How I'm Growing My Substack Newsletter with SEO and Reddit
In some aspects, it's better than Substack Notes.
Sharing Stories and Experiences Will Boost Your Substack SEO
2 years ago I had 0 Substack subscribers, I was a nobody.
Now I’ve attracted more than a 1000 subscribers and thousands of clicks to my Substack posts. (and still counting!)
All thanks to organic marketing that costed me $0(literally!).
You’re probably wondering how the heck was I able to grow my newsletter using Reddit and SEO.
Well, it’s not that complicated:
You have to put your Substack infront of eyeballs and share your unique story.
Sharing your story is extremely powerful, because this is what differentiates you from others, this is what makes you unique and memorable.
This is what tells Google’s Search algorithm that you’re not another AI-generated blog article, but a real human being who’s sharing real life experiences, which is exactly what Google wants.
Marketing Your Substack Newsletter on Reddit
Now let’s see how I’ve used Reddit to grow my Substack newsletter.
As I mentioned earlier, I grew my Substack by sharing my story as an expat living in Asia, and giving away value in the form of information about myself and my work.
And this exactly what I did in a few subreddits in the remote work and expat niche:
And some of my Reddit posts are indexed on Google Search first page, which has been generating consistent traffic to my Substack newsletter for the last 2 years:
Since Reddit domain authority is strong, this helped me put my newsletter in front of thousands of eyeballs by adding my Substack link within my Reddit posts.
My newsletter discovery funnel with Reddit looks like this:
Google → Reddit → My Substack
Simple.
And I’ve been generating a decent amount of traffic to my Substack newsletter every month from Reddit posts. Which actually surprised me since I’ve posted them 2 years ago!
How to Optimize Your Substack Newsletter for SEO
What about Google Search and SEO? Well, apart from respecting the basic SEO rules such as having only one H1 header and adding important keywords in the headers and not stuffing keywords everywhere in your Substack post.
I’ve noticed that the posts that are indexed on Google are those that go deep into a subject.
By deep I mean going into the crux of the matter, like what I’m doing with this post. You don’t have to overcomplicate it, just go deep and show your knowledge and experience on the matter.
You have to write something that AI would’ve probably not written.
This is what Google has to say about content that ranks:
Google's automated ranking systems are designed to present helpful, reliable information that's primarily created to benefit people, not to gain search engine rankings, in the top Search results. This page is designed to help creators evaluate if they're producing such content. (Source)
It all comes down to great content that helps real human beings learn about something or solve a problem.
Here are some of my Substack posts that are currently ranking on Google Search as of writing this:
Bonus Substack SEO Tip
Being present on LinkedIn, YouTube, X and other social medias with a consistent messaging across each platform. Might help by signaling to Google’s automated ranking system that you’re a real person. And this can possibly help with ranking your Substack content, especially for E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
There’s no clear information about Google using third party platforms in order to decide which piece of content should be ranked or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re doing it.
Since I am present of LinkedIn and YouTube, I’m not sure if it’s affecting the ranking authority of my Substack content.
It’s my two cents, so don’t take my word for it.
If you’re serious about growing your newsletter or any business with Reddit.
I made a short eBook on the topic.
I really like it. Vey helpful since it's hard to find real explanations on how to truly grow.
I found it
Thank you