How To Submit To Reddit: A Step-By-Step Guide To Submissions And Sub-Reddits
93A lot of people seem to have trouble figuring out what a sub-Reddit is and how to submit to one. In an effort to help out those who aren't sure of how to use the site, I've created a step-by-step guide with screenshots and explanations of how to properly use Reddit. When you come across a picture, click it, that way you'll be able to see its full-size. Everything has been highlighted in red and explained. The images and hub will cover submitting a link, searching for sub-Reddits and both ways you can submit to a sub-Reddit when you find one you like. If any of this doesn't make sense right now, just keep reading. Everything will be explained and if it's not, ask anything you're confused about in the comments section and I'll attempt to clear it up for you.
Submitting To Reddit
If you plan to use Reddit to obtain backlinks and get traffic, you will need an account. This is fairly easy to make and you can find the "register" in the upper right hand corner. You don't need an email, but after a couple submissions they will ask for you to verify you're human, so I'd give them one just to skip that step later. Once you are registered you are able to submit links to the site. You can do so by clicking the "submit a link" button in the right hand sidebar. If you happen to be on a sub-Reddit, you will need to scroll down to find it.
The first picture shows you how to submit a link from the Reddit homepage. The second picture shows you where you might find the "submit a link" button on a sub-Reddit page.
Now when you're submitting a link there's a few things you have to do.
1. Title. When you put in your URL you have the option of letting Reddit suggest a title for you. I only click that button when the title will be the same my hub. Sometimes I will alter my title a few words for the sub-Reddit I'm submitting to. You are not required to, but keep in mind that it could help.
2. URL. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just put in the URL to your hub and voila, you're done with this step.
3. Reddit. Often times this is where people get confused. It will say 'reddit' in the same font as 'title' and 'url' and in the white space it'll say 'reddit.com'. Beneath that box it will offer you different sub-Reddits to submit to. When I first began on the site, like many, I didn't change that box. However, you need to if you want to get any traffic. If you don't, your post will get buried and marked as spam and no one will see it. In the third picture the highlighted area is where you can change the sub-Reddit.
Once you've filled in all those boxes, hit 'submit' and you're good to go. Unless your account has been put on time out or it tells you to wait a certain number of minutes before submitting another link, it should be out there for the world to see with no problems. Some sub-Reddits will take up to fifteen minutes to show your link, so don't be worried if it doesn't immediately pop up in their pages.
Searching For Sub-Reddits
If you want to find a sub-Reddit, you can use the search feature on Reddit. You can do this through the search bar or when you're submitting. I find it significantly easier to use the search bar and enter a few words related to my hub to see where people linking similar content are posting their links. Searching is further explained in Picking The Right Sub-Reddit. This hub explains where the search feature is, how to use it and how to find the sub-Reddit when you do search.
In the fourth picture you'll see the search bar where I've put in a couple words to search. In the fifth picture I'll highlight where you can find the sub-Reddit that each link is posted under.
Now when you're searching, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
1. Links. What links pop up are the ones that correlate to your search. If someone else posts something that sounds similar to what you're searching for, then find out what sub-Reddit they've used and submit yours to the same.
2. Sub-Reddits. Some sub-Reddit titles will give off the immediate hint that hey, that's where you should submit them. When I type in "inspirational quotes" I get the 'get motivated' and 'quotes' sub-Reddits in my first couple searches. Obviously, I should submit my link to those sub-Reddits.
Once you decide on the sub-Reddit you want to use, there are two methods of submitting to them. That's covered in the next section of this hub though, so continue forth.
Submitting To Sub-Reddits
There are two ways to submit to a sub-Reddit. The first is through the homepage. You enter your title and URL information as normal and then erase 'reddit.com' from the Reddit box. You can then start typing what sub-Reddit you want to submit to. In the sixth picture you'll see the drop down menu that comes up when you start searching.
All you need to do is finish what you're typing or click on one of the options that they give you. I've found that some sub-Reddits don't show up when you use this method though. I'm not sure why that is but I know that if it's a text-only sub-Reddit, if you're posting a link, that sub-Reddit will not show up in the drop down menu for obvious reasons.
