SMO guide part 6 - StumbleUpon
Stumbleupon (SU) is a social media site that works a little differently from the rest. To use SU users need to download a toolbar from the SU site, which has various buttons on it that they need to navigate the application.The first stage of using SU is to register your preferences. Users are offered a selection of topics and genres (such as technology, or sport) from which they select their preferences. These selections are used as the basis for the sites that will be presented to the user when they use the toolbar.
The next stage for users is to simply click the “Stumble” button on the toolbar. The SU algorithm then presents the user with a site that fits their preferences. Users then rate the site by giving it a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down” rating, which is then used to help recommend the next site that is presented to the user when they click the Stumble button.
The tag line of the site is “the more you use it, the better it gets”, meaning that the more Stumbles you make, and the more ratings you provide, the more targeted and relevant the algorithms selections for you will be.
Users can also use the Stumble Upon toolbar as a form of social bookmarking. By surfing the web and tagging or submitting specific websites, each user can keep track of which websites they like and share it with others.
There are no direct link opportunities to be had from SU; the benefit to gained from the site is from traffic, and, as a result, indirect links. SU gives you the opportunity to Stumble your own site(s), which gives them the potential to be seen and positively rated by other “Stumblers”. As to the number of visitors that SU can generate for your site, numbers cited have varied from 10, up to the thousands. However, be warned, your site is unlikely to get a large amount traffic from the site if it is purely commercial. Like other social sites mentioned in this series, to get good coverage on SU, you need to be utilising original, interesting, useful content, even if it within a commercial site; SU users don’t appreciate blatant commercialism or promotion. Being innovative with your content is the key to getting good levels of traffic from the site.
Of course where there’s eyeballs to be had, there’s methods for artificially recreating the social element of the site. For SU, this takes the form of sites such as http://www.stumblexchange.com/, where SU users artificially Stumble each other’s sites. Do bear in mind that reciprocal Stumbling of this nature is frowned upon by SU. My own opinion is that there is nothing wrong with getting a few Stumbles from friends and colleagues to help you on your way. Mass reciprocal Stumbling, however, is not in keeping with the spirit of the site, and should probably be avoided.
As with all the sites mentioned in this series on social media, check your analytics to see which social sites are sending you traffic, and which are converting. Conversions are, after all, what matters. As they say, “traffic is for show, conversions are for dough”. Keeping an eye on your analytics will enable you to see any patterns that emerge with regard to which social sites seem to be sending you the most, and best converting, traffic. You can then adjust your strategy accordingly, and know which sites to concentrate on.
Get the basics right on social sites, keep experimenting with innovative content, and the odds are that sooner or later you will have a hit on your hands, bringing you untold links, traffic and publicity for your site or brand.
We at SearchPath are experienced in the world of SMO, why give us a call and see what we can do to promote your site on the social web.
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