Promoting Associated Content Articles with the 5 Most Effective Social News, Networking and Bookmarking Websites

There are countless ways to promote Associated Content articles. However, five specific social websites are easiest, fastest and best for this purpose: Digg, Reddit, Fark StumbleUpon and MyBlogLog. While some articles may lend themselves to submission on multiple websites, virtually all articles are appropriate for at least one of these social news, networking or bookmarking sites. The key is to gain a basic understand each of these sites, their users and what kind of content is successful on each one. These five sites in particular are both easy to use and highly effective if used correctly. The following tips are designed to help Associated Content producers make the most out of time spent promoting content - earning more money and drawing relevant readers to their articles.

Digg.com: Digg has a much more limited set of niches than other social news sites. Digg is ideal for any news item, especially articles that can fit into the "Offbeat News" or "Tech Industry News" sections. Digg also works for articles on the environment, business and politics. However, Digg is not designed to handle more personal or general opinion pieces. There is no single correct strategy for successfully writing a headline and description for a Digg submission. However, a good headline should be irresistible and sensational but also very clear. A lengthy description is useful if the content is hard to explain, but a short description can also hook a new reader and encourage them to click to the article rather than just Digging it (or not) and moving on. Promoting on Digg is extremely easy to do, which makes it an attractive option for any story that might get even just a few Diggs.

Reddit.com: Reddit operates a lot like Digg. However, the headline is the only description a reader will see (there is no sub-headline). This makes the headline all the more important, though Reddit headlines are often more factual and less sensational than those found on Digg. The Reddit audience tends to be more interested in actual news and occasional oddities. The advantages of Reddit over Digg: they less frequently ban users, accept a broader array of submissions and have an even easier submission process.

Fark.com: Fark is a very strange news site, focusing primarily on scandalous and humorous news articles. Also, Fark submissions go behind-the-scenes to upgraded users who vote on whether or not an article should make the front page - and very few do. As such, most Fark article links will only be clicked by a relatively small number of Fark users. Still, an offbeat, humorous or otherwise strange news story with a twisted or sarcastic headline can raise some eyebrows and get an article a fair amount of attention. Anyone submitting to Fark should briefly familiarize themselves with the biting style of Fark headlines. Many of the articles that make it to the front page of Associated Content are good candidates for Fark.com.

StumbleUpon.com: Stumbleupon is a social bookmarking site that is at once easier and more difficult to operate effectively than the aforementioned social news sites. On the one hand, a simple click on a pre-installed web-browser toolbar allows someone to submit a link and description. On the other hand, users will quickly rate down (and effectively bury) anything that is not on topic. Moreover, there is a very long list of topics to choose from. So, the key to using StumbleUpon to effectively promote Associated Content articles: tag the article correctly! The most important part is to select the right general category, though the sub-tags are also important. More tags mean that more people will see an article, but if the tags aren't on-topic this will hurt more than it will help!

MyBlogLog.com: MyBlogLog is a social networking site designed to connect bloggers to other blogs. However, a blog can effectively be any site or page that someone registers. As such, registering an Associated Content CP page works like registering a blog. An ACP can then sign up with other blogger 'communities' and leave occasional messages there regarding new content relevant to these communities. It is relatively easy to use the built-in search function to find a community related to a particular interest or topic. Moreover, the effect on MyBlogLog is cumulative - bloggers who enjoy reading someone's AC content can effectively 'subscribe' to it by joining their community.

Of course, there are other social news, networking and bookmarking sites where an Associated Content Producer can submit links to their articles. However, some of these are difficult to use effectively (Delicious and Furl) while others are long-shots that require time and will not necessarily post a link (Slashdot). The five social sites listed above are relatively easy to get started with, submit links to and can be used repeatedly without a serious risk of being banned (unless a headline, tag or link is misleading in some way).