Posted on by Frank - Follow me on Twitter

375440807 8a63277ad5 10 Ways To Get More StumbleUpon Traffic

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysullivan/

This is a guest post by Melissa Tamura.

StumbleUpon is a web-based service that allows its community to discover and rate images, videos and websites. Members of this social network then take advantage of the “Stumble!” feature in order to “stumble upon” the websites that their peers have rated highly.

What StumbleUpon also is, is an amazing tool that webmasters can use to drive traffic to their website. StumbleUpon, according to StatCounter, generates 25% of all social networking traffic. This is more traffic than Twitter and second only to Facebook. Here are 10 ways to get more StumbleUpon traffic to your site.

1. The first step is to open a free StumbleUpon account, install the toolbar, and to become familiar with the service. If you have the free time to spare, immerse yourself in the StumbleUpon community. In addition to being a great deal of fun, this is an amazing way to spread the word about your website.

2. Viral marketing is marketing that utilizes the power of an existing social network. This is precisely what you are doing when you use StumbleUpon to drive traffic. The key here is to offer viral content, content that web surfers will want to share with their peers.

3. Upon joining StumbleUpon, your impulse will be to go to your website and give it its first thumb up. That’s a great impulse if your website is ready for it. What you don’t want to do is to alert people to a website or web page that isn’t particularly interesting. That’s a wonderful way to earn a poor rating.

4. As you use the StumbleUpon service, take notes concerning what works and what doesn’t. What are the most popular websites? What type of content do you give the thumb up to? Then leverage this information when making design decisions for your website.

5. It is best to use StumbleUpon by offering content with broad appeal. However, StumbleUpon has approximately 500 categories, and it is impossible to include all of them with a single item. As you add new content, focus on categories that you haven’t touched before in order to broaden your appeal.

6. Like all Internet users, those using StumbleUpon have short attention spans. If you don’t seize their attention immediately and make their experience enjoyable, then you are going to lose that thumb up. The key is to generate visual excitement using attractive design and interesting content. StumbleUpon is not a cure for a boring website. Give the user what they want, and then employ an effective strategy to lead them to the next item.

7. In order to profit from StumbleUpon traffic in the short term, many websites use click-through advertising. If you decide to do this, make certain that the advertising is subtle. Social networkers are a fickle bunch. If visitors feel that the website is too ad heavy, you will fall off the StumbleUpon map quickly.

8. Websites that get reviews receive more StumbleUpon attention than the website that gets an equal number of thumbs up. Invite and inspire your audience to leave a StumbleUpon review. You might be surprised at how many people will when giving a simple nudge.

9. StumbleUpon isn’t magic and it isn’t hands free. Use the StumbleUpon tools to track your traffic diligently. Determine what is working and what is not working. Then improve the website based on those details.

10. Promote StumbleUpon on your website. If someone reaches your site through a means other than StumbleUpon, then attempt to bring them into the fold. Make sure to retain new StumbleUpon visitors by offering them contests, feeds, newsletters and special offers for which they will want to sign up.

Well, there they are, ten effective ways to generate more traffic through StumbleUpon. With proper use and a little patience, webmasters should experience a notable upswing in traffic in no time at all.

Melissa Tamura writes about online degrees for Zen College Life. She most recently ranked the top nursing schools in the USA. Follow @ZCollegeLife on Twitter.

Further reading:

3 Common Social Media Marketing Blunders

Jordan Cooper Interview – Being Transparent On Social Networks

Why Is StumbleUpon A Closed Community?

Which Social Network Will Bring Guaranteed Visitors?

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Posted in Social Networks | Comments (2)

  • http://www.theskibug.fr Transfers to Meribel

    It seems that StumbleUpon is not particularly a great resource for quality traffic, but maybe a good tool for building a social network of people with similar interests? 

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com/ Frank

    As I’ve had more experience with StumbleUpon, I’ve noticed myself that it doesn’t bring quality traffic, rather it brings new visitors for a very brief period of time. People that utilize this social network are looking for something new and fresh. If you provide something of value to them, they’ll stick around, but like you mentioned, they may not be the best for quality traffic.