Digg unto others as you would have them Digg unto you

Over the past few months more and more marketers have been catching on to the whole social media scene because it can do wonders for a business when it comes to anything from marketing a product or service to increasing search engine rankings. Getting on sites like Digg can drastically improve a website's traffic and link popularity. If you are a marketer trying to get on Digg here are some of the things you should know.

Self promoters are spammers

A lot of people like submitting their own stories to Digg. Some see nothing wrong with it, while others see it as spam. To increase your chances of getting on the homepage don't submit your own stories or else other users may mark it as spam.

Diggers are passionate about hating SEOs

It seems that a lot of marketers like to submit SEO related content or create user ids with the word "SEO" in it. There is nothing wrong with that, but for some reason most Diggers hate SEOs because they feel they are spammers. So instead of trying to get SEO stuff on the Digg homepage, look into what users like and create content related to that. Some of the things that you can talk about and potentially get on Digg's homepage are stories about Google, Yahoo, click fraud, how-to guides and web related resources and lists.

Everyone is not your friend

When most people create their account, the first thing they try to do within the first couple days of signing up is add hundreds of friends. Instead of adding hundreds of friends your really don't know you may want to take it easy and add valuable friends. Here are some qualities that make a valuable friend:

Someone who is an active Digg submitter. Not those users who submit 100s of stories a day, but the ones that submit quality stories that people like to digg.
Not everyone likes submitting stories, there are many users who actively digg stories. You can tell who is an active user by the number of stories they digg and the number of stories they add as their "My#1".
A valuable friend probably does not digg every story their friends submit just for the hell of it, but instead they digg the stories they like. Watch out for those users who digg hundreds of stories a day.
In your everyday life you probably have some sort of common interests with your friends, take that same principle when looking for a friend on Digg. If you are into politics, friend other users who are actively participating in the World & Business section on Digg.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Follow the golden rule by not spamming. Don't you hate those telemarketers calling your home when you're trying to relax after a hard day's work? Don't you hate email and comment spam? Well, so do Digg users. This is why Digg has put precautions in place to stop spammers. When creating and submitting stories to Digg and other social sites, make sure you put the community ahead of yourself and do what's best for it and not yourself.

The idea of easily "gaming" Digg will not last forever because they will evolve their algorithms over time, just as Google has. Every time a spammy story gets through to the homepage, Digg learns from it, to prevent the same type of stories from reaching the homepage in the future. If you want to get a story popular on Digg, provide value to its users and don't just think about get rich schemes such as creating Digg rings because they will not last very long. As a wise man once told me, "A good story will always make the Digg homepage, no matter who submits it".

Enjoy the post? Here are some more that may interest you.

Search Marketing Gurus | Search Marketing Tips, Advice, Strategies, December 22, 2006: “No, Really, What's Up With Digg Thug Posses?” — Alright, I think I might get a little controversial (especially by what I suggest at the end of this post), but gosh darnit, what is it with those folks over at Digg? I wonder what Kevin Rose is really thinking letting the notoriously tweenage nerd pop...

Chris Sandberg, December 21, 2006

Great post. I agree that Digg will evolve their algorithm over time to prevent spam just as Google has with its search algorithm. It will get harder to "game" Digg as time goes on. However, I disagree that "A good story will always make the Digg homepage, no matter who submits it". The submitter has a lot do with whether or not a story makes the homepage. While a good story will have a better chance than a bad story despite who submits it, if a good story from a relatively unknown website gets submitted by some random new user it is very unlikely to make the homepage no matter how good it is. Content quality is just one factor, albeit a big one.

Guigo, December 22, 2006

can't imagine adding all the folks to my friends list - thats truly spammy down to the bone :| other issue what you could mention is that don't submit the same story someone has already put on digg, these duplicates are so many outthere! btw, selfpromoters often put a good stuff ;)

Frederick Townes, December 22, 2006

Solid post Neil. I had a few similar thoughts. I never really thought too much about the "SEO" in the username, it always seemed way too above the radar - I always thought those were DIY guys who don't "get it". I do agree with Guigo on one thing; some self promoters occasionally do have the goods, but those are often the same folks that contribute just as much if not more valuable content about others.

Toivo Lainevool, December 22, 2006

Since Digg hates SEO, I created an alternative social news site focused on SEO stories - SEOyak.com

Neil Patel, December 22, 2006

Chris, thanks for the comment. Granted a top user can make a story get to the homepage faster, but even if a unknown blogger writes a great story it will still make the homepage.

When I first started this blog I wrote a blog post on all of the domains Google owns. Some might not consider it a great story, but it was something that the Digg community cherished. A random person submitted it to Digg who was not a power user and within an hour or so it made the homepage.

I do understand what you are saying and maybe I should of been clearer on what I meant by a "good" story.

Mike, December 22, 2006

Someone should tell rand about self promotion on Digg. http://digg.com/users/randfish/news/submitted

Kian Ann, December 22, 2006

Great thoughts Neil, I think every social bookmarking site out there has been so misused by spammers for self promotion. I personally feel that one should never submit one's own stories - if it's good enough, it will get there through your readers!

Zach Katkin, December 27, 2006

As a digger (and an SEO enthusiast) I have tried a few tactics to get some solid traffic to my own, and client sites. Although diggers might have some kind of inherent bias against SEOs, I feel I am generally safe (or justified) in my submission as long as the submission is worth a users' time and provides some kind of valuable experience (like every pronet advertising article)!

Neil Patel, December 27, 2006