How to Increase Your Reddit Karma and Followers: A Simple (& Effective) Guide

Are you trying to grow on Reddit but feeling stuck? You’re not alone - this is the struggle of many new users.

Here’s the thing, Reddit is not like other social media. You don’t just post and gain followers. You need karma to gain followers - and there is a formula for it.

I will show you the exact strategy that works!

What Reddit Karma Is and Why It Is Important

You can think about karma as your reputation score on Reddit. If someone upvoted your post, it adds to your karma. If someone downvoted it, it withdraws from your karma.

There is karma beyond taking/saving karma. Many subreddits (Reddit communities) will not let you post unless you have enough karma. Some subreddits require 10-200 karma points. More popular subreddits standards may be 500-2,500 karma points.

Here’s what you want to know:

Post Karma: Whenever a person upvotes one of your posts you will earn post karma
Comment Karma: Whenever a person upvotes one of your comments, you will earn comment karma
Community Karma: Community karma is earned in certain subreddits.

As a new user, consider focusing on comment karma early on. Comment karma will likely be easier to earn and most communities have a lower barrier to entry for commenting than posting.

Step 1: Focus on comments, not posts

Most new users run into this issue first - they attempt to post as soon as they’re allowed and are immediately punished by karma requirements.

Smart users don’t do this. Rather, they build karma through comments first - more easily, more safely, and it helps you learn what the community values.

Here’s your specific plan of action:

Go to “New User Friendly” subreddits, like r/AskReddit or r/CasualConversation
Select “New” instead of “Hot”
Make your comment during the first hour after post submission
Make sure you offer value in your comment - answer a question, share an experience, or make a relevant joke.

You might wonder why choosing “New” is important? Early comments on popular posts get seen by a LOT of Reddit users. You could earn up to 500-1,000 karma with one simple comment on a trending post.

Step 2: Submit Comments That Get Upvotes

Not all comments get equal attention. Some will get no attention while others will go viral. The distinction? Value and timing.

Redditors tend to upvote comments that assist them. Be useful, funny, or insightful. Do not answer with comments such as “this” or “lol”.

What makes a comment great?

Detailed answers to a question
Personal stories that add context
Thoughtful analysis of a topic
One-liners with clever humor relating to the topic

Don’t go into controversial topics in the beginning. You are building trust, not a debate. Save the hot takes until you have established karma.

Step 3: Generate Posts That People Really Want

After you’ve accumulated a comment karma level of 100 to 500, begin posting. However, here is the important letter of business - your posts must have real value to the community.

Reddit users do not like low effort content. They reward valuable, in-depth, original content. This includes guides, what you personally have done, or informative educational type content.

The three pillars of post great Reddit posts:

Original content: You are sharing a unique piece of content that you created or experienced
Educational value: You’ve taught readers something new and useful
Entertainment: You’ve made people laugh, think, or feel something

Your title is important! Arguably most important. The title is your hook. Be clear and compelling about what the reader will receive from your post.

Before you go posting anywhere on Reddit, you should read through that community first. This means looking at the top posts. On that reddit community, what gets upvoted? What content fits their culture? Try to mimic this type of content.

Step 4: Enhance Your Profile for More Followers

The majority of people do not pay much attention to their Reddit profile, and they shouldn’t. It is your conversion mechanism.

When a person loves your comment, they click on your username. What they see next will dictate if they follow you or not.

Make your profile work harder:

Write an authentic short bio (2-3 sentences max)
Show what you know and what you are interested in
Pin your best 4 posts
Be authentic - no humor unless it flows

Think about your profile like a landing page - every great comment is an ad that brings traffic. Honestly, what you do in your bio and pinned posts turns that traffic into followers.

Rules to Follow

Reddit has its values and community commitment. Violate it, and you will either be banned or receive downvotes. Follow it, and you will learn and enjoy everything Reddit has to offer.

The golden rules:

Do not ask for upvotes (seriously, don’t)
Don’t spam your own links
Vote on is it quality content, not about opinion
Read and follow the specific subreddit’s rules
Engage ideas, not people. No personal attacks

It’s a very important step for promotion to follow the 90/10 rule. Make 90% of your activity helpful and genuine, and no more than 10% should be promoting. Build trust before you share links.

Being Stuck is Part of the Process

Have you ever felt you’ve hit a wall? Have you experienced a loss of karma? This is normal and can be resolved.

First of all, check to see if your posts are being automatically removed. Accounts with low-level karma are filtered from view, and then sometimes removed, if your content doesn’t resonate with the audience. If this is the case, you will probably only need to comment and engage again in some more friendly communities.

Strategies for Recovery

Remove any low voted posts
Return to “New User Friendly” subreddits
Focus on non-controversial & positive topics
Engage in r/aww or subscription communities (low risk)
Search for daily discussion threads/follow those and just chat (low risk)

Review what has worked in the past and what has not, for instance, which comments gained upvotes and which comments had downvotes; you’ll be able to consider the data you have received in order to modify your approach.

Amplifying Your Impact Using Cross-Posts

After you’ve had a successful post, don’t let it fade into the void! Cross-post it to other relevant communities via the built-in Reddit feature.

Do it the correct way though. Never copy and paste the same title! You should create a new title for every community you cross-post to. You should also engage in all the new comments sections.

Best practices for cross-posting:

Cross-post only to the relevant subreddits
Change the title for each community
Engage actively with all new discussions
Follow the rules—many subreddits ban cross posts
Follow the 10:1 rule—10 helpful posts for every promotional post

Cross-posting is not about blasting your content all over the place. It’s about finding new audiences that would genuinely appreciate your post.

Measuring Your Reddit Success

Use real numbers to track your progress. Don’t get caught chasing karma for karma’s sake.

Key metrics to pay attention to are:

Your weekly karma growth.
Your follower count increasing.
Engagement on posts and comments.
Traffic going to your website or project.

Use Reddit’s native analytics to monitor your data on-platform, and use Google Analytics to see your traffic from Reddit to external websites. Both of these metrics matter.

Read through the comments very carefully. The comments tell you what hits home with your audience. Out of the questions being asked, which ones are coming up all the time? Are there objections people have? This is valuable feedback.

Ready to Build Your Presence on Reddit?

Building a presence on Reddit takes time and effort, and building authority takes strategy. For the first few months, focus on providing value; build karma by adding comments where they are most helpful. Original posts should be based around educating, entertaining, or both.

Follow the community guidelines. Optimize your profile. Count your results in real numbers: once your engagement starts to build, adapt plans accordingly.

Overall, the platform will reward authentic engagement over anything else. So be authentic, be helpful, and your karma and followers will come naturally.

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Get started on your journey on Reddit today. You future followers are out there!