er the last year or so I have heard endless webmaster stories of getting to the homepage of digg or a similar networking site (usually all at the same time), and boast about how much traffic it brought them for a few days. Then you hear the usual âbut that digg traffic didnât convertâ.Now originally I thought this was just a noobie thing, that they really thought the traffic getting money from PPC for instance is your main goal. Recently, however, I have heard some bigger players complaining about this very thing and it surprised me.
The sudden increase in traffic you receive when hitting the digg homepage with a popular item, is simply a means to an end. The real key is a) capturing a repeat visitor through bookmarking or subscriptions b) Compelling the visitor to tell one or more people about your news item (especially on their websites, with a link-back).I will say this now and have found myself saying it over and over in the forums lately : Converting Digg traffic is not about sales or ppc - itâs about how viral can you go, and how many people link to your site. Conversions can mean different things and in the case of Digg.com, the more people that either become a return visitor or tells someone or many people about your site, the higher your conversion rate.
I recommend keeping the ads to a minimum when you have a hot item on the front page of Digg. Better yet take the ads off altogether and try to look like as professional as possible. First of all, this technique can get you more backlinks, as many high page ranked blogs refuse to link to banner farms - and even if you donât think your site is a banner farm, they might. Secondly, keeping the ads to a minimum instead of cramming the page with more ads helps will help prevent your site from being slammed in the comments section as a sneaky webmaster⦠something I know can get you buried all to quickly.
Remember when doing your link baiting strategies and when you do get a hot item - focus on compelling these brand new visitors that your site is âdigg-worthyâ, and try to get on the good sides of as many diggers as possible. Just ask mashable if they like being a digg favorite.
Kyle Healey is the owner of a large network of sites such as Myspace Layouts and Myspace Codes
Kyle Healey is the owner of a large network of sites including these Myspace Layouts and < a href="http://www.codesplz.com" title="myspace codes">Myspace Codes