How To Get traffic from Reddit

Reddit is a goldmine of free traffic, but it can be really hard to get started if you are promoting your own content. 

It can be intimidating to step into for the first time, especially with the reputation Redditors have. 

It’s a common belief that Redditors dislike marketing. This isn’t true. They dislike bad marketing. 

So they tend to dislike anything that sniffs of self-promotion. 

But that doesn’t mean you can’t use Reddit for website traffic; you just have to be smart about it – and deliver enormous value upfront. 

With that in mind, by the end of this tutorial, you will know exactly how to get traffic from Reddit today.

Is Reddit good for generating traffic?

Let’s take a look at the key statistics and decide for yourself. 

According to BusinessOfApps, Reddit has 52 million daily active users and receives 30 billion page views every month.

Similar reports that 48 percent of the traffic comes from the United States. 

So yes, in my opinion, Reddit is a mammoth powerhouse of traffic, but it all starts with finding the right audience. 

Follow the rules of Reddit

Reddit mods and admins have zero tolerance for anything they don’t like. 

Thankfully every subreddit has a clearly defined list of rules on the right-hand side of the website. 

What are the rules of Reddit?

It’s pretty simple. 

You can’t submit content that is: illegal or violates someone else’s privacy; it needs to be relevant and not spammy – don’t just post your link for the hope of Reddit traffic.

Do not post anything containing personal information that needs permission from a person before posting- this includes emails, phone numbers, addresses, etc., and finally, you need to make sure your posts follow Reddiquette (basic etiquette). 

For years Redditors have had the mantra of “remember the human.” This means you should be respectful and civil. 

If you violate these rules, then your posts will be removed, and posting on subreddits might be disabled for a short time – or even permanently. 

Find your target audience on Reddit

Reddit is made up of thousands of communities, or subreddits, for practically any niche you can think of. 

To find subreddits for your target audience, type in a relevant keyword into the search bar at the top of any page on Reddit. 

You may be surprised by how many results there are.

There are hundreds of thousands of subreddits, but you don’t have to scan them all. 

Pick the ones with the most subscribers and start from there. You might want to open a spreadsheet to keep track of them all. 

Make sure that the subreddit is actually about the topic you think it is. Sometimes subreddits might contain keywords but are actually about something else—so double check. 

Then you need to make sure you can provide a high level of value to the chosen communities. 

It makes sense to see what’s working for others first. 

To do this, structure the subreddit to show the “top posts” so you can see what the community responds to. 

Take note of the number of upvotes and the number of comments. 

If you want to grow your audience, find a way of contributing similar value and posting content that provides answers Redditors are seeking. 

3. Be a Reddit User

There’s one thing you can’t fake on Reddit; your profile. 

Redditors want to learn from other knowledgeable Redditors. 

Before you start creating posts to drive traffic from Reddit, populate your profile with the right type of content. 

This means sharing your knowledge by answering people’s questions, getting involved with the discussions, and demonstrating that you’re the real deal. 

I recommend going one step further by sharing other parts of your personality. I like to upload pictures of things I’m doing, places I’ve visited, and of course, my cat. 

For best results from Reddit, become a Redditor. 

Who is the average Redditor? 

The average Redditor is tech-savvy and wise to marketing tactics. 

Redditors are looking for content that they can’t get from mainstream sources and want to learn from other Redditors. 

In many ways, marketing on Reddit is like performing a magic trick in front of magicians. Most of the time, it will fall flat unless it’s something spectacular. 

If you’re not a world-class marketer, don’t worry – as long as your content does the talking, you’ll be ok. 

Reddit Karma

Acquiring Karma on Reddit is vital for success. 

Karma is a quality score that gets applied to your account by the rest of the community. If you post good stuff, people will upvote your comments, and you will receive Karma. 

Act like a jerk, and they’ll downvote you – removing your Karma. 

You gain Reddit Karma by posting new threads, as the community votes. You can also gain Comment Karma by responding to people’s questions. 

Some subreddits have a minimum Karma requirement, so spend a while improving yours. It’s not easy, especially when you have little Karma, but it’s worthwhile. 

How to make successful Reddit posts

Reddit marketing isn’t straightforward. 

Your post will be upvoted or downvoted, as the community votes on every submission. 

This means the best posts rise to the top. 

The best way to win the community’s favor is by providing high-quality content.

Writing a clear post in an easy-to-read format with proper grammar and spelling is essential. 

I recommend that you spend time researching before posting anything on Reddit. If your information isn’t accurate, it will get called out. 

This is not a “post once” and forget-about-it strategy; you need to be consistent. 

Reddit works best for marketers when your content is part of an ongoing series. 

