I've been doing Reddit for roughly 7 years now, I've been banned a lot, some bans have been lifted, some have not. I've hit the front page of /r/InternetIsBeautiful, /r/pcgaming, /r/webdev, /r/userexperience, and much more, so I have some learnings that will be helpful if you plan on trying to hit the front page whilst being a member of the community.

How To Post

Simply dumping a link won't work on Reddit (except in particular situations like /r/webdev Showoff Saturday), you need to provide VALUE. If you provide value, most mods won't mind if you dump a link at the end of your post.

Mods give more leeway to someone who's contributed to the subreddit before. Be a member of the subreddit by helping others before self-promoting and more than likely not, you will get away with dumping a link at the end of your post when you do submit something.

Where To Post

There's a subreddit for literally everything. I do design so there are certain subreddits I target such as /r/UI_Design, /r/webdesign, /r/sideprojects, /r/userexperience, etc.

Over time. you will understand how members of the community act towards promotion. For example, /r/userexperience is very harsh towards self-promotion, you need to be providing so much value for the promotion to pass.

Bans

I've had my fair share of bans, it happens and there's no shame in that. You live and learn, don't self-promote a lot, genuinely contribute to the community and you will be fine.

Finally, a little tip that a fellow Reddit user gave, look at how many people are online, it gives a good indication as to when you should post.

What are some Reddit tips you've learned over the years?