If you’re like me, you’ve relied on Reddit’s help with everyday needs for many years, along with hundreds of millions of weekly users worldwide. Whenever you Google something—whether a personal question or a professional query—you’ll likely see a Reddit thread on the first page, sitting between expert-written articles and guides.
It’s almost ironic that a brief Reddit post, written by a random user, can outrank meticulously crafted, SEO-optimized articles from professionals.
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Given the social network’s incredible popularity, it’s vital that you make Reddit a part of your marketing strategy. A well-placed thread will undoubtedly drive a considerable amount of ongoing traffic to your site, and expose your tool or service to potentially millions of prospects.
I’ll explain exactly how the community platform became so phenomenally present in modern SERP and how we drove over 135,000 views over 8 months to just one Partner’s site with a simple strategy any team can begin executing almost immediately.
Source: Google Analytics
Why Google Favors Reddit Above Expert Sources
Reddit has always been an incredibly popular source for communal assistance, but it didn’t become an omnipresent feature in product recommendations, troubleshooting, technical discussions, and subjective queries until recently.
Reddit and Weep: Google and Reddit Make A Deal
From 2022 onward, Reddit threads began sprouting all over Google’s first pages. This meteoric rise in the platform’s presence coincided with the launch of Google’s Helpful Content Update in August 2022.
By March 2024, Google had successfully eliminated swathes of SEO-driven, generic content and replaced it with authentic, experienced-based answers (qualities that drive Reddit’s content and guidelines).
However, algorithm updates weren’t the only thing that boosted Reddit’s visibility. The platform also struck a $60 million per annum deal with Google.
The deal was simple: Reddit would share its content and data with Google to train its AI models in exchange for overwhelming ranked positions.
Our Reddit Strategy: It All Starts With A Question
We closely watched Reddit’s jaw-dropping growth and decided 2024 was the perfect time to leverage its 2.2 billion monthly visits.
So, how exactly did we manage to redirect traffic from a billions-strong forum to our partners?
Like any successful campaign, it all starts with homework.
Step 1: Do Your Topic Fieldwork
You’re probably used to doing topic research using tools like Ahrefs. But have you ever factored Reddit threads into your competitor research? How likely the social network is to rank for your most valuable keywords is incredible.
Eventually, you’ll pick up on a few trends:
Now, you could spend thousands of dollars and hours writing comprehensive, SEO-optimized articles and hope they take your competitors’ spots on the first page.
Or, you could take over the existing Reddit conversations at a fraction of the time and cost, with a much higher ROI.
Step 2: Share Your Most Valuable Resources
Remember that people often turn to Reddit for help with issues or needs. Your best chances of succeeding lie in your most helpful content and resources.
In one Partner’s case, one of their most valuable pieces was a free PDF resource on their publication, which soon began producing around 5K weekly views for said Partner’s publication.
Here is how we did it:
- We found a ranking thread on the “r/HelpMeFind” subreddit asking for an ethical and free PDF resource.
- Using a different account, we responded by sharing the Partner’s free PDF resource.
- Our comment enjoyed a high upvote rate and active discussion, with many appreciating the resource’s value.
Within a couple of months, our new thread began ranking for topics like:
Today, our Reddit post has been viewed over 1.5 million times and is central to our partner’s referral traffic and conversions.
Step 3: Maintain Your Engagement
A high upvote rate is important, but it’s essential that you keep the conversation going on your post. Respond to people’s questions, get your colleagues to join the conversation, and keep the topic on point, i.e., your product or service.
This engagement ensures that your post remains on a subreddit’s first page and that people will continue clicking. Not to mention increasing your chances of ranking.
Potential Pitfalls And Best Practices
Reddit marketing may be a superb way to gain traffic and conversions, but it can also result in penalties if you’re not careful.
Here are some potential repercussions for the irresponsible Redditor:
Remember that subreddits are close-knit communities protected by strict algorithms and dedicated moderators.
Redditors don’t take kindly to undercover employees trying to push their products; the whole point of Reddit is for altruistic, everyday people to help each other out.
Here are our best practices for safe and successful campaigns:
- Know The Rules: Before getting started, familiarize yourself with Reddit’s Rules and ensure your content is always respectful and ethical.
- Constantly Engage: Post and comment daily and promote your services only using active accounts. This will help you bypass spam checks and prove you’re a real person, not a bot.
- Farm Karma: Reddit caters better to accounts with high karma (Reddit’s user verifying score), which you earn by having your comments and posts upvoted. So, try to share opinions, thoughts, and memes and help others.
- Know Your Subreddits: Read the rules of your targeted subreddit and learn what its members like and dislike. This will help you share your content safely according to members’ preferences.
Reddit Is Here to Stay
Today, we run intricate and highly targeted Reddit campaigns for most Partners. Guerilla marketing has become a central part of our work, and we consider ourselves experts.
Book a call with us now, and we can provide you with a detailed proposal that outlines precisely what can be achieved through Reddit.
