Not every site will have this problem, and actually there are very few that do.  They are submitted to Digg TOO much. “How could that be a problem?” you may ask… let me explain.  Once a site has proved its content is suitable for Digg and does very well, many Diggers get that ‘first’ mentality, much like those trolls that are the first to comment on every blog post.  Not only do they try to get to it first, but they also are generally sloppy and not the ideal Digg user.  You may see broken titles, incorrect categories, no thumbnails and/or inaccurate descriptions.  This can really put a damper on your content’s success because you can only make a first impression once.  Here are a few tips to set your site up for success – no matter who submits it to Digg:

1. Write a Good Title Tag

   Digg has recently changed the duplicate story checker (functionality that checks to make sure the same story wasn’t submitted before) and now pulls story information from the page to help the user fill in the title and description easier.  It uses the title tag of the document to auto fill this attribute, so crafting a compelling page title can really help your odds.  However, Digg allows for 60 characters for the title, so keep it short and sweet!

2. Use the META Description

   Just like the title tag information above, Digg uses the META description to fill in the story description.  Writing a compelling and interesting blurb for your META description can then help you really round out your article for proper Digg submission.  The description of an article can be just as important as the title in some cases, so don’t skimp on this step.

3. Include an Image for a Thumbnail

   Having a thumbnail image for your Digg article can really help you stand out from the pack.  Thumbnails catch the attention of users and also can help to describe what that story is about.  Digg now uses Facebook’s “share” standard to find the proper image for the shared link.  In order to signal which image you would prefer to use in the story, simply use the following tag:
   <link rel=”image_src” href=”http://www.onjd.com/design05/images/PH2/WableAFC205.jpg” />

   

   Also, if you want to have a suitable image for Digg to find on your site automatically, make sure that it resembles a thumbnail size-wise.  Long and skinny images or  massively large photographs aren’t ideal for turning into thumbnails, and in most cases Digg won’t even give you the chance to.  Smaller, more square-ish images can make the perfect thumbnails for a story, so try to stick with those.  I wouldn’t recommend having your ideal thumbnail go more than 450 px wide or 350 px high.

4. Include an Upcoming Digg Widget

   This feature can help to notify your audience which stories are currently on Digg.  It can help you boost the votes on a story if you have a loyal and passionate audience.  The widget can be customized by color, source and a variety of other options.  In order to harness the most value from this widget (if your site is very active on Digg), I would recommend using the following setting:
   
   Here is an example of a customized widget on College Humor:

   
   

5. Add a Customized Digg Button

   This is the granddaddy of all tweaks to set your site up for the most ideal Digg submission.  A customized Digg Button will allow you to populate all of your ideal information into a simple Digg button that will be auto-pulled for the user.  Basically, a specific Digg button will need to be written for each article.  The code included in the button will do all the work for you – with no additional tweaks needed in your code.  Here is the following code for your customized Digg button:
   
   <script type=”text/javascript”>
   digg_url = ‘WEBSITE_URL’;
   digg_title = ‘TITLE’;
   digg_bodytext = ‘BODY’;
   digg_media = ‘MEDIA’;
   digg_topic = ‘TOPIC’;
   </script>
   <script src=”http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js” type=”text/javascript”></script>

   Simply fill in your ideal attributes (full list of topic & media syntax) and whenever a user clicks on the “submit to Digg” button on your site, everything will be fully populated to your liking!

   One important note:  This only works if the submitter uses the Digg button to submit an article.  If the URL is simply submitted via digg.com/submit or via the DiggBar, this will not work.

Overall, these methods will really help sites maximize their Digg visibility and help to give their content the best chance at becoming popular.  While it sure is a little bit of work, the results will be worth the work.

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