Are You Digging It?

If you're a relatively new blogger, you're probably spending a great deal of time trying to figure out the best way to optimize your blog's traffic. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to submit your post to popular social news sites like Digg. What is a social news site? It's a user driven portal that allows viewers to vote on the quality of articles submitted. The more popular the article, the better exposure it gets within the site. Bloggers who regularly submit articles have experienced considerable increases in the amount of traffic their blogs receive. Digg is the first and most well known site of this kind, but there are several others you should be aware of as well. ProNet Advertising has a great "Beginners Guide To Digg" that will help you understand the landscape of social news and how can impact your blog.

Reddit: Recently acquired by CondeNet, Reddit is a no frills social news site that takes only seconds to sign up for.

RealEstateVoices: Realestate voices was recently launched to provide real estate specific social news services. It's a regular read for me, and I usually get so wrapped up in the articles I forget that I went there to submit one.

NewsVine: The most comprehensive site in the world of social news is NewsVine.Com. It categorizes storys very well and features top notch design and navigation.

Netscape: Netscape has shifted gears from a browser / web portal company to a social news site

"The Netscape portal has evolved from a portal that is programmed by us to a portal that is programmed by you — the audience! All of the stories on Netscape are submitted and voted on by users. The more votes and comments a story receives, the higher it is ranked in the list of Top Stories."

Stay tuned for my year end top ten list of things agents and brokers should be considering for 2007 when it comes to technology and the web. What do you think the list should include?