15 Ways to become a Digg Power user in only 48 hours

19. Apr 2007 | 116 Comments

Well, I never really was a big fan of Digg…..Until yesterday when I finally cracked how to get consistent diggs to the front page.

I spent a lot of time analysing what works on Digg & what doesn’t. However what a lot of people fail to notice is that 99% of the stories that are submitted rarely make it beyond 1 digg (from the user themselves).

The reason for this is the mentality of the submitter. They think that creating an account then submitting their stories is enough for the story to hit the front page. However, it’s just not that simple.

Here’s an account of how exactly I created a profile & became a power user that had 4 stories front paged with no help from any IM friends, within 48 hours of creating the Digg Account:

Create a Digg Account
Choose a memorable name & a good picture (picture is vitally important, notice how the top user supernova17 has a bright image ). Make the name memorable. Bear in mind you’re not trying to deceive here but merely some extra persuasion which will help with initial diggs.
Start by digging stories from users in the “upcoming section” make sure & leave a nice comment on each.
Add friends & digg their stories regularly. Adding friends is key to making this work.
Check for people that have added you as a friend using the “See who befriended you” tab.
Start submitting stories from places like reddit & stumbleupon to get an idea of how many initial diggs you are going to get. If you’re getting less that 10 diggs from friends then you need to do more digging & building.
Try to comment first on stories you think will hit the front page, this increases your exposure & increases your chances of acquiring friends.
You’ll instantly get a feel for what’s working & what’s not working. Now it’s time to tweak things.
Don’t submit into the general category. Things scroll off too quickly & don’t linger enough to get that initial “boost.”
I added anyone that dugg my stories as a friend. If they check their “befriended” tab they’ll probably add me too. This works well with newer users who have less friends. Make them feel wanted :p
Create a huge list of resources to scour for stories. 50-100 is good, tech blogs, apple news all that sort of stuff you want right in your feed reader.
I Created google alerts so that I’m getting info on hot topics right to your email inbox.
Don’t post your own stories until you’re sure you can get that initial 10-20 diggs to get your story noticed. If you’re posting your own stories you need to make sure they’re professional, not spammy otherwise you’ll get buried & the blog will get banned.
I now have a Digg account that will automatically get 15-30 Digg’s from my friends as soon as I submit a story, depending on what the story is about. For example they’ll probably not digg SEO or Affiliate Marketing related stories.
Have fun digging, remember it’s a game. It’s not difficult. You just need to network & build relationships then you’ll be rewarded

Welcome to everyone that’s come here from Digg! I’m surprised that you’ve not nuked my server….yet. Please feel free to have a look around, here’s a few other posts that I recommend:

Also, don’t be afraid to drop me a line using the contact tab or leave a comment if you have any questions (or suggestions) about this article

Enjoy this post? Get the RSS Feed

116 Comments on "15 Ways to become a Digg Power user in only 48 hours"

moneymaker 19. Apr 2007, 4:22 pm

nice tip. this could actually hit digg frontpage.

Mark 19. Apr 2007, 7:22 pm

Thanks, that’s a nice guide. If you Digg stories that become popular, your Digg account carries more authority too, so 1 of your Diggs will be worth 50 of a newbie’s diggs.

I noticed that Subert & Profit launches next Monday. If you haven’t seen it, it’s basically a system that you can pay to have your story dugg and you get paid to digg.

Wealth Junkie 20. Apr 2007, 7:46 am

Great post – thanks for the tips!

Nate Whitehill 20. Apr 2007, 8:20 am

Great tips! Hey, send me a message when you get a chance!

Joao Inacio 20. Apr 2007, 9:51 am

Very good post indeed!

Keep them comming!

Bartoneus 20. Apr 2007, 10:09 pm

It’d be deliciously meta if this hit the Digg frontpage. Very good advice!

Brandon Hopkins 21. Apr 2007, 4:40 am

Good tips, never looked at digg as the marketing itself…

Matt Jones 23. Apr 2007, 8:37 am

Brilliant tips… most of them are so ovbious but I needed reminding! I’m going to try your tips big time this week

Page 1 here I come!

Runa 24. Apr 2007, 3:51 am

Great informations. I’ll try to do the same!

Matt Ellsworth 04. May 2007, 1:54 am

great guide – thanks for the heads up!

