March 2, 2007

What's wrong with my Digg promotion?

First off, I thank those who digged my Peekaboo posts hack. But, I am a little disappointed with the response I got. After spending countless hours helping hundreds of people apply this hack since last August, I get only unsatisfactory response for the one favor I asked for, that only takes few minutes :(. If you patiently browse through the comments in that post, you will see that I have resolved most of the issues that people faced while trying this hack. Or is my post not worthy of promoting? I don't think so especially when useless things like this can appear in the Digg main page.

Things to do when you are bored at home

To top it all, somebody even buried my link! (Bury - Digg's facility to express dislike). I really don't understand what's going on! Of course, it is a bit selfish on my part to promote my blog and expect lot of new visitors from Digg (and yeah I have adsense also at the unnoticeable corner of my blog). But, I have a lot to offer for any visitor who has a blog with Blogger. It is a win-win situation in business terms. So, what's wrong with my Digg promotion?

28 comments:

DarkUFO said...

Ramni,

I gave you a well deserved digg but you have to remember that if you are not already registered on digg then clicking on your digg button will take people to a registration page.

I know most people at this point will move onto another page / topic etc.

Unknown said...

Thank you darkufo. Actually, registration takes only 1-2 minutes. I didn't mind spending a few minutes to look into others' blogs when they had problems.

MrBrownThumb said...

Of course, it is a bit selfish on my part to promote my blog and expect lot of new visitors from Digg...

Maybe it didn't take off because not enough people are interested or people were turned off by you asking for your post to be dugg?

Most people on Social Bookmarking sites only ever read the title and some of the description. If your title isn't catchy or of interest to hundreds of people you can't really blame them for not being interested.

Just put the buttons on your blog and it will happen organically.

a.k.a. Blandly Urbane said...

I'm not registered with digg, so darkufo's comment rings true. Alot of people don't want to take the time for some type of registration.

That said and even though I am not using the "peekaboo" post hack (I'm under the impression this is not doable with my Neo template, but now that you have posted this concern, I'm going to reread it - hey if it works cool as I like them), you work wonders Ramani and I truly appreciate what Neo has done for my blogging experience. I've got to take some more time to check out the blogs of those that are using it now; I haven't done this in a few weeks/month, but did look at Mensa Barbies last night and it looked pretty sharp.

Bottom line, if I can use "peeks" with Neo, I'll give it a shot and post the new dealio at my site. I also intend to post about the "recent posts" update once installed.

On my way with my shovel to digg!

Unknown said...

MrBrownThumb,

I asked the hundreds of bloggers who are using this hack already in their blog (a.k.a interested in it) and not the common digg user who has never seen it before. I had the DiggIt link under each post in my previous template till December. Still very few posts were digged and only few times. This could be because many of them are not Digg members. That's why I thought I will ask them specifically to promote this one post alone.

You are talking about "interest". Didn't I show interest in helping others when they are stuck? Do you know how many times I have done "view source" of others' blogs to find out what's wrong?

Unknown said...

Thank you for taking the time, Greg. Actually peekaboo posts is possible with Neo also. I didn't provide it by default because there's already only one post in main page in Neo. If you still think it will make sense, I can add it to your template.

ndn said...

One of the causes for the bury thing is SPAM, and you submited your own website...

Unknown said...

Nando,

The only reason I submitted the post again is because I couldn't find the previous submission. I am sure I saw somebody submitted it before.

Alright.. I have learnt some things today...

Unknown said...

Also, I don't consider submitting one's own post is spam. I know so many bloggers do that all the time. Digg's guidance for using Bury can be found here. It says

If you find stories with bad links, off-topic content, or duplicate entries, click “Bury.”

My post is on topic (Technology/software) and original content. That said, I know that good stories are buried by Bury brigade and the ones irrelevant to the topic are promoted to the top (the link I mentioned in this post topped Technology stories today! wow!!!)

Efendi said...

it seems that diggers hate blogger who submit their own blog.

and maybe diggers are more fond to WP than blogger :P

but, well, Ramani,

you don't need digg that much right ;)

blogger community is enough :D

MrBrownThumb said...

You are talking about "interest". Didn't I show interest in helping others when they are stuck? Do you know how many times I have done "view source" of others' blogs to find out what's wrong?

lol, I wasn't talking about your interest I was talking about the lack of interests on the part of the people doing the social bookmarking. In particular social bookmarkers outside of the ones who have visited your blog. Like I said most people who do social bookmarking vote on the title alone. They never read what it's about-think lemmings jumping off a cliff. They do it because everyone else is doing it.

