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If you’re like me, the first time you visited Reddit.com, you immediately felt lost in the confusion & foreign world of Reddits, Categories, Karma, etc. After spending sometime on this site, I can finally say, I get it! Here’s a breakdown of the basics:

What is Reddit?

Reddit.com is a social bookmarking site similar to Digg.com. Users submit websites, photos, & videos. Reddit uses a formula including number of points (up-votes minus down-votes) & the amount of time since the submission to determine the placement of your link on its site. Users can also comment on the post & ad an up-vote or down-vote to the comments.

Submitting Your Site

Reddit is a great network to have your website submitted to. You can reach a larger audience simply by submitting your site or making your site available by inserting a Reddit Button in your blog. After your site is submitted, users can vote on your submission (which can lead to the front page) as well as share with their friends. This can also create links from Reddit or even from others who choose to link to you, provided that you supply good content.

The key to submitting your site comes down to two things: Title and Category. It is easier to get traffic to your site if you submit using longer titles. Try to be as specific as possible to attract users. Your sentences should be interesting, controversial, or anything to keep the reader wanting more to make that click. Also, do not create titles that are promotional or appear to be selling at users will quickly down vote any spam or promotions.

Be sure to post to the correct category, depending on the subject matter, some categories may do better than others and you will learn where your content is best received through trial and error. You can delete an article that does not receive much attention and re-post it to a new category with a more appealing title. Also, keep in mind that pictures and videos do very well on Reddit, so if you have a photo you should include a [PIC] tag in your title.

Reddit Karma

They say what goes around comes around and that is exactly what Reddit Karma is! Still confused? Here’s how Reddit explains their peer ranking system of Karma:

"When a particular item is promoted or demoted, the user who posted it is either rewarded or punished — a system of editorial karma. In the same way that popular submissions are voted to the top, the individuals who post them get increases in karma. Every redditor affects one another’s karma equally, regardless of his/her karma. Although democracy isn’t perfect, this experiment should supply the public with the information they demand while also rewarding those who provide it."

This peer ranking system is a good way to know which users are putting out good information and being well received by others. It also serves as a great way to monitor how well others are receiving your content.

If you have any further information or tips for Reddit please feel free to share!