Get Started Using Social Bookmarking to Drive Web Traffic
Everyone is talking Web 2.0, and with over 68 million Google search results, it’s clearly a term that’s here to stay. But, interestingly enough, not everyone understands what it means. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for the multitude of online changes occurring at the same time. These include the transition to more user-friendly website formats, adding complex media to sites, and – very importantly – the absolute explosion of blogging and interactive formats.
One web 2.0 buzzword that is getting a lot of attention right now is social bookmarking. Marketers want to know how they can use social bookmarking to increase their site’s traffic.
The first step to answering that question is to become a social bookmarker yourself. Become familiar with the popular social bookmarking sites by joining them and creating a profile. Contribute to the site as other users do. Share favorite sites and include great content from your own site. Understand the tone and input of the site’s users and be sure you have something worthy to contribute. Social bookmarking users interact in a very personal way. They share product ratings, interesting sites, ideas, opinions, and articles. A special community is formed. If one or two users find and love your site, you often get the attention of their friends, too.
But, be forewarned, getting people’s attention through social bookmarking is only the first part of the getting the results you want. It’s critical that your site is attractive, innovative, interesting, and offers unique benefits to the users. It must convert the initial attention into a real interest. Sites that are rich in regularly updated, fresh content are more likely to keep the attention of its traffic.
There are a number of top social bookmarking sites from which you can get started. But don’t forget, traffic won’t necessarily arrive to your site simply because you joined a bookmarking site. Again, you must have an interesting, content-rich, benefit-oriented site that is meaningful to people. Then your initial followers will return. Become part of the community themselves and really understand the role users play in evolving the site.
To make the most of social bookmarking, understand it. Become part of it. Use it. Join the community and start contributing.