To ensure your writing process doesn’t become repetitive, try creating a list of ideas for potential pieces of content every week. This will keep things fresh while still maintaining consistency.

Writing a Reddit post headline 

Avoid clickbait. Your headline should summarize what the post is about. 

If your title is too long or includes a lot of keywords and phrases that are irrelevant to the post’s content, then Redditors won’t upvote it. 

Keep your titles as short as possible with relevant keywords. Your post will be indexed by search engines, so keep this in mind. 

Your introduction 

Like all marketing, you’re going to need a strong introduction for your post. 

Successful introductions should be able to hook the reader in and generate interest in the content of the post. Try introducing a new idea, concept, or theory that will help you make your point.

This may not seem necessary if it’s part of an ongoing series but consider this: people don’t always remember every detail from previous posts, so they might forget what happened at a certain time period without being reminded again with some context. 

Giving Redditors a quick summary refresher can keep them engaged and interested enough to continue reading through the rest of your post. 

Be concise when writing paragraphs; use complete sentences wherever possible instead of short phrases or fragments.

Use bullet points and sub-headings 

Bullet points will make your posts easy to read. 

Add statistics, facts, and figures, or benefits. 

Also, break up the paragraphs with sub-headings. These also provide the opportunity to add relevant keywords to your posts. 

This also makes sure your Reddit post appeals to scan readers because they can skim for information quickly without reading every single word on the page.

You can include quotes too, which will help break up the monotony of the text and make your post more interesting.

Your Call To Action

Have a call to action at the end of your post. You can use this space to take away from Reddit. 

It could be as simple as asking them to visit your website or subscribe to your email list. 

Make sure that whatever is asked is relevant and interesting, so readers click.

But don’t over-sell it. Avoid hype.

The wording should be relevant and compelling so that people care enough to take the desired action, but without trying to sell it too hard. 

A ‘take it or leave it’ attitude works best. 

Take Part in AMA’s 

AMA stands for “ask me anything,” and it’s a great way to showcase yourself or get feedback on something you’re working on with the Reddit community. 

But be careful with these. 

Get it wrong, and things can backfire for you. 

For example, the Woody Harrelson AMA from 2009 was a complete car crash. Instead of answering people’s questions, Harrelson (or whoever was behind the screen) responded to every question by promoting his latest movie. 

So please do not use them to promote yourself directly. 

Instead, aim to provide value to the community. 

If you’re going to do an AMA, be prepared for a lot of questions… and not all of them will be about the topic you’re there to discuss. 

Share Case Studies 

This strategy is incredibly powerful when done right. And it taps into the method I mentioned earlier to create a series. 

Redditors love to see case study reports. They want to follow along with your progress, cheer you along, and highlight your mistakes. 

Share a brief synopsis of what the problem was at first (and why it matters), then how you went about tackling it, and finally show them what’s changed as a result of that work. 

Take advantage of screenshots or videos, and document every step of your journey. 

Don’t hide your failures, be authentic and honest with your fellow Redditors. 

Create a relevant subreddit

Reddit allows every Redditor to create their own community or subreddit. 

These are niche-relevant forums. Use them to attract and interact with other members of your community, and discuss relevant topics. 

To make a subreddit, go to your profile and click on “create a community.” 

Choose the name carefully, and think about the keywords that your target audience might be searching for. 

When to post on Reddit? 

Like all social media networks, posting at the right time can make or break your marketing campaign. 

You should aim to post at peak times for your chosen subreddit. 

But figuring out which is the best time to post on Reddit can be challenging. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy checking in every hour to see what kind of activity a subreddit is receiving. 

Thankfully the Delay for Reddit website will show you exactly when you should post on Reddit. 

Just enter your chosen subreddit and click ‘Analyze’ to see a color-coded heat map of the best times to post. 

Advertise on Reddit

If all else fails, you can pay for the promotion. 

Reddit invites marketers to promote themselves and their websites through paid advertising. 

Reddit advertising has become very sophisticated over the last few years. It’s easy to target audiences based on their interests and demographics. 

The platform lets you create ad campaigns, ad groups, and obviously, individual adverts. 

A Reddit ad provides a high degree of targeting too, and compared to other ad networks; they are reasonably priced. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, like any social media platform, Reddit can send massive traffic to your website. 

But only once you understand what Redditors want, what they respond to, and what they don’t like to see on the platform, getting traffic from Reddit becomes easier. 

You also need to know how the different subreddits work, learn their rules, and then it becomes easy to see which ones would be most beneficial to you – and your fellow Redditors. 

However, this is no walk in the park – there are a lot of moving parts that go into running a successful marketing campaign on Reddit or anywhere else. 

But hopefully, now you have the best possible chance to get traffic from Reddit without jeopardising your account.