A Comprehensive Guide to Going Viral on Digg (Part 1)

At Voltier Inc  viral content is an essential part of our game plan.  Here is the first part or the techniques we use and the things we think about when constructing link bait and submitting to sites such as Digg.

The Ideal Article:

In order to have a successful Digg, you must submit information that is new, exciting, and very interesting.  More than anything, though, your submission must not be old news, no matter how interesting it may be.  The ideal article is one that presents 100% brand new, interesting information before anyone else.  Take for instance a recently Dugg article about Anna Nicole Smith's death.  It immediately rose to the top of Digg...and this happened within minutes.  There were dozens of other similar stories, but the story that made it was the one that was submitted first.  When the article became old news (within a day), it was buried.               

In an attempt to be a first responder, many users have become that guy who sells t-shirts depicting the winner of the World Series before the last game has been played.   We saw this phenomenon in another Anna Nicole Smith example.  If you look through the Diggs referencing this topic, you can see posts of varying popularity about every possible scenario, each trying to be that original source - each trying to create news before it was actually news.   While it is nearly impossible to be the first one to present such a scoop, there is still a lesson to be learned from our "perfect article" archetype.  Users are interested in information they have yet to hear.  Better yet, if it is new information about something they already know about, it will be that much more popular. 

The Less-than-ideal, but still Digg-worthy article (and your best shot): 

"The key to generating good content is writing something that creatively combines information that has been mildly popular in the past, but is still relatively unknown."  While it may be very difficult to go out there and bring real news to the masses, there are still many opportunities to create viral content.  In our experience, generating good content is done by writing something that creatively combines information that has been mildly popular in the past, but is still relatively unknown.  The goal is to build on the popularity of the content that has already proven itself to be at least mildly popular, and inject new value which could push people into making it go viral, while making sure to keep the article feeling cohesive and central to some main idea, and not simply an aggregate of mediocre ideas. An example of how we did this was in our "8 diseases that give you super human powers" article. If this seems a bit convoluted, keep reading it will be clearer soon. 

Brainstorming:  Good sources for viral content are not as hard to find as you might think.  Ideas can easily be generated just by perusing subjects you might be interested in already (or that may be related to the site you are looking to promote with your viral content).  Spend a few hours surfing wikipedia, following links from the more general to the very specific.  Find those interesting pieces of information that are related to ideas or topics others have already expressed interest in, but that have only been shallowly explored.  There may be an opportunity somewhere to explore more deeply, to flesh out an idea into an article.

Questions to ask yourself during the Brainstorming Process:

1. Have I picked a story that I find interesting, but few others will? Am I miscalculating the potential of the story because I think its “SUPER COOL?” Basically check yourself for personal biases. This is a very large pitfall for writing link bait; failing to step into “the average Digg readers” shoes and ask, would they think this is interesting?
2. Does my story have mass appeal; is it relevant to a wide demographic?
3. If it doesn’t have mass appeal, is it extremely relevant to the largest demographic of Digg (industry news/ anything on the wii, programming tricks etc.)?
4. Does my story do one of the following?
   • Present a scoop (first time news story)
   • Story allay a fear, or present something fearful and then allay the fear? (Think local news teasers like “you will never believe what’s in your    water that could be making you sick, tonight at 11”)
   • Provide a new resource or amalgamate the webs top resources into one place?- An interesting new perspective on a widely talked about story?
   • Talk about a widely held but seldom talked about belief or common experience (the Seinfeldesque-linkbait)?- provide new insight to an industry along with proof in the form of statistics and facts?
   • Offer the reader any of the following without sounding scammy or preachy: money or ways to save money, time savings, easily acquired valuable talents or abilities, popularity, a reason to feel good about themselves or (Schadenfreude ) feel good through the misery of others.
5. Can my story be popular to both the Digg and Reddit crowds, because without both, it is harder to launch a successful link bait campaign? (This one means you really need to get a feel for both sites,--become a regular reader of both).
6. Above all, is this story something I am excited to tell my friends about? When I think about my story do I think, wow so and so needs to know about this, it is that cool!?  

Increasing the Viral Load:

Once you've found a topic to blog on, and have written a preliminary draft, your next step is to beef up the article's cool factor.  Let’s call this point in the process "increasing its viral load."  In our "8 diseases article," we knew already that people had exposure to some of the diseases mentioned, and that these topics were at least mildly popular (we watch TLC).   Two great ways to increase the viral load include: 

1. Using rich media. Audio and Video content can make an incredible supplement to an already interesting article
2. Using authoritative sources. (Wikipedia at the least, and academic sources at the best). 

Adding this kind of content seems to really increase the credibility of a source.  It makes it seem well researched, and in the minds of many Digg and Reddit users, the article becomes more likely for a positive vote.  Digg users are pro's at detecting a half assed attempt at generating traffic, so you must take the time to research your subject.  You must look like you made an effort to provide your readers with something of real value by actually providing your readers with something of value. 

