7 Keys to Social Bookmarking Bliss
The following post about keys to social bookmarking success was submitted by Marsello Oentoro.
Social bookmarking sites such as Digg.com or StumbleUpon.com’s browser toolbar are great sources of website traffic. The key is to get enough Diggs or Stumbles to get your latest page of wow content a significant burst of traffic. This usually happens when enough users “vote” for you content, in a relatively short period of time, to make your content the hot story of the minute. Let’s examine some of the ways we can improve our chances of getting there:
1. Remember that Content is King
Readers are not stupid; you simply cannot cheat them with a poor or spammy content and expect those readers to return to your site. If your want to submit weak content to your site, let’s say exclusively for SEO purposes, then don’t even bother bookmarking it. Keep in mind that if any of these social bookmarking sites comes to the conclusion that you are a spammer, you run the risk of getting your account banned.
2. Eye-Catching Headlines
There are some tricks and techniques that never die, and creating “eye-catching headlines” is one of them. If you want to learn from the best, just check out the latest tabloids near you. In my opinion even respectable news sites such as CNN.com can be an excellent place to study the use of sensational headlines to attract viewers.
3. An Awesome First Paragraph
We live in an increasingly attention-deficit hyperactive world, simply put there is too much information out there and not enough time. Therefore if your first paragraph cannot get their attention in about 3 seconds, chances are that you’ve lost your reader.
4. Timing is Everything
Knowing when to submit your latest piece of “hot content” is also important to ensure that your latest work gets enough critical mass to “take off”. It’s helpful to consider a 24-72 hour time frame as peak shelf-life for a new piece of content on a social bookmarking site. So you probably don’t want to post when most of your readers are sleeping. Weekdays generally have better traffic than weekends but you will have to experiment to see what works best with your site.
5. Not all profiles are created equal
The profiles of users who make a habit of constantly submitting excellent content are virtually assured of getting more and more attention as time goes on. For this reason it is often better to have others submit your content to bookmarking sites then submitting your own content day after day. Remember that success in online marketing comes from a combination of being subtle and effective at the same time.
6. Networking Pays
Many articles become popular due to support from a network of friends and associates. Recently, at Feedback Secrets we received a significant burst of traffic which began with an increase in StumbleUpon reviews. Oddly enough, this increase in reviews came right after recent efforts to expand our network on various social networking sites.
It may seem like a lot, but 150 Diggs for a single piece of content will give you are real shot at achieving coveted first page status on Digg. If that figure seems out of your league at the moment, keep in mind that fraction of that amount can bring you serious traffic from StumbleUpon.
7. Add Bookmarking Buttons at the End of your Articles
By providing links to various social bookmarking sites at the end a piece of content, you can make the process of submitting a vote for your site on a particular bookmarking site, much easier. For those of you who use WordPress software to run a blog on a site with paid-hosting, be on the look out for an upcoming post on how to add these social bookmarking “buttons” to your site.
If you have any questions regarding any of these points, feel free ask, either by email or blog comment.
Tags: social bookmarking, keys to success, online marketing
May 31st, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Great article…I agree with everything and will incorporate some that was new to me.
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Glad to hear that you liked it, btw which parts were new to you?