The second way is to go directly to the sub-Reddit you want to submit your hub to and submit that way. That's why I showed you earlier how to find the "submit a link" button on a sub-Reddit. It will not always be at the top. It will likely be after any rules they have and anything else their sidebar contains. Some sub-Reddits have links to other sub-Reddits they're partners with, so that fills up their sidebar as well. When you do that, the sub-Reddit will appear automatically, as shown in the seventh image. Nothing needs to be changed. Just insert your title, URL and hit submit.
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Reddit Alien Full Color Sticker Vinyl Decal
Current Bid: $.99
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REDDIT ALIEN VINYL CAR DECAL STICKER - 2 PACK / 2 TONED!
Current Bid: $7.50
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Cthulhu wool HAT mask ski squid octopus green cap tentacles sea monster reddit
Current Bid: $24.99
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Any Other Questions?
Hopefully this helps those of you who aren't sure where to find a sub-Reddit or how to submit to one. For those of you who don't know what a sub-Reddit is, let me give a quick definition: a sub-Reddit is Reddit's version of Digg's categories, except they have hundreds and Digg has a handful. Submitting to a sub-Reddit is choosing the audience you want to read your hub. I've written other articles about Reddit, the one I listed about picking the right sub-Reddit and this one about the pros and cons of using Reddit as a traffic source. I hope that between these three hubs all of your questions are answered, but if they're not, feel free to use the comment section to inquire further.
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Hi jEDIJESSICUH...first of all, I answered your HUB as if it were a question...my apologies. "Watermark" is the mark on a photo placed by the original creator to avoid unallowed usage...so that others can see who the item belongs to. In my case, if one agrees to link and credit FF.com...then use is ok. Anyway, i didn't mean to come off quite as upset..I thought this was an answer to my earlier status comment about getting HP to recognize that FF.C allows use of thier photos. Otherwise...GREAT HUB and very helpful. Thank you
bwhite062007 - That's what happened to me in the beginning and definitely a lot of others. Now that you know about sub-Reddits, you can see if your traffic changes. :)
Lucky Cats - Ah, just got your email and everything is explained. I'll get rid of the previous comment, no problem. I just wasn't sure what you were talking about with the watermark thing. Now it makes sense.
Ah, dear JediJessicuh! You delivered as promised. Thanks for writing this. I printed out your article so I'll have it in front of me when I try submitting to reddit. I, like others, always wondered why reddit brought ZERO traffic! Voted useful, awesome, and up! I'm coming to you with any more questions I might have, too, if that's okay....Thanks for the hub!
That's perfectly fine, Victoria. :) I hope it brings you the traffic you're looking for. Or at least a few more than zero hits.
Hi, I couldn't even submit a URL. Every time I tried to the Captcha was so hard to read, I got it wrong a few times. Then it made me wait. One night it took me a half hour to get two URL's on there. Thanks for this hub!
It usually makes you wait about 9 minutes between each submission. But the fact that the captcha was so hard to read is ridiculous. I hate captcha. I remember back during my Myspace days when everything I did a window would pop up asking me to input the letters I saw in the box. I get not wanting bots, but come on, make it easy for humans to figure out.
Yes, it's driving me crazy, too, Jean. It keeps telling me I've submitted too many links, when I haven't been submitting any lately. Then, when I type in the Captcha (thanks--I didn't know that's what it was called), it keeps saying I did it wrong, when I know that isn't true.
I thought that if reddit had our email, we could skip the "are you a robot?" step. It asks me every time.
Jedi--should I just lay off for a while and then see how reddit treats me, or should I open a new account with them? The only thing--they already have my email address, so I wouldn't be able to....
Ugh. so frustrating! I'll try again tomorrow. I haven't given up yet! I'm curious to see if traffic increases with the sub-reddits.
