you've found and make sure they're appropriate for the plan you've devised.
If you wish to contribute your URLs but there is a Subreddit rule prohibiting URL submissions, that Subreddit is not for you.
Discover which subreddits are on the rise.
Consider using open source tools like Reddit Metrics to spot up-and-coming Subreddits.
Getting in early on a new Subreddit could lead to your work being more widely accepted, as well as the possibility of becoming a moderator on that Subreddit.
The Ideal Content to Submit
You want to think about what material will perform best in each Subreddit now that you've joined all of your ideal Subreddits, both for passion and for marketing.
- To see all of the content that has achieved the very top position in each Subreddit, go to the TOP tab in that Subreddit. You can filter the time period you want to look at but be sure to look at each and every top contribution because it's the stuff that the Subreddit's users have voted the greatest at some point.
- To review all of the content that has been performed in the past, use the site:domain.com option in Reddit's search again, this time with your own website and competitors. Use this as a starting point for choosing or producing content (and I recommend considering creating content just for Reddit)
Don't Try to Play Reddit
It's natural to want to improve your chances of earning more votes while engaging on a site where the success of your content is determined by the number of votes you receive.
However, I can assure you that the risk of having your domain (and maybe your account) permanently banned is not worth the short-term success of gaming your way to the front page in virtually all cases (if it even works).
When it comes to combating spam and attempts to rig the system, Reddit has always taken a firm stance.
They're ready to ban ten individuals simply to catch the one who's breaching the rules, and they have a number of anti-spam and anti-gaming tools that do a fantastic job of catching and penalizing you and your content for attempting to break the rules.
There are lots of ways to promote on Reddit without trying to cheat the system, so resist the urge and concentrate on doing things the correct way!
Conclusion
This is it for today’s blog. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned a thing or two about using Reddit. Do share your feedback in the comment section and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
If you are a business owner and you want to utilize Reddit properly to increase your company’s brand awareness, contact Prism Digital, the best social media marketing agency in Dubai and our marketing experts will devise and implement a strategy that will send your business on the right track to gain visibility and reach that you so need. See you on the other side. Thank you.
About The Author: Lovetto Nazareth
Lovetto Nazareth is a digital marketing consultant and agency owner of Prism Digital. He has been in the advertising and digital marketing business for the last 2 decades and has managed thousands of campaigns and generated millions of dollars of new leads. He is an avid adventure sports enthusiast and a singer-songwriter. Follow him on social media on @Lovetto Nazareth