Make People StumbleUpon Your Content
How to Use StumbleUpon for Content Marketing
StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking site that allows users to discover websites catering to their personal interests. This program has attracted more than 20 million users since its launch in 2001, longer than social networks have been around. Users flock to this site to discover websites they haven’t seen before. Businesses found this site to be particularly useful in attracting new users with existing content. Even if the pieces have long been published, users will continue to find them useful as long as they remain relevant and timely.
With the ‘Explore Box’ feature, users can search for specific topics instead of using their general interests to discover content they haven’t seen before. For example, instead of sorting through a dizzying variety of results in art, you can search for a particular contemporary artist instead. More specific results appear that way, which helps users find the results they need quickly.
How can you use StumbleUpon for your business? Jeff Bullas, a well-known online marketing professional, advises entrepreneurs to be active users to fully utilize StumbleUpon features. After creating a profile, you’ll need to sign up for the Paid Discovery program, which will make your site more visible. Each click will cost around $0.10 or so.
There are also upgrade options that will make your site appear more often. A site or brand channel (not unlike social networking pages) will allow users to follow and find out what you like. This will encourage more user engagement with the content you publish.
A StumbleUpon badge will also be useful for online marketing purposes. You will be given an html code, which will let you insert the StumbleUpon badge to your website pages. This will persuade users to add your site to their profiles, increase your chances of being ‘discovered’, and spread your content to more users.
Susan Gunelius of Sproutsocial.com also recommends that you fill in your details and put a winning picture on your profile. A complete profile and nice picture will make users want to connect with you. Be sure to create only a single account because StumbleUpon frowns upon the use of multiple accounts and spam. This may make the site shut your account down, if you’re not careful to follow the rules.
When posting onStumbleUpon, it’s best not to publish all your content. Issue more content from other sources so you won’t appear like a spammer who’s only promoting a business. Post the articles you’re most confident in and edit the ones which need improving. This will help you stand out from other publishers posting the same content. Be creative when writing titles and descriptions to attract more users to read your high-quality content. Include relevant keywords to enable easier searching and incorporate evocative images in your posts. This will make your articles more appealing to read.
Use StumbleUpon in conjunction with your social networking campaigns. Use the URL shortener, su.pr, to make it easier to share posts across social media sites. Access how much traffic comes to your website and other content pages using this performance analytics tool.
Engaging with other users is also important. Check out the profiles of your target audience and find out what they’re posting. What content do they like? See something you want to share on your StumbleUpon page? Do so! It tickles users to see someone else share the things they like, especially if it’s an established business. Add personal messages when directly sharing content with members to foster intimate relationships and make engagement easier.
Join the competition and start StumblingUpon today!
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