Wallet Rehab - Ways to save money 27. May 2007, 4:06 pm

Awesome. Great info. Thanks!

vasilis pasparas 02. Jun 2007, 7:57 am

excellent article. keep on writing the good informative articles
A HUGE BRAVO!!

Jonathan Franzone 09. Jun 2007, 9:21 am

Very nice Digg guide. I never would have thought to actually build relationships inside of the Digg community in order to solicit Diggs for your submissions. Thanks!

Russell Rockefeller 26. Jun 2007, 2:54 am

Digg prevents you from adding more than three friends at a time. From what I can tell there is a 5 or 10 minute timer.

Bogdan Badulescu 06. Jul 2007, 3:07 am

Straightforward and clean.
I’ll link on it on my blog at http://bynapse.blogspot.com .
Keep up the good work !

Pensador 20. Jul 2007, 12:18 am

Thanks you so much Stuart, for the advice. I’ve recently submitted my first article but it did not get as much attention as I thought it would. Now I know why.

Jim 20. Jul 2007, 8:15 pm

Next thing you’ll know, we’ll start seeing Digg accounts for sell on ebay. Hmm… new business idea?

Amit 04. Oct 2007, 3:55 pm

Great Work Stuart!!! Have been digging for some time now and must say i fall in the “lot of people” group in your 2nd para.
By the way thanks the guide. Will start following it now

Cy 07. Oct 2007, 2:43 am

Stuard:

Some douchebag copied your article:
http://www.anthonyjudelawrence.com/15-tips-hit-digg-front-page-power-user-status-in-48-hours/

APigeonCalledFrank 09. Oct 2007, 12:43 am

Cool list, but this obviously doesn’t apply to articles about something as opposed to pure reporting stories.

but i agree, even if something is interesting, if you don’t have friends then it only manages to get a few diggs before disapearing…

sad…

Stealth Employed 05. Nov 2007, 2:42 pm

I wrote an article on my blog titled 5 Ways To Get Your Blog Syndicated Faster with a link to this post. Just trying to share the love!

Link Bait 05. Nov 2007, 7:24 pm

That same Anthony dude copied my article, too:
http://www.linkbaitme.com/2007/11/05/anthony-jude-lawrence-is-a-thief/

BloggerDollar 05. Nov 2007, 11:52 pm

Good Tips, I actually prefer no one running for digs and the best content beat the way but this is a game as you say and you gotta play the game by the rules.

Kimota 06. Nov 2007, 3:20 pm

This is a fantastic post – one of the most relevant and useful I’ve seen in a long time, when every second post seems to be about the same methods of link acquisition or PR trends.

I’m currently only starting out in this whole marketing thing myself with a brand spanking new blog and so posts like this are pure gold. Thanks again.

Kimota 06. Nov 2007, 3:21 pm

BTW, dugg, sphunn and subscribed!

Biju 06. Nov 2007, 5:07 pm

Nice article! Im going to try my luck now..

Jumboman 07. Nov 2007, 2:12 am

Thanks, nice article!
How many friends should you have at step 14? 100? 200?

Raivyn 07. Nov 2007, 2:24 am

Great article! I didn’t have a good understanding of Digg until I read this and then it all clicked. Thanks for sharing.

Michael 07. Nov 2007, 6:03 am

Great post. Thanks for taking the time to pull your tips together. It really help my overall understanding on Digg.

Ashvin 08. Nov 2007, 1:07 am

Interesting entry, but it has only 6 Diggs.

Stuart 08. Nov 2007, 9:20 am

Glad you liked the article guys, this is actually a bit older but I may consider updating it a bit.

I for one welcome our new Digg overlords.

Randy 08. Nov 2007, 9:39 am

Stuart
It’s refreshing to get black and white insight to getting read and becoming known in this big net. I will do what you suggested and let the Universe do what it will!

Randy
http://www.golfmindpower.com

NewzNozzl 08. Nov 2007, 9:53 am

Great post – good ideas. Thanks for the info (and ‘grats on making it 98 diggs and counting!)

SlightlyShadySEO 08. Nov 2007, 10:05 am

haha congrats, this was on my Digg frontpage.
Also, very nice article. The idea of using digg even semi-legitimately like that is a nice twist for marketers.

tysonwilliams.com 08. Nov 2007, 10:19 am

Yup – it is on the front page! Congrats!

Great list of tips, hope more and more people will taka advantage of the power of Digg

Tom 08. Nov 2007, 11:04 am

I’m a new user to Digg and these tips helped out a lot, good work!