You can link multiple accounts to the same email address, so go right ahead and open up a new one. I'd say give that account a rest for a couple days and if it keeps saying you're submitting too many links, forget about it and move on. It just means you've been marked as a spammer. My original Reddit account from two days after joining HubPages STILL won't let me submit links.
I keep one main account and several little ones. My main account I submit links to that I know will do well and get views. Then I proceed to use that account to socialize on the site and get my link and comment karma up so it doesn't get banned. The other little accounts I couldn't care less about. They're there for when I'm submitting something I don't know will do well.
Good ideas, JediJ! In the beginning, I did submit a lot of links (to reddit, not the subreddits), and they're just sitting there, so I deleted them. They got no views. I'm going to try signing up, then, with a new user name, and see what happens. I'll let you know. Hey, how did you get so smart with all this online stuff??
My intelligence is mostly with Reddit. And it was trial and error. Combined with not caring that my smaller accounts got suspended / banned every few days. When I'm really into something I learn everything I can about it.
That's a good trait you have, I think. Hey, I just submitted a hub about cats under the Aww subreddit. I'll see how it does. Boy, they are strict on there. I left a comment on a pet picture and then went to another one and wanted to leave a comment, but it said I had to wait 9 minutes. Just to leave a comment!
I am still doing badly. I put a link in from a hub. I changed the reddit.com to todayIlearned, but it was a product hub and I'm not sure what category to use for some hubs. Then when I came back to HP, to recopy my link, all I put on Reddit was gone. I don't get it. Do you have to put "til" before all your titles? I'm not sure how to look for categories without losing all my info I already put in, now they locked me out for an hour.
Victoria - I had that happen when I first started on Reddit. Now my main account can usually submit comment after comment as long as I'm not spamming with short remarks.
Jean - Did you check out my "how to pick the right sub-Reddit" hub? Because it lists how to find sub-Reddits and there are even sites affiliated to Reddit that help you find sub-Reddits to submit to.
Thanks for the detailed tutorial. Social bookmarking is an invaluable resource for getting traffic. I will have to try this later.
Jedidessicuh,
I'm reading your hubs and taking a closer look at the rules. They seem very strict though. I took down 4 links I had on there incorrectly a few hours ago, so have nothing now. I tried 3X to post another link, after voting a few times on other things, and it just keeps telling me to wait an hour. And the Captchas are so wiggly I can barely read them, and I don't wear glasses! I'll try for another day or so, but it seems like too much aggravation, I already spend hours on HP. Thanks for your great hubs though.
Jean,
If your account keeps saying that, you might have been marked as a spammer. It happens when you delete links too often, when you get downvoted, or when you submit more links than you participate in. I'm not sure why the captchas seem to still be tripping people up even after they submit their email. Reddit's not good with getting rid of them, I guess.
You might want to create another account and give it a try. You can link it to the same email, so don't worry about that. The rules also specify you can create multiple accounts, so no worries there. I understand if you give up on Reddit though. It might not be for everybody.
I have been on Hub Pages for 6 months and have tried to figure out Reddit. I have read that it is a great source for traffic. Now, I feel I can go in and actually get a link published in the right spot. I owe you a big thanks!! Voted Up, useful, and awesome! Thanks, again!
Hi Jedijessicuh,
You are right, Reddit isn't for everyone. I tried 2 different names, and it finally let me put up 3 links. But I did participate, and read other stuff and made comments. I write Metaphysical stuff, and there doesn't seem to be a place for that, except Occult, which isn't right. I said I was a professional Astrologer in IAMA, and am shocked by how foul and ignorant the people on there are. I got dissed, sworn at, was told Astrology is BS (stupid people, for which many seem to be on Reddit, think it's only your Sun position). How could I study that for 35 years? When I came to HP, people welcomed me. And it seems that Reddit is only about links or short paragraphs, so then why are they against the thing they stand for? Anyway, the kicker is that my traffic is up quite a bit today, and I don't want more to do with such nasty and dumb people. Thanks for trying to help.
If submitted something in the past as just 'reddit' can I re-submit later as a sub-reddit?
