Getting On Social Bookmarking Sites Front Pages
Given how simple it can be to get information in front of influential customers, it only makes sense to take the steps to get on the front page.
The front page of social bookmarking sites offers an opportunity for increased page views, visitors, and increased exposure across multiple channels. Getting on the front page makes it easy for millions of visitors to get the ‘first impression’ with very little effort. Still, it’s not an easy process. Sites such as StumbleUpon.com, for example, can generate as much as 20,000 page views after just one showcase on the front page. But how is this possible?
The first step in reaching the top ranks is to develop a creative headline. All articles on social bookmarking sites that have some leverage contain a unique and compelling opening; they encourage readers to click on the link, and essentially draw people in. It may be helpful to brush up on article-writing and effective web copy to understand the guidelines for writing compelling headlines.
The next step is to write an appropriate description. Descriptions are essential for ensuring your captive audience stays with the article through completion. The first 10-15 words can make or break the article, and this is the time to keep the information short and concise but informative enough to keep the reader engaged. Some social bookmarking sites don’t allow more than 150 characters, so you may need to edit the text down according to site standards.
After reviewing the headlines and description, you will need to make sure the first paragraph is just as compelling. You’ve grabbed the user’s attention, and now it’s time to continue on with a unique presentation. Posting irrelevant information may result in banning from the site, so it’s important to stay within spamming guidelines.
If you are posting information from a blog, it may be simpler to just add a bookmarking button on the site (see the “Share This” button here at the end of the article for example). Bookmarking buttons can be pasted within a website or blog with some simple HTML code. You will simply copy the code and implement it on the site so that others can link to it easily. Or instead of adding bookmarking buttons one at a time from each social bookmarking site, you can run simple scripts that will add multiple buttons all at one time like the free script from http://addtobookmarks.com/ or http://sharethis.com
Once you’ve submitted your piece, it’s important to network and ’socialize’ with other people in the community. This can help you create an active profile with various communities, but also provide added exposure for relevant posts or links. Cooperation and collaboration on social bookmarking sites are essential for creating a valuable network, and you can gain an even more influential presence as you find the right networks and communities to join. Responding to comments, posting information on other people’s articles or blogs, and just staying connected to various channels will help you build a positive online reputation.
Thought Process Of A Social Bookmarker
Social bookmarking offers many opportunities for marketers to collect information and learn about the behavior patterns of their customers, as well as firsthand reviews for particular brands and products. Social bookmarking sites are chock full of different perspectives and information, and all of this is stored in an easily searchable database.
Since like-minded individuals are creating tags on every item they post, it becomes easy to find relevant products and related subjects within each area of interest.
Social bookmarkers are primarily interested in learning more about products and ideas that interest them, and will network accordingly. They are more exposed to new information, whether this is pulled from blogs, media sites, or simply a product page from a business. The more involved marketers are with these social networks, the higher the chances of increased brand exposure. As more social bookmarkers participate in their communities, the buzz about a particular product or idea can easily be broadcast across multiple markets with very little effort.
The thinking process of a social bookmarker is relatively simple. First, they find an idea or product of interest. They then upload this information to the social bookmarking platform, whether this is a news site such as Digg.com, or a social shopping sites such as ThisNext.com. Next, they describe the product or idea, usually posting a brief summary that includes keywords and other relevant information. This is noted on the social bookmarking site’s search engine, as well as the tags that are added to the item after this. Once complete, a picture or other media clip may be added, followed by the social bookmarker’s signature (if it does not automatically get posted as part of the profile). Once submitted, the new item is organized and implemented into the appropriate category on the site.
Any new information posted to the site can now be viewed by the entire audience; subscribers to various channels will see new topics posted immediately, in a very similar format to an RSS feed on a blog. In either case, this fresh information will be on the ‘roster’ of all the people in that community. If others find it important as well, this increases the chances of sharing as they are more likely to ‘note’ it and include it on their lists.
But what does all this mean for the marketer?
Essentially, this means that the marketer or business can create unique content and products to send to various social bookmarking sites. Once they create a valuable presence, it becomes much easier to influence the decision makers in each and every community. This is the essence of social bookmarking and networking at its best; community building can create a network of influence that can now also be enjoyed by marketers and entrepreneurs on the web.
