Social bookmarking, social networking, StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Twitter, everybody’s talking about them. Every known blogger is telling you how important it is to build a strong social media profile, how you can hit the jackpot of receiving thousands of visitors every day through submitting your articles, or having your articles submitted by your readers to the above mentioned websites, and many others.
Well, social networking is obviously useful and helpful; just don’t get your hopes up. You’re probably wondering why I’m writing this post, when only a few days ago, one of my posts has received a lot of love from social media websites. The answer is simple: While StumbleUpon sent a few thousand visitors to that article, another website (Reddit) did what it lately seams to be doing best.
Introducing link hate
No matter how important your article might be – you could be Jesus on your second coming, talking about the real Judgement Day – the first reaction you’ll see to your post is a few down-votes. This is the tricky part, you know you’ve written a good post, and when checking your Google Analytics you see no visits from that social media site. If so, why the negative response?
Look no further, link love is DYING! Who are you? Just another new kid on the block, trying to share your views with the rest of the world! You’re simply naive if you’re thinking you’ll make the front page through those easy-as-1-2-3 steps every website is talking about. Social media has long time ago transformed into a huge traffic provider, and where there’s traffic involved, so are money, lots of them.
It’s enough to scan some of the biggest forums and see those offers of over 1000 stumbles for only $10, and they are only the small fish of the industry. Sharks are a lot more savage! That’s the way things go when you’re a newcomer. Don’t expect link love, because some people can take your articles down, only to make sure their submission have a clear path to the top.
By now you’re probably thinking how come post from Smashing Magazine, TechCrunch or other famous websites hit the front page regularly. Don’t. They have the big bucks to spend on advertising, you probably don’t. They have a huge reader base, you probably don’t. They are famous and you’re probably not. It’s as simple as that.
Then, what else is there?
So, what can you do? Focus! Focus on being better. Focus on keeping your reader base close and on growing it. Don’t ignore the social media, as it’s still a good way to tell the world: I’m here, I exist and I have something to good say. But don’t expect the Holly Grail out of it!
If you’re looking for link love, make friends, good, close friends. If you’re looking for traffic, have your wallet near. Otherwise, you’ll probably get link hate.
Photo credits to Ayhan Yildiz.