Post, Tag, and Bookmark at Social Media Websites

If one of your webpages becomes a front page story at a Social Media Site (e.g., Digg.com), you can expect a sudden surge of new visitors to your website and to catch the attention of bloggers, who will reward you with yet more links.

Ideally, this publicity would happen naturally, as your loyal readers enjoy your linkbait enough to post links at the social networking sites they frequent. However, you can't always count on others to get the ball rolling.

Instead, as soon as you publish new content, post your own link to the most popular social media and bookmarking websites, such as:

A single "vote" won't do much good at a social media site. In order to get promoted to the front page, dozens of people would need to "vote" for your link within a few hours. So, email a request for votes to a "Social Action Team" of coworkers and volunteers whenever you submit a link to a social news site. A like-minded voting block can successfully promote your links, and the links of your allies, to the front page of social news sites. However, avoid any collusion that would violate the terms of service of the social networking sites. If your social action team of coworkers and volunteers is big enough, you can avoid the appearance of coordination by sending out voting requests to randomized subsets of your list.

Note: Care2 is not among the Social Media "majors" yet, but it is popular with activists. Care2 news categories include the environment, green lifestyle, politics, health & wellness, business, society & culture, science & technology, and offbeat. It is easier to promote your content to a front-page story at Care2 than at major social networking sites. However, competition at Care2 continues to grow.