The Impact Of Web 2.0 And Social Bookmarking
Building a network of like-minded users and visitors is the basis of Web 2.0 applications on the web today, and social bookmarking is just one element of this growth. Web 2.0 sites are based on a few key principles that encourage interaction and sharing information with ease.
By using tagging and breaking down information into keyword structures, everything is organized in a way that makes it easy to search and find specific information. From blogs to shopping sites, Web 2.0 has allowed new, media-rich applications to serve as platforms for all users. Sites such as Digg.com, StumbleUpon, LinkedIN, ThisNext, and dozens of others are building communities and creating networks.
BUT WHY IS THIS RELEVANT TO A MARKETER?
Web 2.0 applications are essentially doing what market research departments have been working on for decades; filtering information on consumers, and segmenting the market. Market segmentation is an essential part of consolidating demographic information, and has often been compiled through surveys, focus groups, and other market research initiatives.
Web 2.0 applications allow many marketers to simply skip these steps; if your consumer market is voluntarily sharing information about their tastes, preferences, and other ideas through social bookmarking channels, it becomes much easier to learn and develop new tactics to keep them engaged.
Many industries can gain significant insights and information from experimenting with social bookmarking and networking tools. This concept of creating a knowledge economy is growing rapidly in areas such as:
- Retail banking
- Pharmaceuticals
- Education
- Research and Development
- Communications
- Retail and Shopping
Social bookmarking allows marketers to:
- Segment and augment their market
- Help with branding
- Develop relevant RSS feeds
- Open up a platform for visitor comments
- Monitor and track how specific products perform in the marketplace
- Increase revenues
- Reduce expenses
Social bookmarking is influential, and many sites develop a format where similar products, articles, or items are conveniently located next to the current one for easier navigation. This creates a more enriching experience for the visitor, but also helps track basic preferences for a variety of users.
This recommendation concept has been very successful on shopping sites such as Amazon.com, and is gaining speed in multimedia, articles, blogs, and other information hubs as well.
What Is Social Bookmarking
Image via Wikipedia
Social bookmarking is based on the concept of sharing information on the web, and has evolved rapidly with the growth of the Internet communities and interactive sites. As more people turn to websites to learn, research, and even read the latest news, the ability to track and monitor this behavior is becoming even easier.
Collective intelligence is leading the wave of sharing information based on specific keywords and subjects, and can help marketers and business owners in many ways. Today’s social networking sites are incorporating many social bookmarking elements into the platform. This allows users to learn even more about each other, and is engaging people online by building communities, opening up new networking channels, and giving marketers and business owners a chance to track behavior.
The Wikipedia definition for social bookmarking states: “an activity performed over a computer network that allows users to save and categorize (see folksonomy) a personal collection of bookmarks and share them with others. Users may also take bookmarks saved by others and add them to their own collection, as well as to subscribe to the lists of others. - a personal knowledge management tool.”
Each social bookmarking site is designed differently, but ultimately allows users to create a profile, update their preferences, and share this information with friends and family. Since they are creating this growing network of information, a pattern of tastes and preferences is established-and made publicly available.
This profile is the key element of interest to marketers; it’s created with basic registration and in most cases, an e-mail address and login name allow complete access to the social bookmaking platform. The visitor can begin publishing their activity to share with fellow social bookmarkers, and this creates a network of categories.
Discovering and sharing information with keywords in specific topic is what allows social bookmarking networks to grow; as more information is provided, the categories of interest also develop to provide key information.
Digg.com is a perfect example of social bookmarking that is growing rapidly. Users can rate and comment on articles, video content, and podcasts on thousands of topics; the more popular items are posted on the Digg.com front page, while others are rated and logged for the community to review.
While Digg.com is primarily a news site, it is just one example of a valuable social bookmarking network that has developed into a proliferating online community. Any articles or information that is posted on Digg.com has the potential of being viewed by millions of visitors. Getting to the Digg.com front page ensures thousands of page views, all at a very low initial cost. Of course, the information that reaches this level must be valuable to Digg.com readers; since the votes are all user-generated, it allows anyone submitting information to learn about their audience from the ground up.
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