How to create a website like Reddit? This idea might have struck you while going through the website. If you wish to know about it, we can help you.
Before that Let’s have a look at Reddit and why it has become famous.
Reddit has become the world’s most successful social bookmarking website explosive with millions of users across the globe. The website is buzzing with lots of activities and page views per day.
Reddit basks in the glory due to its rich community of people that comes together with common interests. Its unique approach has users sharing links and content that receive upvotes based on how engaging it is.
Reddit contains Subreddits of trending topics such as Video Games, Movies, NBA, Football, etc.
If your content is strong enough to earn maximum upvotes, it goes viral (like YouTube videos) across Reddit platform and appears on the homepage.
The Reddit’s success is knitted with expanding number of users who run a riotous lot of activities on its platform. This is what you should focus on while building a website like Reddit.
So if you are wondering what it takes to create a website like Reddit with a growing social bookmarking community, follow these steps:
Pick a Short Yet Stunning Domain Name
Acquiring your own domain is the first step towards building a website like Reddit.
For your website to be successful enough to grab attention, choose a domain name that is short, memorable and appealing.
Make a list of a few potential domain names, discuss with others and pick one that you can convert into a news and content brand like Reddit.
While you are still planning for domain names, you can focus on the following aspects:
- Short in length
- Catchy and easy-to-remember
- Brandable qualities
- .COM extension for global appearance
- .co.(country name) for Country-specific domain
You can also go online to scour suggestions and ideas for selecting a powerful domain name.
GoDaddy, Namestation, BigRock are great options to satiate your domain needs. These domain services guarantee handy dashboard, flexible plans and 24/7 customer support.
Shorter the domain name, increased are the chances for your social bookmarking site to be popular. Use maximum 8 characters to define a name like what is done by hit socials such as YouTube, Quora, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit itself.
Opt For Web Hosting Services
After you have bought a perfect domain name, it is time to move on to web hosting services.
You will find a pool of options floating online when you search for affordable web hosting providers. A few great names in this category are:
Bluehost, HostGator, GoDaddy, InMotion, Tsohost, Weebly.
They are your best choice because it provides simple and friendly environment to build and launch a new professional looking website in no time.
Beginners can also get started with hosting their website even without prior technical knowledge to build a website.
Their pricing varies depending on the functionality, space and support you seek while hosting the site. They each provide:
- Unlimited Domain Hosting
- Custom Site Builder
- Unlimited Email Accounts
- Unlimited Hosting Space
- Wide range of templates
- Unlimited File Transfer
- 24/7 Customer Support.
Choose a Website Script
After you have ensured a good domain name and perfect hosting, your social bookmarking sites where content is king need a robust script solutions.
WordPress emerges as a powerful blogging platform. Though WordPress makes for an obvious choice and offers various themes, it does not essentially support web structures challenged by massive MySQL database activities.
Therefore, for efficiency and performance of ambitiously large websites with ample daily traffic, PHP custom scripts are found suitable.
To build an excellent Reddit alternative with WordPress, you can rely on the following plugins:
- WPeddit
- Bunchy
- UpVote
- Rank it (for submit, vote and comment)
To leverage PHP Scripts, consider the following:
- Gentile Ninja
- Ncrpyted
- Bookit
Reddit’s Source Code For Developers
To build a strong Reddit alternative, why not go for Reddit’s own source code.
You can refer to its GitHub page to study its regularly updated open-source codebase enough to figure out how it all works and develop from it.
This saves a lot of time for web development experts as they won’t have to pull off everything from scratch.
Partner, Collaborate & Hire Your own Squad
If developing a social bookmarking and content sharing website like Reddit is too overwhelming for you, you can always choose to partner with a specialized web development company and hire their dedicated squad of developers.
Reddit might seem simple, but the process of building a fully functioning website with engaging functionality still takes efforts of skilled, technically sound developers.
Content Management Tactics
Beginnings are always tough. It is common to see not many users when you launch the website. But the best way to create the buzz is to build spurious profiles by developers and feed some content to make it look active. That is what Reddit did initially to get the momentum going.
Users will not prefer to stay on your website unless it has some existing users. You can tell your cluster of creators, associates or your partners to pose as active users and content frequently.
This will grow it from empty to busy. Aim at reaching at least 100 users and a thousand of posts before expecting organic traffic. Try variety in content types such as articles, queries, personal stories and status and Gif videos, etc.
Gather Volumes of Users
Upon making sure your domain name is fascinating and your content looks compelling, you can switch your focus on marketing it and tempt more traffic to your website. Basically, there are three ways you can possibly acquire more viewers.
SEO
From meta description and URL to most entered keywords and backlinks, there are different ways to optimize your website for SEO on search engines.
Get all the basics right and engage a technical team who possesses thorough knowledge about SEO website marketing including organic elements such as precise backlinks, long-tailed keywords, page URLs with post titles.
Read also : How To Market an App Successfully
Your homepage is a star performer in SEO optimization efforts for Google, Yahoo and Bing. So load the website homepage with lots of trending search-worthy content.
If you are not good at SEO marketing, it is judicious to collaborate with an SEO marketing agency along with a web development company.
Social Media
It is undeniable that social media platforms help drive boost in popularity and thrust your social bookmarking website in limelight. Weave social activities in your marketing strategy to gain more leverage.
Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter are main players in the business with Facebook offering great tools and community to spread a word. Your major target market is captured by Facebook.
Stretch your budget enough to integrate Facebook ads if possible. Attach a link to your website on your Facebook page. As a user hit the Like, their friends can also view the activity.
Word of Mouth
Word of mouth, of all marketing tactics, is important one since it is inexpensive yet effective. You can start by interesting the people in your network in visiting your reddit-like website. If they like it, they will propel it further among their circle.
Another trick is to arrange a pleasant giveaway on your website for existing community.
If the website users find value and goodness in your offerings, they will share their experience with their friends and encourage then to create accounts.
Create a Reliable Monetization Stream
Generating revenue from websites like Reddit is a tricky game where being smart is the difference between being desperate and being generous.
As for Reddit creators, they gain revenue mainly from advertising and sponsored links of their partners.
However, they also have a tertiary unique feature called Reddit Gold accounts that encourage users to buy additional features. The best monetization is to create a stream that involves multiple sources.
Read also : How to Create a Website like Quora?
When you concoct a blend of several monetization tactics, you will never have to rely heavily on a single source and you will be at the advantage of accelerating the revenues.
Try to incorporate sponsored links within the website content. Like Reddit, you can also afford users special membership perks such as being an active part of community.
If your website content drives value to users, they will feel naturally motivated to contribute some monetary donation.
Replicate Reddit by Building its Alternative
The steps described above will boost your knowledge for developing a successful website like Reddit. It is important to note that having your community website on well-hosted, perfectly managed server is utmost necessity you can’t compromise on.
You therefore need a competent website builder and hosing management teams that can help you host your community on your own server.
If you need professional website services, then check out my website services section for more information.