With social bookmarking, you can access your bookmarks from any computer. People share interesting links with friends or groups of people who are interested in some of the same topics. Readers can vote for a link, which boosts its popularity and leads more traffic to the website. Articles with the most votes end up on the Home page where your site can earn a lot of attention. On the other hand, they can vote an article down and bury it if they find it dull, spammy or just a repeat of the same old story.
Some examples of social bookmarking sites include Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Reddit, or Mixx. Other bookmarking sites are available, and some for specific types of content, but the ones above are some of the more popular.
How to Get Started with Social Bookmarking Tools
Before signing up with any one bookmarking site, go to several of them. You don’t have to sign up to read the articles, only to participate with voting or to submit links. Click around, read some of the stories, look at the categories and tags, and check their “About Us” page to get a feel for each site. Each site has its own culture. One site may lean towards political content, while others maybe more generic. You may find a favorite or decide to sign up with multiple bookmarking sites.
Most of these sites interact with other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. You can share website links with friends, who share with their friends to get more votes for the links you submit.
Signing up for social bookmarking sites is easy. Typically, you just enter your e-mail and a password. Some sites allow you to sign up with existing accounts, such as Facebook or Google. If you just use your email address, you’ll get a confirmation email with a link to activate your account. Most of these are just websites, but StumbleUpon has a cool toolbar that you can install. The toolbar makes it easy to “stumble” around looking for your favorite content, and includes thumbs up and down buttons for voting on stories.
Once you’re confirmed, the first thing you should do is complete your profile. Make your profile as thorough and authentic as possible. Leave out some of the personal information, such as your birth date, if you are worried about providing that type of data. Upload your photo—a good head shot if possible—or your logo. Having a genuine profile that shows your personality is important, as it separates you from the spammers.
Your next step—participate! Don’t try to submit links to your site right away. Just read some of the content that interests you, vote, leave comments and make friends. Submit links to interesting articles or sites (not yours) for others to vote on. Friend those who add comments or articles you find interesting. This step will allow you to get comfortable with the process while learning what types of articles gain popularity.
Promote Your Free Website
After you’ve learned the ropes, made more friends, and built a presence, then you can begin promoting your website.
Submit a link to an article, story or video on your free website.
The most important caveat is that you must submit high-quality content. If your article is a rehash of a story that’s already been around it will be buried, pronto. If your link points to a page that is nothing more than an advertisement for your business, it will get no votes and may be classified as a spam. In fact, these sites have ways of finding and outing spammers and gamers (such as a friend who votes for your article multiple times), so don’t even try.
Your articles must be original and useful to your target audience. Great headlines are a must. Use subheads for improved readability. Include photos and graphics. Create articles that readers will want to share with others.
Certain types of articles tend to attract more readers and get more votes. Some favorites include top ten lists, how-to articles, newsflashes, and “best or worst of” stories. Social bookmarking can take time, but with regular participation, you’ll get traffic to your free website.