Your titles have to be catchy and appeal to people outside of just Blogger users and people looking for Blogger hacks. And they can't be obvious requests. You could try to game the system by swapping diggs with people who ARE registered and not rely just on those who will see your request.

Your blog is about providing information with is a niche that's different or not as appreciated as popular things like marketing or celebrities or even photoshop. You may never get the accolades for doing the work you do and you may have to live with that realization and not let it get to you.

But if it makes you feel better I'll give you a dig even though I've not done hacks from your blog.

தருமி said...

i dont know any of the things that i find in your blog. i was led into yours when i clicked to find whether i can also use the 'one-click-thing' for letting people to know the responses to their comments in my blog. தலையும் புரியலை; வாலும் புரியலை. everything is above my head!!

Ajey said...

:( :( :( Hey i have done some reaserch on How to get it on front page. As per my conclusion, it's not the no of digg's that are not responsible for getting story on front page but it's the digg rate that counts:) :) :)
So, best way to promote your sory is to keep Digg links at as many as locations. ans also ask your readers to digg it for you.:) :) :D
you may refer Johntp's guide to get ur story on front page
Also tell if it helps you.

Unknown said...

Efendi, yes, I don't think Digg is blogger's ballgame.

Dharumi, hahah.. yeah, I have a lot of hacks here. If you need any help, just email me.

Nitin Srivastava said...

CHiLL Dear.....

Digg may not be worth it..... What you have done so far is excellent, rather exceptional.....

Keep it up, the show must go on..

Nitin Srivastava said...

and ofcourse.....Happy Holi !!

Unknown said...

Happy holi to you, Nitin.

:: said...

Ramani,

You might be interested in what i wrote about popular blog posts.

LOUI$$ said...

bro,that blog in the link is really suck,i bury it just now! hehehe! (help you revenge!) But that is not creative ,but suck! I have digg for you, since someone here not really happy with you,my bro...dont worry, i still support you,till my last breath! Take k and happy holiday!

Unknown said...

Dear Louis,

you are a good friend. thanks bro.

Women on the Verge said...

I am not into digg. I'm too new and just haven't figured it all out yet. I did, however, immediately post a link to Hackosphere on my blog along with the link to Blogger University.

I, for one, am incredibly thankful for the information you have here.

yogi said...

Hey Ramani,

I changed my QOTD widget to QOTM(Quote Of The Moment). Check it, may be you will like it :)

Blog Bloke said...

Digg has dugg it's own grave... read here. Just keep in mind Ramani that it's considered not cool to digg your own stuff (or so I was told).

RGC2005 said...

I love the peekaboo hacks. Could you point me towards a hack that will create a post tag index/Table of contents of posts for the sidebar? I am finding some seriously ugly ones out there. Just a nice simple one that operates like peekaboo is all I need. Without an index my blogs are getting harder and harder to navigate as my post count increases.

benning said...

Hi, Ramani.

I played with your "Post Comments" hack. Since I don't use the upgraded 'New Blogger' template, I had to do some html work on it. I like it! The link below it might be a good one, as I do have about 15 visitors daily. But I gave up on Digg a long time ago.

Why? Because, as you showed in your post, a lot of idiotic posts get high ratings there. Why bother? Instead, ask your visitors to click through the Adsense ads. Better response, I'd bet. DarkUFO is right: most of us, sent to a registration page, will move on.

Nice work here, Ramani!

masterymistery said...

re label cloud: how do I change line-height so lines crash into one another vertically? In my manic memes blog I'm using your excellent (eternally grateful) multi style, but i also like phydeauxs because of the colour transition facility. In my doodlemania blog i'm using phydeauxs so I've got the colours but not the crashing lines. to further complicate things, i'm using hoctro's new, great three column minima template where line height is handled in a strange way I don't understand. Suggestions gratefully received.

Haree said...

A little help.
I want to add a custom 'Post a Comment' link just below the post(as in this blog), not after the entire comment list. How is this possible? Do you have any post related to this, or can you suggest me any other blog site where I can find this?

I think this is possible, not only in Neo template, right?

Thank you
--

99% Bachelor said...

I dont know much about digg. But you have really a niec blog. Great effort..