One of the most vital parts to effective social media marketing and optimization is getting maximum visibility on social news sites.  There are countless social news sites available on the web, but my favorites include Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, and Mixx.  Now each site is different and unique with regard to demographics, rules, and algorithms for reaching the front page (which is your ultimate goal).  With many social news sites, the demographics you will be targeting will become undeniably apparent just seeing what has already made it to the front page.  For example, with Digg you will be more likely to catch someone’s attention with a post regarding technology laced with an element of humor.  On a site like Newsvine you may find more success posting a story that is more of straight news as this tends to “climb the vine” more readily.  There are many steps you can take to ensure that your postings receive the best visibility possible.

Build out your profile!  This is the most basic step but many people register on social news sites and just get straight to the action.  What you must remember is that many members of social news sites will look at your profile to see if you are here to just post a story and run or if you have a vested interest in their community.  Most sites will ask you to fill in a short bio, add a few links to sites you use, upload a picture, and some location information.  Be sure to make your profile as personal as possible so that other users are able to make a connection. 

The next step, which may be the most important, is your interaction with the community.  Go comment on posts, submit a few small ones of your own, do anything you can to show that you are not just here to make the front page.  Interacting with the community not only shows them that you are human, but it allows members to connect to you on a higher level as they are able to gain additional insight.  You must put yourself in the shoes of another community member to understand this…if someone were to add you to their network…and you went to view their profile only to find that they have no interaction with the community….what would you think?  This brings us to the next phase…

It is now time to focus on building your network.  Anyone can create a profile on a social news site and just begin posting articles…but how are you going to promote them??  The whole point of social news sites is to spread them socially!  Now some people may be lucky and post an article that naturally floats to the top based on the content, but the vast majority of the time you will need to rely on a network of people to help you promote your article.  A good place to begin this is by adding friends, colleagues, or anyone else you may already know.  The next step will differ from person to person, but follows the same basic concept.  Read articles that have made the home page, find the ones that stand out to you and figure out who the poster was.  I would recommend adding the poster as a contact and maybe some their top contacts as well.  This will help you in not just building the size of your network, but ensures that you are adding like-minded individuals who will be more likely to help you promote your posts.  It is highly advisable to not just run around adding as many random contacts as possible.  For one you will likely add members who are not of the same accord and you will no doubt be considered a spammer to them when you try and share with them.  This should absolutely follow the philosophy of quality over quantity. 

So now we are ready to post an article with the hopes of making the front page.  Make sure that you are posting in the community or communities that are best suited for your topic.  For most sites you will not be reposting the article in its entirety, just a headline and a preview.  Make your headline and preview as conversational and teasing as possible (humor usually helps).  This may seem obvious, but make sure that you post in the proper section as there are many to choose from in each community.  Once you have successfully posted it is time to spread the love.  Communities such as Digg will allow you to “shout” your post to those in your network.  Attach a friendly message and if everything works out you will be on the front page in no time.  There is no secret code to making this process work, it will all depend on your level of commitment and enthusiasm towards the communities (and having good content is always a plus!). 

Give it a shot and let us know your experience.  We would love to hear other methods or what you would do differently.  As always…more to come… 

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