Understand your audience:  Understanding your audience is essential.  Users of these sites are an interesting combination in that they are somehow both impulsive, and at the same time very critical and discerning.   

Your Title Really Matters:  This is the impulsive part.  Whatever catches someone’s eye is what they click on....but they then immediately become like vultures, picking apart your idea at the seams (at least if your article presents some kind opinion at all).  Your goal here is to come up with a very eye catching title, and then back up that title with real, readable, interesting content.  People behave as though they have given you a token of trust by clicking on your article, and will respond positively if they feel rewarded with the type of content they were expecting.  However, if your content isn't up to par with your title, they are likely to feel betrayed--and then you've lost.   

People can get angry, quickly:  Another important thing to remember is that you absolutely cannot disregard the power of people to downgrade your story.  This is especially true in the beginning.  You want to give your article the longest possible amount of time to catch on.  Going viral is almost like starting a lawnmower.  Either your mower will sputter and die immediately - sputter for awhile, then die…..or if you’re lucky, sputter for awhile and start.   The longer your motor sputters, the more likely it is that it will start up.  The same is true for viral content on sites like Digg or Reddit.   Get that content sputtering; keep it in front of your users eyes.  Avoid getting buried by making sure your content isn't too offensive or too controversial, and don't give your readers a reason to think you have a motivation in sharing your content other than your pure desire to spread information (i.e. don’t try to monetize your submission at all, or at the very least, until after you have gone viral.) 

Diggable vs. Linkable: If you are Dugg to the first page you are certainly going to see a great number of links, but it is important to note the difference between something that gets Dugg to a very high level and something that gets linked to a very high level. An example would be the number of links an interesting picture might get vs. an article that is a news scoop, or offers a great piece of previously unknown information. It is a fine line and sometimes hard to figure out if your Digg submission is also link worthy. 

Ask yourself the following questions about the linkability of your content:

1. Am I Digging this because I want others to see it, and pressing a single button is an easy way for me to say “this is cool?”  
2. Or am I Digging this because People need to know about this, because they can’t live without it or because without it they would be out of the loop.
3. Is it possible that my information is so new and/or informative that I will actually become an authority on this information, or serve as a reference for others interested in writing about similar content? 

Those of you answering number 2 or 3 will probably see better backlink results than those who answer number 1.  An additional caveat for those who submit single pictures, videos, or other easily copied or remotely hosted content for Digging: Which is easier, linking to your site, or copying your single item of content and hosting it yourself?   Truly great content is likely to become popular no matter what, but there are some things you can do to almost guarantee massive success.  What I’m talking about is building a base that can send your traffic into the stratosphere.   You can do this completely from scratch, or you can leverage previous success. The following are our techniques for launching viral content in the social media arena.  

Going Viral on Reddit (from scratch) ! Submit to a sub-category-   First, submit an article to a sub-Reddit, and the Reddit homepage at the same time.  (This is a feature of Reddit.  We are not suggesting duplicate submission).  The science sub-Reddit and programming sub-Reddit are two excellent options if your article fits into one of these categories.  The benefit here is a lack of competition.  Compared to the main section of Reddit, these sub-sections get far less competition.  Your presence on the "New" page of one of these sub-Reddits can assist you in remaining on the "Hot" page for as long as possible Even if your content doesn't go viral, you can still expect to see a good deal of traffic from these pages.   Another benefit of submitting to a sub-Reddit is the extra exposure and the more highly targeted exposure.  If your article happens to be in one of these categories, your readers are likely to be fans of the topic you chose.  Although there is little concrete proof to back up this assumption, it would not be surprising if the ratio of vote-up vs. vote-down was much better in these sub-sections for all on topic articles.    

Give it a push:

Comment on your submission.   Or, better yet, get a friend to comment on your submission.  Say something controversial, and say something interesting.  This is your chance to get a dialogue going.  The benefit of this is the increase in exposure you'll get as the result of having a lot of comments.  It seems as though many people are drawn to read articles that have a lot of comments, and if they comment positively themselves, you'll get points there too.   

Use residual or short burst traffic.  For those who already own sites or blogs that get a lot of traffic, you are at a lucky advantage. By using on-page Digg and Reddit voting buttons, you can launch viral content very easily. Instead of relying on visitors on the Digg and Reddit sites to vote you up, you can leverage your sites visitors to build your traffic and beat out your competitors.   If you don't have built in traffic, you may find success with methods that can get you a small amount of instant traffic. Anything that can get you an instant but short lived boost of traffic to your site can give you that needed push.  This technique will be the most important within the first 30min after your Reddit or Digg submission.  It can be essential in cases where a few votes may mean the difference between you being in the top 12 results on Reddit (the articles seen without scrolling down), and those results fluctuating between the first and second page.   

