Digging for Google and Avoiding the Hate - Start with Your Content
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Maybe it's because part of my job involves visiting a variety of web sites (including social news sites), but I've never been able to understand why so many SEOs apparently don't get the following point: if you want to be effective in getting the word out about your content to a community, you need to understand the community. And the only way to understand the community is to become a part of it: read and lurk until you get a feel for the members' interests, wants, needs, tastes, and so forth. That's why SEOs sometimes do badly on Digg.
So what do Digg users like? You may find it hard to believe, but it seems that linkbait features high on their list of "guilty pleasures." Take a look at some of the items that made the front page in the previous section; the titles that list X number of things is a dead giveaway. You can't use just any kind of linkbait, though; it has to be quality linkbait that plays directly to their interests.
Jane Copland, writing on viral marketing for SEOmoz, may have hit the nail on the head when she observed that "Digg's hatred of SEO can't compete with their liking of good, interesting or controversial content. They remind me of people who profess to hate all things French and yet can't refuse champagne. People who say they can't stand the USA but who can't get enough of American T.V. Dogs that are scared of vacuum cleaners but that can't stay away from them when you're cleaning."
There are a few points to keep in mind about the Digg community concerning the content you choose to post. First of all, they are, by and large, made up of male, tech savvy users; even when they aren't, they tend to react that way. You need to make them happy - and especially, you need to make sure you don't offend them (more on that in a bit). If you don't have content that is likely to appeal to this group, you probably won't do well on Digg; you'll need to figure out some kind of angle that will work, or simply choose not to use Digg. There are plenty of other social media sites out there.
Next: Basic Digg Etiquette >>
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