Using StumbleUpon to Draw Traffic

Social media sites can be very good at drawing traffic to your website, as well as at increasing your link popularity and thereby your PageRank. Social bookmarking sites such as Digg or Del.ici.ous are proven to draw vast amounts of traffic within a very short amount of time.

StumbleUpon is a different type of social bookmarking site, but can produce just as effective results. StumbleUpon allows users to add a toolbar to their browser that includes a like/dislike vote feature. If a user likes a site, it will be submitted to StumbleUpon. What’s interesting is that unlike the other sites mentioned, StumbleUpon draws a lower amount of traffic over a longer time, but that consistency can be very beneficial to your search engine optimization. Here are some tips to improve your own StumbleUpon ranking.

• Get on StumbleUpon and rate sites that you like. Getting involved in the community in this way will make your website get more visibility to users with similar interests.
• Add new friends frequently. The more people who see your site and site’s that you give thumbs up, the more your own rating will improve, and thus your visibility.
• Create and submit new websites often. If you have a new site, new content or a new blog post, submit a link to StumbleUpon. The more sites you have in their database, the more likely that users will find you. Cross linking between these sites can have a great effect on your SEO as well.
• Choose titles and tags carefully. Try to appeal to those with relevant interests, so you can improve the quality, and not just the quantity, of your traffic.
• Use several tags rather than just one. This will spread out your appeal and attract more viewers.

StumbleUpon can be an excellent part of your search engine marketing strategy, and a great way to generate useful, specific traffic for your site.