It’s a Bookmarking Popularity Contest… Don’t be an Outcast

Submitting your article or blog to bookmarking sites like digg.com, mixx.com and del.icio.us can obviously drive traffic to your site, but how do you ensure that you generate the most impressions with your article? To achieve this you will want to maximize your post’s popularity. If your lucky you’re article may even acquire a prestigious spot in the “popular” category or on the front page of a social ranking site. By using some simple, yet all to often underutilized, strategies you too can become a decorated social bookmark user. These are organic ways to increase popularity, and put your site in front the most sets of eyes possible. Although opinions may vary these are the things I find most important:

1. Remember that for most bookmarking sites the viewing period of your post only lasts 24 to 48 hours, until it is considered old news. However, this doesn’t mean that traffic will stop altogether after this period. In fact some sites like Stumbleupon have been noted as having much longer viewing periods (more in the 2 to 3 week range), but the spike in traffic generally occurs within this time frame on most popular bookmarking sites. What this means to you is that in order to continue driving traffic to your site you must submit new posts frequently.
2. Nobody likes filtering through handfuls of articles that are all saying relatively the same thing. Bookmarking sites do their best to eliminate duplicate articles, but this irritable problem unfortunately persists. People are looking for new, unheard of material that is off the beaten path of normality. If you can create interesting and original content, you have a much better chance of catching people’s attention.
3. As mentioned in #2, you want to draw the eye of the viewer to your article, right? Of course you do. With sites like Fark that have long, eye fatiguing lists of article titles you want yours to stand out like a beacon of hope in a dreary galaxy of monotonous titles.
   

   Fark's Front Page

   Keep it reasonable in length because people won’t take the time to read the whole title, but long enough to get your point across and generate interest. Make it simple and give the reader an idea of what to expect without giving too much away. Remember, this is the lure in your ploy to acquire their oh-so-desirable click. Sometimes it’s the outrageous, quirky and sometimes questionable titles that gain the most attention. This article promoting the Chicago Air and Water show caught my eye today on the front page of Fark, entitled “Bill Murray to jump from plane — good thing he got eternal life from the Lama.”

4. Know your tags! When the time comes to designate tags to your submitted gem don’t sell your work short. Don’t use irrelevant tags, and resist the urge to use overly generic tags. Choose tags that demonstrate the identity of your article, as they will help guide your article onto the screens of your more subject specific audience.
5. There is no harm in encouraging readers to bookmark your article on multiple bookmarking sites. A bookmarking toolbar is a simple suggestion that links your site to bookmarking sites. It reminds readers to show their appreciation for your awe-inspiring article and makes it much easier for them to do so. Once a readers click on an icon they will be linked to the submission page of the bookmarking site. Most of the time your site’s address and title will automatically be filled in depending on the bookmarking site and your toolbar. There are many ways to add an array of possible bookmarking icons, but they generally appear at the bottom of the page and look somewhat like the ones found at the bottom of this page.

Try these tips out for size and see if you can land your article on the front page! Remember to submit quality material and never cut your post short by ignoring these easily implemented suggestions.

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Why Every Business Should Give Social Bookmarking a Look

Everyone knows that social bookmarking and social networking sites are hot right now and show no evidence in declining in popularity any time soon. The question is how can your business, no matter what size, benefit from social bookmarking?

A website like Digg.com can attract more than 10 million viewers a month. This is considered one of the “big guys” of social bookmarking sites, but there are a vast amount of similar sites that bring in significant traffic as well. If your post makes it to the front page you can expect thousands of views that day. These websites have all kinds of material on them, covering every imaginable topic. Although some businesses are better suited than others, almost any type of business can create some sort of value through social bookmarking using a little bit of creativity.

Posting links on social bookmarking sites doesn’t cost a thing, and doesn’t take a very long time to do. You can bookmark your link on a dozen or more sites in no time at all, significantly increasing traffic to your site. As long as it is relevant, well written, and interesting you have the opportunity to generate a large number of impressions. It doesn’t take highly technical skills to set up bookmarks either. It takes only seconds to create an account and most sites walk you through the process of bookmarking a site. Some sites like Mixx.com are more user-friendly and make it even easier to bookmark.

There are different ways of utilizing bookmarking sites. You may want to submit an article that refers to or is related to your business and its operations. You may also create your own blog, write your own articles, and then submit these links. This lets you completely control the content and message you want to present. This also allows you to link the reader directly to your website.

When you post media content on the web you always have the possibility of generating buzz. This process can be a very powerful agent in stimulating interest and awareness of your business without you having to do any work. If you can influence other people to talk further about your product or service then you have really done a good job using social bookmarking.

Using categories and tags to classify your submitted media allows you to target your specific audience based on behavior. This ensures that people that are interested in what your business has to offer reach your site. It is easy to set these up and make a big difference in who your article submission reaches.

In my opinion every business should at least consider how social bookmarking can benefit their specific situation, be it reputation monitoring or creating brand awareness. It takes relatively no capital investment, little time, and has the potential to produce significant results.

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