Most people tend to use Reddit as either a news source for everything under the sun or a forum of sorts where they can interact with others on topics that interest them. Reddit is unique in that all of the content on the page is essentially controlled by the users, using a system of up-voting and down-voting.

Due to this set up, it can be very tricky to use Reddit as a platform for marketing your small business, but it can be done. To not use Reddit as a means of advertising would be a severe oversight; any platform with upwards of 45 million users and calls itself The Front Page of the Internet is a vital source of driving traffic to your site and drumming up new clients for your business.

But how do you achieve success on Reddit? It is admittedly tricky. If users get the idea that you are blatantly promoting yourself, you’ll get down-voted fast. So they key is to make sure that when you do post directly to your own site, the content is stellar and worth reading.

Reddit is very much about the credibility of a user. To make sure you remain reputable and an active part of the community, consider the following:

Check out Subreddits: In addition to the primary listed topics on the Reddit home page, there are also subreddits that you can check out. There is, quite literally, a subreddit for just about every topic you could ever think of. By narrowing down the topic like this, you stand a better chance of getting your material read after it is posted. Subreddits may not garner as many readers, but this way you know or certain that your message is getting to the eyes of your target audience.

Don’t Over-post: This should be a general rule of thumb for all social media outlets, but you should always refrain from posting too much. It will make people quickly grow tired of you and skip over your links and posts. On Reddit, this can also result in moderators banning you for periods of time.

Remain Honest: Don’t bombard users with information from multiple accounts just to get your message more traction. Reddit users are incredibly good and catching on to these sorts of things. More than that, if a moderator catches you, you’ll likely be suspended.

Like any social media tool, Reddit takes a while to master. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll find that it can be a great way to get your name in front of its millions of users.