Blogging Tip: Using social bookmarking to maximize blog traffic.

There are 3 major linking programs I will be covering on this post, Digg, Stumbleupon, and Del.icio.us. They are the items that make sure up and coming blogs even have a chance. Starting with Digg:

1. Digg is fairly easy to use, in a nutshell, you post a link, and depending on how many people "digg" it, the higher your rating.

This can be extremely beneficial, or it could fall on it's face. Case in point, Digg has never really taken off on my blog, as you see, the most digg's I have is about 4, this generates some traffic, but not server melting. If you do make it to the front page of Digg, your traffic levels will skyrocket, this is based on one factor, which is similar to the "Gomlich Effect" from South Park, on southpark the law states:


"The law of physics that states that if one teenage girl is screaming for something, other nearby teenage girls will begin screaming for it, and the mass of screaming girls will grow exponentially until every teenage girl within a four-mile radius is screaming."


In short, one person likes it, then another, and soon, a lot of people will be visiting your site based solely on the fact that other people said it was good.

The only problem with Digg traffic is it's Bounce Rate, the amount of visitors that will enter your site and then leave without visiting any other pages, they came in for 1 post, they left after they may or may not have read it all.

Tips and Tricks for Digg
a. Make sure your topic stands out, if I write a book report about the Cat in the Hat, and label it as "Book Report - Cat in the Hat," not many people will read it. Make it exciting, give people a reason.

b. Make sure people know what they are reading from the start, if someone knows what they clicked on, they are likely to stay and read, and possibly move around a bit.

c. Use "Power Words." Certain words entice someone to do things, words like, new, fresh, first, and top make the reader feel like they are part of something up and coming, and more likely to click the link. Words like how and why make the reader feel that what they are about to read is important, they might learn something to better themselves. Finally Digg readers like photos and videos, this isn't one you can control, if I said hot new video from 03 cent, people would be, first very confused as there likely isn't any new rap sensation named 03 Cent, but also angered that I mislead them, because this site is nothing of the sort.

2. Stumbleupon is a toolbar based web browsing program that, in essence, allows you to channel surf the net.

The way stumbleupon ranks sites is still quite a mistery, but it's also very similar to Digg, the more thumbs you get, the more visitors you get.

Tips and Tricks for Stumbleupon
a.Use stumbleupon regularly, when you get bored, click the Stumble! button, ANY website you see that you like, give it a thumbs up, little is known about the Stumbleupon algorithm, but one thing is true, you have a rating, depending what your rating is, more people will be sent to your clicks. Improve your rating by discovering new items, the better their SU rank is, the better yours becomes.

b. Review your pages, if you submit your own pages, make sure to write a review about it. This goes for any page, if you review it, it generates higher traffic.

c. Make fans, be a fan. If you have fans, then your discoverys and thumbs will mean more, if you become a fan of someone, they are likely to look to see who this new person is, in turn, possibly adding you as a friend, this also increases your score.

d. Join groups that are about your blog topic. People in your group are, usually, more likely to visit your pages when they click the stumble! button, if they like it, they give it a thumbs up, this in turn, sends it to their friends, which after a few days, can put you in the thousands of pageviews. Tada!

3. Del.icio.us is a very straight-forward social bookmarking site, same rules as Digg apply, only on a more basic level. You click the bookmark button, add it to your bookmarks, people search for tags, your site comes up, they like it, they bookmark it themselves.

Tips and Tricks for Del.icio.us

a. Use a lot of tags, the more tags, the more exposure, the more exposure, the more clicks.

b. Same thing as Digg, make sure your title is captivating, people will read what you have to say, as long as it grabs their attention.



Thanks for reading, and plenty more to come, make sure to bookmark this, digg it, thumb it, RSS it. Actually just spread the word.