How to Generate StumbleUpon Traffic to Your Site

Today I’m setting my eyes on StumbleUpon. I’ve been using it ever since I started this blog; but it hasn’t turned out any spectacular changes to my stats yet. One reason, perhaps, is my lack of activity in using it. But one thing I’m sure of is that it has the potential to benefit your site with lots of traffic if taken seriously. I’ve been receiving a trickle of visits from it (you can see it in my referral widget in the sidebar) by simply submitting my content and a few reviews and thumbs up of my favorite digests in my Google Reader. What more if I actively use it just like in Digg? For one thing I was able to get traffic via Digg whenever I submit my content and then employ the techniques I’ve been blabbing about sometime ago. It’s not great traffic like I said but it is steady traffic nonetheless.

A lot of articles have been published over the net about StumbleUpon traffic, and all of them agree on one thing; Digg traffic is nothing compared to StumbleUpon. I haven’t been a witness of that but the data they’ve gathered and the observations they were pointing out all make sense. StumbleUpon traffic lasts longer. StumbleUpon visitors browse more. StumbleUpon traffic has more potential to be converted into subscribers and more backlinks. Of course, how this traffic will react depends on how you present your content and appearance to them. The less crappy your content the more it will be appreciated, a given fact for every social media sites out there.

I think StumbleUpon presents a better platform for bloggers to market their content effectively without being too brutal about it like in Digg. I mean, if you want some good results from Digg, you have to spoon feed all your friends with requests to digg your submission before you can get it. In StumbleUpon, I think it doesn’t work too much like that. Also, SEO articles considered spam in Digg are well received and praised in StumbleUpon. To better understand what I’m talking about, we need to make a certain perspective on how StumbleUpon’s system works. After reading several resources about StumbleUpon, I came up with these:

1) StumbleUpon is not so much of a timely news site like Digg and Reddit. So even if your content is old as long as people can still appreciate it, it’s still going to be stumbled.
2) As long as people are still thumbing up your submission, even after it became popular, it still has the potential to make a comeback or generate further traffic at least.
3) StumbleUpon community is diverse, so more or less you’ll get people who’ll vote for your content besides your friends.
4) Votes and reviews count as recommendations for your submission. The more you receive the better exposure your submission will receive within the community.
5) Unique, useful, and appealing content gets more votes than ordinary ones.
6) Stumblers usually stumble through their toolbar which is affected in part by their network’s stumbles.
7) Top stumblers have more weight in their votes compared to the rest.

From here you’ll have a better view on how to strategize your way on making StumbleUpon traffic. I’m not sure if you’re seeing it the same way I do but for me everything boils down to your network and content, very much like Digg. The only difference is that there’re more opportunities for you to get exposure rather than in a one way system of voting.

How to get better exposure hence traffic from StumbleUpon?

There are four areas that you must focus on in order for your content to get better reception from Stumblers; the first impression, your content, your network, and your activity.

1) First Impression – Stumblers tend to look more than they read. So always make sure that you have a nice web design that doesn’t look too amateurish. Secondly, it shouldn’t be filled with all sorts of ads which is an eyesore for most web-savvy users. Always organize your layout so that your ads, widgets, and other web design features don’t intrude with the reading experience. Additionally, your site should load fast enough. Nobody wants to wait to see what you have to offer when they could get far better content by just skipping your eternally loading page. Another thing to give better emphasis is your headlines or post titles. I guess when it comes to social media sites; a catchy title is always catchy. Cleverly put titles that are good link baits work well in capturing attention.

2) Your Content – Well crafted content which shows how much effort has been placed in producing it are very much appreciated in SU. Write clearly and avoid too much rambling. Create articles with unique insights where people can learn something. Resource list and how to articles always get positive reactions. I have an article which deals about creating a great blog post to help you write one. Alternatively, contests and free stuffs, videos, humor, and bizarre things are also well received in SU.

3) Your Network – Basically, even how great your content is, it will have little exposure unless you have an effective network to back it up. Add friends to your profile. Of course, don’t just befriend people randomly. You can only have a maximum of 200 friends in SU so be careful about it. Get those people who share the same interest as yours. It will ensure that you get better response from them. You can start by befriending your fellow bloggers who are already in SU. Also, try looking at the reviews in SU of articles that you liked. You can access it through your toolbar (if you have one). Try befriending those who made their reviews or those who just voted. Whenever you submit your post to SU, you can send it to your SU friends to give it more votes and reviews (the send function is found in your toolbar as well). Of course, you don’t have to do this all the time because the more you do it the more it’ll be considered as spamming.

4) Your Activity – This will affect your authority as a stumbler and the exposure of your stumbles as well. When you’re active at stumbling and making reviews, more stumblers will recognize you and, perhaps, decide to follow you inside SU. Another benefit of being an active stumbler, although still improbable, is that it affects the weight of your stumbles. It’s like climbing the ladder to being a top stumbler, but of course that’s a very long way ahead. Ultimately, being active in SU will give you a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t inside the system which can be considered an edge when submitting your stuff. It’s like learning the right balance of these and those to get this and that.

These are the things that got me into rethinking my usage and traffic strategy in StumbleUpon. You can either believe me or not, but I believe it will not hurt you to give StumbleUpon a try. It’s a great tool to increase your traffic and could also help in your blog’s seo. The only factor that you need to add is your part as an active stumbler. By the way, if you’re looking for an SU friend who’d stumble your submission, you can start by befriending me. Here’s my SU profile: http://nepspeed82.stumbleupon.com/

Finally, here are some articles which you could read to help you incorporate StumbleUpon to your blogging:

The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Massive Traffic from StumbleUpon
A Comprehensive Guide to StumbleUpon: How to Build Massive Traffic to Your Website
How to Use StumbleUpon for Your Business: The Definitive Guide
A Definitive StumbleUpon Guide: Driving Traffic To Websites
StumbleUpon Optimization: Leveraging Photo Stumbles for More Web Traffic
UnOfficial StumbleUpon guide on how to get traffic


technorati tags: stumbleupon, boost traffic, social media

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