Can You Digg it? Using Share Sites to Expand Brand Recognition

If you have a new website to share, or wish to get updates and news out to the masses, then using websites that share information from third parties is a really easy way to get noticed. Websites such as Digg, Now Public, Newsvine and Reddit are all great ways to highlight your own original content, spread the word and, of course, generate free traffic.

To do this you simply head to the websites mentioned and follow prompts to create an account. Using Digg as an example, you simply sign up to their site which is free of charge and then take the URL or website address of the page or content you wish to publicize and "Digg it". This is a term that has been borrowed from popular culture; the phrase to dig it means to like something. You're telling an open audience that you like the content and that it's worth them taking their time to read it. You can also ask family or friends to Digg your content as well. This way it will have a higher count and become one of the better listed options - but do take care not to overdo this and appear as a spammer.

Always make sure that the content you submit though is good quality and something that people would actually want to read and find interesting. Submitting low quality content is counter productive and, in fact, it's a waste of your time and energy. Taking the example of Digg again, this is because just as readers can "digg" your article, and give it a "thumbs up", they can also "thumb it down" by clicking in the "bury" button instead. By providing good quality content you are doing your bit to promote both your site and best practice in search engine marketing.

Alternatively you can add Digg source code to your pages on your website or on your blog. This means that anyone who visits your site can click on the icon and "Digg" your page themselves. A combination of both the above options will give you the best chance of creating a high Digg rate. With this your article is listed on the website for visitors to see. Broken into categories, they can visit the suitable page and see a link to your article along with the number of users who like it. There are several plug-ins for blogs which enable you to do this for Digg as well as many other social sharing or social bookmarking sites.

Using these "social share" sites allows potential consumers to find information about your site or service using essentially unrelated website sources. It can be another valuable tool in your search engine marketing arsenal.