Some quick fix traffic ideas:

1. Submit your site link and article title or snippet to popular message boards. Please be relevant though, spamming boards is in poor taste.
2. Comment on related articles that are on the already on the Digg front page, or are moving up quickly and post a link to your site. Again, make sure you are adding value or risk angry burials.
3. Post to numerous other social bookmarking sites that may give you that initial boost. (Netscape, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Fark, etc)

Considering Day and Time:  In our experience at Voltier, an important factor in getting Dugg is the time that the story is made popular.  Digg seems to have some of its heaviest traffic during periods of the day that coincide with downtimes at work.  Many people working 9-5 do so in front of a computer, and what better way to waste time than to look at Digg or Reddit? While it is impossible for us to see Diggs exact traffic patterns in the long term, an indicator is the availability or unavailability of Digg's search tool. It seems to become disabled during specific and predictable times of day. 

We recommend submitting articles close to or right prior to these time slots where we see many Digg submissions going viral. These times are: 

1. 8:30am-10:30am 
2. 1:00pm-3:00pm
3. 4:00pm-6:00pm
4. 8:00pm-10:00pm

We have had success during the first and third time slots.  

Piggybacking:   With an excellent article at a peak viewing hour, you can receive a large number of Reddit votes in a short period of time. Because the Reddit algorithm is based primarily on a (time v. # of votes) system, your number of votes per hour will decide where you land on the front page of Reddit and for how long. If you can manage to write an article that starts getting attention at Reddit, make sure you are already submitted to Digg and that you have “Digg this” buttons on your page. As Reddit visitors start Digging your story (because of that handy on-page Digg button) your number of Diggs per hour should go high enough to tip into the Digg “popular” section.  Make sure you put your "Digg this" button both at the top of the article, and at the bottom.    People are going to Digg your article after they have read it, or at least looked through it and have found it Digg worthy.   Don't insult your visitor’s intelligence by assuming they will impulsively Digg you as soon as they reach your page (although some might).    At this point you will likely be made “popular” on Digg.  From here on out, the quality of your content will be the determining factor in how popular you become. If you are lucky, and follow our timing instructions above, you will go viral on Digg in the late afternoon by catching the final wave of people wasting time before the end of the work day. This also gives you your best shot of getting on the Digg top ten list for the day (a huge traffic booster). If you do happen to get a story Dugg, play on the insane traffic you are already getting by putting a link at the bottom of your page saying something like: “if you liked this story, check out: X related story” make sure to add a picture or give it a large font size to grab attention. You would really be surprised how well this works, and how easy it is to make a second story go viral using traffic from the first.  

Build a base for success:  Getting content to go viral from scratch is like building a pyramid.  Each step of the base you complete, the more able you'll be to complete the next stage, and so on until your pyramid is complete.  Even if you don't get to the top-- you've likely created something damn impressive anyway.   Again, make sure you content is linkable, interesting, and new.  Use the few tools at your disposal to give your content the best possible chance for success, and then leverage other social sites to create the voting equivalent of a feedback loop, and watch your traffic shoot into the stratosphere. 

*One Last Hint-- if things don't go right the first time, reevaluate the quality of your content.   If, after a thorough second look, you believe you've got a winner, realize resubmission is heavily frowned upon.  Digg and Reddit users hate re-submitters -- but if the only thing preventing a great article from getting out there is the title, you may be justified in releasing it again.  Remember: if the content can’t back up the title, it’ll never make it. Good luck everyone on a successful social media link baiting campaign. Let us know how things work out! 

For Your Consideration:  There have been some who have expressed their concern that any outright attempt to gain traffic and/or links through the intentional and calculated creation and deployment of creative content is the equivalent of SPAM.   We wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment.  What we propose, and the techniques we encourage, have the effect of giving the best possible chance for viral exposure to unique and interesting content.   We do not encourage the use of said techniques for the deployment of uninteresting, copied, or spam content ---not purely for ethical reasons—but also because any such attempt would be a complete waste of time.

In any democratic medium, the public decides what it wants and what it is willing to tolerate.  In social media sites like Digg and Reddit, interesting content rules.  It is valuable only according to its popularity, which at every moment is under the control of users willing to read.  To this end, interesting content is valuable regardless of its source, and regardless of the after-effects generated by such content.   Spam is by definition the opposite of creative, unique, popular content.

Additionally, the desired SEO benefits of gaining popularity through social sites are perhaps the most democratic of all.  The large number of backlinks (or lack thereof) generated by a Digg are based solely upon the discretion of the bloggers and webmasters in cyberspace.  They have each earned the right to distribute their linking power as they see fit...and the presentation of linkable content to them on a massive scale is by no means coercive or unethical – it’s simply good marketing.

As we have previously discussed, there may be a certain power associated with the backlinks generated by a Digg, even if the content being linked to through such an effort is completely off topic, or unrelated to the domain seeking exposure.  We agree that the creation of unrelated content in an attempt to inflate the relevance of an unrelated site is questionable.  (It is certainly an interesting experiment, and the effects of such a link baiting campaign should certainly be considered by the search engines.)  But we encourage the creation of content that is on-topic.  Not only will this invariably have a much greater effect in increasing the popularity of a site, it will also assure that you won't be accused of trying to game the system or take advantage of anything.