Have you ever noticed how most question searches on Google end up with a set of results from Reddit? That’s not a coincidence.
Even if you don’t type “Reddit” at the end of your search as many people do, you can still get top results from a relevant Reddit thread. Thanks to the new section on most search results pages that is dedicated to forum posts, you’re likely to keep seeing Reddit posts in all search results.
Why is that the case, and how can you use Reddit to improve your website’s SEO?
Google’s Forum Page Results Section
SEO on Reddit plays into your website’s SEO, but it’s not exactly the same thing. While Reddit does have a search feature people use, Reddit SEO usually focuses more on getting your Reddit posts featured in search engine results pages.
Reddit SEO is more indirect and platform-focused. You want to get popular on the platform itself, which will ultimately bring more traffic to your actual website.
Think of Reddit kind of like an extra social media channel. While it’s actually more of a forum or microblogging platform, it plays a similar role in your SEO strategy. Unlike social media, Reddit content has a higher potential to show up on regular Google search results pages because of the forum results section.
Most informational searches turn up a section of results specifically from forums. The main forums these results pull from are Reddit and Quora, with Reddit providing most of the results.
If you’re writing relevant Reddit content, your posts could show up on Google search results. Although this doesn’t bring you website traffic directly, it gives you another opportunity to send people to your site content through links or mentions, as needed. All links on Reddit are nofollow links, but they can still be valuable for building traffic and increasing your site authority, which is a key metric for SEO.
How to Utilize Reddit for Better SEO
How can you get more views on your Reddit content, and push it higher on search results at the same time? Here are a few ways you can improve your SEO through using Reddit.
1. Participate in Relevant Niche Subreddits
If you’re trying to do SEO, make sure the subreddits you’re interacting with are relevant to what your main niche is for your website. Regularly participating in subreddits related to your website content helps you build up a presence in your industry and gives you more opportunities to talk about your business.
Remember that each subreddit has a different set of rules. Be keen and play by the rules if you want to stick around for the long term and make a bigger impact over time. SEO is a long game, so if you get yourself kicked out of subreddits for self-promoting or linking out too much you may ruin your own chances.
2. Use Consistent Keywords in Post Titles
Just like with Google, keyword stuffing doesn’t help on Reddit, but using keywords will make sure your content is lumped into relevant search results. Using the same keywords in your Reddit posts as you do on your website helps to ensure they’ll be grouped similarly and indexed together.
Don’t freak out too much about keywords, but make sure you’re sprinkling them in whenever they’re relevant.
3. Make Valuable Reddit Posts
Posts that get upvoted and awarded are more likely to be recommended to others both on the platform and on search results pages. If you’re not posting something that’s worth the attention of your readers, you won’t get anywhere with your SEO.
By creating value, you’ll naturally bring more people to your Reddit content. The more traffic your Reddit posts attract, the more you’ll benefit from your account in the long term.
Being known as a reliable source in a subreddit community can help your content gain traction, making it even more powerful when you actually do link back to your website.
4. Treat Reddit Content Like Blog Content
Reddit is a microblogging platform at its core. As such, you should treat it like any other blogging platform when you’re thinking up an SEO-focused content strategy for Reddit.
If you want to see the best results, treat your Reddit content as you would full blog content. Look up topics people are interested in relevant to your niche, create posts with intention, chime in on trends, and create a good balance of current and evergreen content.
Although Reddit posts are not exactly the same as blog posts, you can apply the same planning process to both.
5. Be a Participant, Not a Broadcaster
The thing about platforms like Reddit is that they don’t work well if you’re just shouting into the void all the time.
Unlike a regular blog, Reddit posts are a type of conversation starter. While the post itself might be interesting, the conversation in the comment section can be even more interesting. Comments are sometimes responsible for putting a Reddit post into the search results pages as well!
With Reddit posts, you cannot be just a broadcaster, posting your content and washing your hands of it. You should actively manage your posts, at least as long as there’s any activity on them. Responding to comments helps your content become even more valuable to readers since you can actively clarify misunderstandings, answer questions, and keep the conversation going further.
It’s also helpful to engage with other posts in the subreddits you frequent. Interacting with others can be very helpful for boosting your account authority over time. You can build up karma and get your account more recognition by simply being part of the conversation whenever possible.
6. Use Backlinks Sparingly
As a general rule, Redditors aren’t big fans of self-promotional content. Most subreddits have rules about self-promotion because people don’t want unhelpful, commercial content filling up every subreddit.
Because of this, you need to make sure you’re not just chiming in when you can talk about your website or business. Being part of a community and providing something which that community finds valuable will allow you more opportunities to share your links and businesses later on.
With Reddit content, don’t link back to your website or socials from every post you make. Place your backlinks sparingly. Instead, keep a link to your website in your profile bio and maybe drop links into comments sometimes when it’s relevant.
You can still actively talk about your website and build your backlinks, but you shouldn’t be trying to fit links into absolutely every comment or post.
7. Track Your Analytics
Check in on your analytics regularly to see what’s resonating with people and what’s falling flat. Analytics on Reddit can help you track how much engagement your posts and comments are getting, as well as the views on your posts.
Currently, Reddit’s analytics are a bit limited. Most accounts can only view analytics for the first 45 days that a post is active, once it has acquired at least 10 total views. After this 45-day period, you cannot see analytics on most posts or comments beyond the publicly visible upvotes and awards.
Even these limited analytics are useful for keeping up with what’s happening with your account. Plus, Reddit has announced a pilot program for extended creator analytics starting in early 2024, called Reddit Pro. Once this feature is extended to all accounts, analytics will be much more accessible and useful for everyone.
8. Create Your Own Subreddit
When you’ve built up some karma on your profile, you can create a subreddit of your own in your niche. This will give you more freedom to post explicitly self-promotional materials or links to your website, socials, and other places.
On your own subreddit, you can drive the conversation and keep things moving as you please. It takes a bit more effort to run a subreddit that people will find interesting and valuable, but it can reap a lot of benefits for your SEO if you do a good job of it.
9. Do an AMA
AMAs are a type of Reddit post you can do to build interest in what you’re doing. Short for Ask Me Anything, AMAs can be posted on a lot of different large subreddits. With this type of post, you will essentially put up a post stating who you are and something about what you do or your experience, followed by the phrase “ask me anything”.
When people comment on your post asking questions, you’re expected to go through and answer as many as you can. Doing this allows you to talk about your business, specifically addressing what people are curious about.
AMAs can become evergreen posts that are indexed and put up on search results when people search for similar questions. They can also help you get more ideas for content for both Reddit and your main website.
10. Jump into Your Brand Mentions
Reddit allows you to search keywords like business names or specific topics. You can keep up with mentions of topics you’re involved with, as well as any specific mentions of your business or the products/services you sell.
By keeping up with these mentions, you can stay up to date on what’s happening in your industry while adding your voice to the conversation. Addressing current topics can help you rank well on trending searches.
SEO is never easy, but with some consistency and the right strategies you can use Reddit to give your website a huge boost in the long-term.