DDS - Yes, but I would delete your first link if I were you. Or use the HubPages short URL they give you in the stats section. Just because other people will call you a spammer if they see you posting your own link twice.
Ok on it now!! Thanks for the quick response!! :-)
No problem. :) My husband is asleep on the couch, so I'm just hanging around HubPages until the premiere of Blue Mountain State comes on.
This is great - thanks for such a well-written hub! I've been trying to get Reddit figured out, but no traffic yet. It looks like I should have posted to a sub-reddit. Voted up and very useful!
very useful. thanks for this info
This article is just at the right time. I was in the midst of trying to figure out Reddit and shelved it for a bit. Now I can go back to it! I'm printing your article immediately. Voted up.
Thank you for this! Ever since they changed something over there is hasn't been very straightforward. I'll be returning to this tutorial in the future.
Accolades and a vote up!
Thanks Jedijessicuh for an interesting and well illustrated site. I've published my first backlink on there yesterday soam waiting to see if traffic improves - I still have a long way to go yet so any hubs like this one are a great help. Voted up!
I just have done by following all the step that you mention in your hub.Its really makes it easy.Thanks
For some reason everytime I go to submit, it says wait an hour, I wouldn't mind but its been saying that for 5 days !
That probably means you've been banned. You might want to create another account and try again.
Great! Now I know why I became a "Reddit Idiot!" Thanks for clearing this up for me. I have been peeved all week and decided it wasn't worth my time. I think I hit an all-time record when I got banned in the first 2 days. I was thinking if you can use the F word on there as much as people do, surely nothing I could do would result in being banned. Wrong!
Nice and easyway to share to reddit . This Page will be very much helpful for those who want to share a lot.. Thanks for SHARING:)
lukeuk: I have the same problem. Why don't they tell you, you have been banned, instead of leading you on?
Peoplepower, I think it's because if they don't tell you then you might just keep spamming their site and not get anywhere. It's kind of brilliant for people who intend to spam, but annoying for people trying to learn the system.
This is a great tutorial. Wish I'd had it when I first joined Reddit a couple of weeks ago. I didn't realize I could post links from the main page and simply specify a sub-reddit.
I have been very cautious about posting there after reading other reddit hubs about people being banned for spamming. I only submit a personal link maybe once a week or so. In between, I comment and submit links from other sites I think people will find useful. I haven't submitted any text yet. Have to figure out what to say.
For the hubs I have submitted, I got a great response for a few days, and then the readership tapered off.
I think it's a good idea to read what people are submitting on a sub-reddit to find out what's popular.
Thanks for sharing. Voted up and useful
I don't submit to much of my own stuff to reddit anymore, a lot of people started leaving some negative comments claiming that I'm spamming (I'm not selling anything, just blogging) and now I'm thinking about just starting a new account and only submitting my own stuff a couple times monthly
Great idea! Useful and voted up!
Thanks, JediJ. Guess I'm not the first who's been confused with the relatively complicated Reddit, when you compare it with StumbleUpon, Digg etc. But Reddit really gets the traffic. I have bookmarked your hub to practice submitting wisely because the few hubs I've submitted have gotten phenomenal traffic. Really appreciate you kindly and graciously sharing your knowledge with us. Voted up and interesting. Anastasia
Thank you so much. Trying to submit to Reddit was trying my patience. Your explanation is very clear. Thank you for helping the easily frustrated.
An informative and useful hub. I will have to check Reddit out.
Thanks for the useful information. I will have to check it out.
it says i need to wait for a bit or like that my posts arent doing well and email verification but i didnt not put one since it was optional
Thank! I ahve had a lot of troubles with it. I will use this.
Hi, does submitting to a sub-reddit also submit it to the main reddit.com? Would you recommend submitting separately to reddit.com and a subreddit? What about multiple subreddits?
Hello JEDIJESSICUH, do you submit all your hubs to reddit or only some of them?
Most of them. Only a handful I haven't and that was mostly because they didn't fit anywhere on the site.
