How to Play the Odds Game and Win With Digg
Most bloggers would love their content to hit the front page of Digg. Unfortunately, most of those bloggers are never able to experience the huge spike of traffic and the feelings of accomplishment this brings.
In this post, I want to argue that success with Digg is an odds game. You can never guarantee it, but you can give yourself the best possible odds. I’ll be describing how to do this, right down to what kind of post you should create, and how to get it moving up the ranks on Digg.
There are things you cannot do
Most of the content on the front page of Digg at any given time is news. If you can’t break news, you can’t benefit from that. Unless you’re writing for a particularly well-resourced or popular blog, you may never be able to do this. Play smart by focusing your efforts on the 10% or 20% of content that hits the front page on the back of human creativity and hard work.
The IEN Formula
Time and time again we’ve seen that there’s no magic formula for a front page stint on Digg. We see posts that look like front page material swiftly buried. We see very mediocre content rise to the top insanely fast.
I believe the erratic nature of the process can be described by what I call the IEN formula. I = Idea. E = Execution. N = Network. My premise is that your efforts with any one post will need at least 2 of 3 qualities to be successful.
Once again, take a moment to memorize the IEN formula, as it will be discussed throughout the rest of the article. I = Idea. E = Execution. N = Network. Got it? Great.
A stellar idea can’t succeed if it is executed without enough care, or if there is no network pushing it forward.
A post with amazing execution can’t succeed if the idea behind it doesn’t have impact, or if there’s no network behind it.
Submission by a prominent Digg profile and a network pushing the post forward still can’t compensate for poor idea and execution.
In other words, you need to have: Idea and Execution, Idea and Network, Execution and Network, or Idea, Execution, and Network. Even then, nothing is guaranteed, but it’s the smart way to play the odds game.
Having all three qualities is, of course, the best route, but it’s also the most difficult. The planets will not always align perfectly for you. Your Digg power-user buddy might not be online to submit your post. You might struggle to come up with a brilliant idea, and so on.
As a result, I’d suggest (mainly) targeting one of the 2 out of 3 combos: either Idea and Network, or Execution and Network.
IN in action
It’s worth making clear at this point that a ‘good’ or ‘reasonable’ effort is not enough to give your content the quality of I, E or N. Your idea, your execution, or your network must be exceptional.
The IN route I would suggest is to write an advice post that applies to a very large cross-section of Digg users. One of the reasons I suspect Zen Habits has hit the front page of Digg over 80 times is because of its universal topics (happiness, health, etc.) Everyone wants these things. Another example is The Art of Manliness, which has hit the front page many times in its short lifespan because it publishes a unique brand of advice-articles aimed at men (Digg users are mainly men–though you probably guessed that).
The execution does not need to be stellar here. Many posts in this vein will focus mainly on re-stating common sense knowledge, or collating tips that other people have given before. It’s the ‘idea’ of the content that makes it attractive.
Here are some IN examples that hit the front page of Digg:
The Panacea for Putting Things Off
6 Steps to Lose the Buddha (Belly)
How to Shave Like Your Grandpa (and Save the Environment)
7 Simple Steps to Grow Your Fortune
Examples of topics with wide-spread appeal to Digg users:
- Universal human concerns (happiness, health, love)
- Men’s issues
- Apple
- Linux
- Meta (content about the Digg community)
- Design/Web Design
- Web trends
- Obama/McCain
- Negative stories about the Bush administration
- Interesting or useful DIY projects
I am always surprised by the amount of people who aim for Digg success without immersing themselves in examples of what works. You don’t need to be an active user, submitting and Digging content, but you must watch and learn. The more you immerse yourself, the more you will get a feel for IN strategies that work.
EN in action
Even when you don’t have a revolutionary idea, hard work and perfect execution can make up the difference.
The two EN content-types I suggest you focus on are both list-based: resource lists and top lists. List-based content marries very well with an EN approach because without a super-strong idea, your headline will need to promise value. Lists do that by previewing the amount of value in the content. Compare ‘Kung Fu Battles’ with ‘The Top 50 Kung Fu Battles of All Time’. The latter still carries significant impact, even though I’m sure the idea is not a new one.
A top list is a list of things to know, see, hear or do.
Some examples that have hit the front page:
Top 10 Best and Worst Reputations in Corporate America
Top 10 Ways Musicians Piss Off Their Fans
The 16 Best College Themed Movies
A resource list is a list of things to use.
Some examples that have hit the front page:
How to boost your odds with top lists and resource lists
1. Always use images–the more the merrier. Assume that a large majority of social media visitors who see your post are going to scan it, then bookmark it for possible later use (the reason why most non-news posts that hit the front page of Digg also become popular on del.icio.us). Your post needs to communicate its worth, even if it’s only scanned by the reader. Images will do most of this work for you. This quote from Vitaly Friedman, co-founder of the wildly popular Smashing Magazine, describes how they grew their blog in 2007 by using images:
“Also we’ve included more (many more) images in our posts. It helped us to improve the blog and drive more traffic to our site; and it was the main reason why our weblog crashed in the end of 2007.” [source]
2. Be mindful of your audience. A list aimed at senior citizens or stay-at-home mothers would never flourish on Digg. Posts about blogging and making money online are also on the auto-bury list. Think about ways you can create something that will appeal to a wide cross-section of Digg’s audience.
3. Do your research. Too often I see good social media ideas marred by half-hearted, rushed or, at worst, lazy research. ‘Good’ is not good enough. If your resource list features Google at #33, you know you need to be working harder. You should do 90% of your work in the research stage, finding the absolute best to include in your list. Filler is a death-sentence for any type of content.
4. Take your time. Carefully formatting your post and proofreading it thoroughly are parts of the process that you cannot skip and hope to get away with it. Anyone can create remarkable content, but understand that this takes time, care, and attention to detail. It’s not unusual to spend five to eight hours on a Digg-optimized post.
5. Be interesting. ’50 Resources for Small-business’ would probably turn out to be a useful post, but it seems boring. We’ve all seen variations on the theme before. How can you create a list that seems different to everything else out there? If your list evokes the ‘seen it before’ response, your chances will be dashed.
The crucial element: N
I know from first-hand experience that many blogs that seem to be on Digg every second day have developed personal relationships with Digg power-users who will submit their content.
The blogger behind the content will generally let the Digg power-user know when their post is going to be published, so they can be the first person to submit it. This increases the post’s chances of success because Digg power-users have a swarm of followers behind them: followers who often Digg what the power user submits.
This strategy is usually complimented by a network of people who can be ‘shouted’ to over Digg, or a grassroots email list.
These methods are so powerful that I was almost tempted to make N the exception for single-element social media success. If your network of people who will Digg your posts is wide enough, you can almost guarantee a stint on the front page. However, if the content doesn’t deserve to be there, it may not last long. This is why the N element is not quite enough on its own. The content must also be strong enough to withstand the rigours of the wider Digg community.
For the IN and EN strategies to work, you’ll need one, the other, or both. If you have a relationship with a Digg power-user, you may be able to rely on their network of voters to bring the content to the front page. If you don’t have a relationship with a Digg power-user, your own grassroots network of contacts could achieve the same. Having a combination of both is incredibly powerful, but obviously the most difficult combination to maintain.
In short, mastering the Network element will require either:
- Befriending a Digg power-user who can submit your posts first.
- A network of people you can ask to vote for your stuff.
- All of the above.
It sounds deceptively simple, but the topic is very complex and somewhat fraught. In my next post, I’ll be examining the N element in detail and describing how you (or anyone) can build a solid network for going popular on Digg.
