Posted on Wednesday 14th of February 2007 at 13:06 in The Internet

How to get on the Digg front page

I can hold my hand up high and don the shameful hat of Digg baiter. Getting a site off the ground can be troublesome and I've been guilty of using Digg as a catalyst. I wish I could hold my head up high and admit that it doesn't matter but it's comforting seeing the traffic spike that accompanys a good Digg. Before I degress further from the point, let me share with you my tips on getting on the front page of Digg.

#1 - Statistics/Numerical titles

Having a statistic to base your claim on makes all the difference because somehow a metric makes the submission more worthy.

Examples
29.8% of Windows XP users consider a move to Linux over Vista, an article I wrote based on a poll on the site [2095 diggs]

61% of Users are Scared of Dual Booting Linux, another poll with stats [600 diggs]

51.8% of users feel open source software helps reduce their piracy urges, another poll [882 diggs]

As you can see I've had 3 solid front page submissions on this site with this methodology so there's something to be said for it's effectiveness.

#2. Choose your category carefully

The best topics are the slow ones, Linux/Apple/Programming are good candidates. A slow topic means that your submission remains on the front page of the "upcoming" area and therefore viewed by more eyes and inviting more Diggs.

As a personal recommendation I've found the Linux community on Digg to be more welcoming than others (obviously with the right submission).

#3. Cause a discussion

It's difficult to weight a submission correctly so that it's controversial enough to generate healthy discussion. Why? Well something overly controversial will get buried before you see any benefit, but if it generates some good discussion then people will revisit the post to continue expressing their point of view, they're more likely to blog about it = more backlinks.

#4. Avoid being "typical"

People expect that "top 10" lists make the front page and by extension they're now unpopular. Digg users aren't as stupid as people assume - far from it - they spot trends and keywords that frequent the front page and will push back against things that appear too often. Therefore taking the time honoured "top ## reasons..." angle no longer works so well. Be inventive! Just make sure it's memorable and sounds important.

#5. Avoid overly "personal" opinions

This goes for blogging in general let alone social bookmarking but you must avoid overal personal opinions. Expressing a distaste for something is fine but bringing politics into a non-political article is a big no-no. A rule of thumb is to not say anything that you wouldn't say in public - because places like Digg put you infront of thousands of people - far more than you'd encounter in the normal outside world. No slating of Mr. Bush in an article about the iPhone - it's not necessary and will alienate a bunch of readers without real reason.

Conclusions

This is just my personal experience with Digg expressed into advice, it clearly doesn't guarantee you success nor does it define it - these are just guidelines that I have found help ensure a good experience on the site. I've found that the old advice is no longer valid as the Digg community has become wise to people's tricks so this article summarises my thoughts on it.

 

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