When ever i try to submit a link to reddit, it says "that reddit only allows text posts"....This message comes under the box where we enter the url....what does this mean? I am copy pasting the link from the link to this page option at the bottom of the hub...can u help??
That means the specific Reddit you're submitting to doesn't allow URLs. You'll have to try a different one that does.
I got banned from one of the subreddits after submitting one of my HubPages links ... I was so confused that I gave up on the site. Your Hub makes me want to go back and try again. Thanks. Voted Up!
Thanks! HAve no idea what reddit is, but I will learn! Just saw it mentioned several times in others posts. You know, since I am new here, is there a Favorites button?
Only the follow feature, I believe. They just did away with bookmarking.
Really helpful Hub. Thanks so much. I have been trying to get some traffic from Reddit with limited succes so will try your suggestions and hope it improves. I do have a problem that my main topic areas are not that popular once you get down to the sub-Reddits
Jedi very well explained hub on submitting to reditt. I will be trying to post in the sub reddits as posting on the home page has not brought any traffic.
Voted up and useful.
This a very well explained hub on submitting to reditt. I'll try posting in sub reditts as I have not had any taffic posting on the homepage.
Voted up & useful.
Thanks JediJ! Very informative hub on how to figure things out at reddit, you helped clear up much confusion.
Killer article. What do u think of the buses on anthem
This is soo cool! I have never heard of this. I am a little confused but I am sure once I read it a second time I will get the hang of it. Thank you for sharing this insightful and very useful hub. I voted up and shared on twitter! :) take care..
This is a great hub about Reddit. I had a problem with this site in the beginning but after learning more about Reddit I love it. You can get a lot of views from this site and not just for a few days. Thanks for sharing. Take care, Kelley
Excellent step by step guide to post links on reddit. It did make a difference for some of my hubs - it is a good initial kick and can go quite high if you choose the right subreddit! thanks!
But I don't want to link to another site. I want to ask my own question. How do I do that? Thanks.
You insert the question into title and put no URL. Easy, peasy.
I posted a couple days ago on reddit.com for my first time and received over 800 views on the hub. I was surprised, though, how vulgar some people are on the different so-called subreddits to everybody and no one in particular.
Great hub you've done here. Voting up and useful.
Thank you very much for this Hub! Reddit was a confusion for me, but you helped me understand the processes. Up and Awesome!
I haven't signed up with Reddit, only because I have heard horror stories where it is concerned. Your tutorial helps take away the fear! I think I can sign up with confidence now. Thanks for the share! Voted up!Lisa
Thank you for sharing this! I also receive lots of views from Reddit and like Pamela have ran across several rude and vulgar people. I've learned how to navigate this a little better and my experience with Reddit has improved. Take care, Kelley
I'm going to try this. I had given up on Reddit because it frustrate me too much.
I figured Reddit out by trial and error, but your hub puts it all in one place so I can review it. I too submitted a hub a few days ago and got over 500 hits on it. It's a matter of finding the right sub-reddit to put it in. You do have to participate though, and rate and make comments, which is understandable, as they want it to be a real community. I just find it sad how some people seem to just have to put a dig in on anything you post, even if most comments are positive.
Oh! I have a question! How do you get more votes to your reddits? I have submitted a bunch of links to various sub-reddits and they rarely ever get one or two votes.... Any ideas?
Thanks so much for the tutorial and interesting information. I will be using Reddit in the future. Voted up as interesting, useful, and sharing.
Very clear explanation, thank you. I have just started checking out reddit, and I have to say that it is not the most user friendly site, lots of rules about what to post, little information about how to actually post it, how to find the subreddits etc. However, this hub has all the information that I need.
how do i upload my own photo to reddit from my computer
You can't. You have to upload it to a photo site and then use the link they give you.
Thanks for this information! I've fallen foul of Reddit already and now I can post again. Voted up and useful.
bwhite062007 Level 3 Commenter 8 months ago
This article saved me, thank you! I too have been leaving the reddit in the box and then been wondering why I have had no traffic. Voted up and useful!