Coward 08. Nov 2007, 11:09 am

now to make a bot out of these instructions and have a power user that isnt human…

Enam 08. Nov 2007, 12:46 pm

Nice tips. I have dugg.
I have already added about 300 friends on my digg account. I shall add more.

Chris Thomson 08. Nov 2007, 1:52 pm

Thanks for the tips!

George Bush 08. Nov 2007, 6:04 pm

Rewarded? Rewarded with what?

c 08. Nov 2007, 11:45 pm

One question… WHY???

Jason 08. Nov 2007, 11:57 pm

Answer: When you get your website on the front page of Digg you will receive 30 – 50 thousand visitors. More visitors = More earnings

Audrey the Coffee Sage 09. Nov 2007, 2:18 am

excellent! This has been one of the most helpful digg articles I’ve read. Thanks.

KSS 09. Nov 2007, 2:57 pm

Wow, what a great post. It was the title of this post that brings me here. Now, will spend more time here to read other interesting posts as well.

Thanks man!

Nancy Williams 09. Nov 2007, 7:49 pm

Some great advice which I think would work well on most of the social bookmarking sites. I too fell into your “a lot of people” category and it now seems obvious that the only way you get popular is to network and build relationships.

A question though – do you see this working if you just add friends randomly (I noticed a comment that you can only add friends at 5 or 10 minute intervals – unless you are just adding friends at random and as fast as possible, why should this matter?) or do you see this as something which takes a bit of time and work?

I know everyone wants the ‘get popular/rich/traffic quick without much work’ answer, but I was curious if you wrote this post to do this or whether it is a longer term process?

Lea "LIP" Woodward 10. Nov 2007, 8:07 am

Really good advice – as a user of some of the other social bookmarking sites, I’ve not yet got into Digg but am doing so now with your tips!

Like many of the other ones, you’re so right – it’s all about reaching out, communicating and networking instead of just expecting to click a few things here and there and hey presto, you’re on the front page.

Thanks for the great post.

Living Life Abundantly 14. Nov 2007, 6:10 am

very thorough and concise, I’ve read many articles on this topic none as well thought out as this. I love it

Dave Nofmeister 17. Nov 2007, 9:25 am

Interesting to see how digg operates. I can’t help but believe your process is how most posts get “dugg” to the top.

David Mackey 03. Dec 2007, 7:38 am

Came here through Digg.

Gail Swanson 10. Dec 2007, 5:11 am

Great information, I’m going to start using it now.

Make money blogging 12. Dec 2007, 2:29 pm

#10 is great tip that I hadn’t thought of, even though it’s so obvious.

Sara Susan 19. Dec 2007, 10:54 pm

Well its nice sharing with us thanx!

Spot 16. Jan 2008, 12:28 am

I’ve tried to contact Digg power users so they would submit my content, but this strategy failed…

Tim 18. Jan 2008, 3:31 pm

Great story!! I’m gonna try this for sure. Digg has a lot of power, and if you know how to market it right you’ll succeed.
Thanks

Jess 11. Feb 2008, 2:49 pm

Great post, really enjoyed it plus very helpful indeed.
Thank you!

Lumargin 11. Mar 2008, 5:03 pm

how come this post didn’t make it to the front of digg?

anyways, good tips mate

garry 08. Apr 2008, 4:08 am

Some great advice to help me increase the miserable amounts of diggs I have achieved so far. I realise the importance of digg and how it can have a positive effect on my blog.

Backlink Builder 25. May 2008, 11:22 pm

heeey, great tips thanks for sharng, and ofcourse i gave you a digg

Niche P 27. Jul 2008, 1:17 pm

Swweet info! I’ve been on Digg for 3 days now and this post will be invaluable to me. Thanks a million. Never really looked at Digg as a network building tool, until now

Celes | EmbraceLiving.Net 22. Dec 2008, 5:28 am

Thanks for the tip – it’s invaluable! Will give you a digg as well

charles 03. Feb 2009, 7:04 pm

Is it wrong to just pay you to do this for me?

Lerix 06. Feb 2009, 7:15 pm

I’ve tried to contact Digg power users so they would submit my content, but this strategy failed…

Mike 21. Apr 2009, 12:09 pm

Thanks so much for the tips! I’ve been looking for ways to get on the front page of Digg to get my stories and blog out there, but it’s pretty tough.

Good luck to everyone doing the same