(version fran栩se)

You can’t spend more than a day in the world or search engine optimization without being exposed to the social media mantra: you have to get your site exposed on Digg, Slashdot, Fark, Netscape, etc.

Have to.

And why again? To gain fame or customers? No. To get links. Links, links, links. Tons of them.

With reciprocal linking schemes out of the door, playing the social media card has become the way to build links for a site.

When we put up a story, an image, a video, a tool, a whatever, with the strong hope, desire and intention that it will attract and build links, we call that content linkbait. Some find it a dirty word, some find it a misnouner. Others find that is a time tested rebranded technique.

Whatever you call it and however you may feel about it; it works.

Why target the French-Canadian market

If your business in any way operates in Canada, you’re working a market that contains within it a unique, virtually untapped, because unaddressed, market. French Canadians, most of which are located in the provence of Quebec.

5 million plus users. Among the top Internet users with one of the highest rates of growth for use from any location. Top penetration of broadband access — where broadband access is of course the key enabler for online buying.

In other words, a huge market that often doesn’t get communicated with in its own language on the Internet.

And of course, just like English is used in Canada and the United Kingdom, to name two places, so French also is used world wide. Not just in France, an Internet superpower in its own rights, but also in Belgium, many parts of Africa and even by more than 2 million in the USA, for example.

Targeting the affluent French-Canadian market also means targetting a worldwide community of Francophones.

Digg the Fuzz about Nuouz

Want to target the French-Canadian market? Post your linkbait on Digg, Reddit, Netscape — the whole shebang. Puzzled? I hope not. Francophones are not isolationists by nature; they too use those major English sites.

But yes, after that they also use pure french sites.

Quebec
	Number one is Nuouz (pronounce: newz). Not because it’s the most popular but because it is the only Digg-like site for Quebecers, by Quebecers in Quebec. Leans towards blogs. International audience.
Francophone Top 5
	The influential grand player from France. Scans news sources and accepts submitted content, both in the form of articles or links. Content is easily accepted. Does a 301 redirect to the original story.
	Definitely up and coming. Audience often tends to favor the more technical articles. Uses a top frame to show the story.
	The large runner-up. Direct concurrent of Wikio. Much harder to play the game. Members can moderate entries. Definitely come to the table with quality content you feel sure about. Uses a 301 redirect.
	Popular in its own right but tends to send less traffic than Scoopeo.
	Pioche, like Scoopeo, is harder to play. Quality is emphasized. Will likely gain more ground.

Francophone Social Media Sites

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