Sometimes it's not so much that you're handling traffic from Digg.com, it's that the traffic is handling you. Crashed servers, slow-loading site, all that traffic and nobody clicking on ads can equal wasted time and money, but it doesn't have to, as long as you know your visitors and how be ready for them.
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If Digg drops by your digital house, it's like a band of teenagers swarmed your kitchen, raided your fridge and left. Nobody's clicked on an ad, if you have them on the page, because, to quote Alexander Barbara, CEO of ReidBrown Enterprises, Inc., "Digg users do not click on ads."
But if the number of page views means something to your business model, then that traffic does translate into money. That's not the only reason Digg traffic can be valuable though. These web-savvy 20-something that don't click on ads, often will give you some link love for great content – a Digg link alone carries some nice authority to help you rank better in search.
And that can mean more qualified search traffic (let alone the massive amount of brand awareness a front page Digger can grab you).
So, in that case, if you're going to be targeting Digg, you need to be ready for when they show up. Barbara goes so far as to advise pulling your ads off the target page (gasp!) until the storm has cleared, and then putting them back on.
We'll let you decide if that approach is right for you.
If you're not sure your server can handle that tide, there are other things you can do in advance of your campaign to accommodate:
1. Prepare a static HTML page in advance for ease of loading
2. Let Google crawl it a week ahead of time so that it's included in Google's cache. Piggyback on their tremendous servers.
3. Look into a peer-to-peer content distribution network like CoralCDN
Once you've prepared for them, drop your submission into Digg and wait. Don't expect ad clicks. Don't expect RSS subscription sign-ups. Just sit back and enjoy that you've successfully become part of the conversation.
Tiffany Doughty contributed to this article.
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Tiffany Doughty contact info
Hi Jason,
I have recently been in contact with Chris Crum, content coordinator for iEntry, and he has forwarded a message I sent him to Tiffany Doughty. I would like to get a hold of Tiffany, and cannot find her contact information.
Would it be possible for you to pass it on to me, please? I believe she has contributed to some of your articles at WebProNews.
Thank you very much!
Andreanne Hamel
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