How to Build Relevancy on Reddit (and Stop Getting Removed)

Why can people talk about McDonald's all day?

Nobody on Reddit reports a comment for saying "just grab a McChicken, it's the best value on the menu." McDonald's comes up thousands of times a day in r/fastfood, r/personalfinance, r/AskReddit and hundreds of other communities, from thousands of different people. One more mention fits the pattern. It's relevant.

Now picture a brand nobody in a subreddit has heard of. A new account mentions it five times in one week, with the same name and the same angle, and nobody else is talking about it. That doesn't fit any pattern. It sticks out like a sore thumb, and moderators, AutoModerator and tools like BotBouncer are built to catch exactly that.

The real reason your content gets removed

Most removals aren't about the content itself. They happen because your brand hasn't built relevancy on Reddit yet. The community isn't used to seeing your product, your topic or your accounts.

You build relevancy the same way McDonald's has it, just on a smaller scale:

• Start where you can be noticed without being flagged. Small, focused subreddits have fewer filters, and the people there actually care about your niche.

• Show up consistently, not loudly. A few useful pieces of content that stay up beat a burst that gets removed.

• Grow your footprint before your volume. Once your product is part of the conversation in several small communities, moving into bigger ones looks natural instead of suspicious.

What Engain's data shows

We looked at removal rates across the subreddits Engain users posted to over the last 90 days. Strictness was the biggest factor, and size alone didn’t protect anyone:

• Strict communities remove far more. Subreddits with an Engain Moderation Level of 50 or lower removed 27% of content. Subreddits at 70 or higher removed 81%.

The ramp-up plan

The rule for moving on: only move to the next phase when content from the current one is sticking. If removals start to climb, hold your volume where it is for another week instead of adding more.

How to pick the right subreddits

1. Check the size. Every subreddit shows its weekly visitors and weekly contributions under its name. Use the limits for the phase you're in.

2. Check how strict it is. Look at the subreddit's Moderation Level in Engain and aim for 50/100 or lower.

3. Read the rules. Until you've built a footprint, avoid subreddits that ban links, hold posts for approval, or run BotBouncer.

4. Stay on topic. Pick communities where your product solves a problem people already talk about.

5. Spread your volume. A few pieces in each of several small subreddits beat dozens in one.

Quick checklist

• 3–5 small, on-topic subreddits to start

• Moderation Level 50 or lower

• 3–5 pieces of content in week 1, 5–10 in week 2

• Add 5–10 medium subreddits in week 3

• Only scale what's sticking