Much has been said about the tag and ping method, but to best optimize such a tactic, one has to familiarize himself with the basics of social bookmarking as well.

Look at the tool icons on top of your current browser window. See the icon labeled with a star as “Favorites?” If you’d click on the same, you’d have the opportunity to be able to add this web page to your list of favorites, and view the same later on. This is called bookmarking, and it is quite an important tool for the overall web experience.

But this kind of bookmarking is limited to the capacity of your own computer. The web pages you will select will be stored in your hard drive. Social bookmarking is quite different from this.

What Is Social Bookmarking?

Social bookmarking allows you to create an account with a variety of existing services. This account will give you the option to bookmark your favorite websites under certain categories. But instead of saving these bookmarks in your hard drive, you’d be able to store them in the web server itself.

The categories under which you can store your bookmarks are quite similar to tags. This means that you have total control over where to place certain websites. You can categorize them under any tags you wish, as tags are often broad and general.

The flexibility that such a medium allows is immense. Since humans control the categorizing instead of a search engine algorithm, social bookmarks can be arranged in a way that is more appealing for internet users, and more practical for them as well. The name of the game here is truly relevant content, not seemingly relevant content through efficient search engine optimization.

But How Can Social Bookmarking Help Internet Marketers?

The marketing potentials of social bookmarking are slowly being exploited by savvy online businessmen, and to great effects at that. Take a look at the many ways by which you can increase your profits through this method: – A lot of the social bookmarking websites are picked up by the search engines, and they figure very well in the search engine page results. Hence, if you include your websites under certain hot tags, you have great chances of picking up highly amazing back links that will contribute to your own page rank. Also, the direct traffic you can generate from such a channel will prove to be worthwhile. – More and more people are starting to realize that tags provide more relevant and quality information that the results produced by search engines. Soon enough, tagging will be able to surpass search engines as the information finding tool of choice by most internet users. Now is the best time to hop aboard the tag bandwagon. And social bookmarking is one of the best ways to capitalize on the same. – Social bookmarking websites boast of the same interconnectivity present in blogs. People with their own social bookmarking accounts link to one another. This is a great way to generate direct traffic, and further increase your back links.

How Do You Start With Social Bookmarking?

There are many social bookmarking websites in cyberspace today. And given the ever increading popularity of the medium, more and more similar websites are being developed each and everyday.

To avail of this novel marketing technique, you just have to create an account with any of them. Thereafter, simply place your websites under relevant hot tags. The system will take care of the rest.

Here are some of the more popular social bookmarking websites you can join:

30daytags.com

blinkbits.com

citeulike.org

de.lirio.us

del.icio.us



By: Bob Bastian

About the Author:

What exactly is meant by Social Bookmarking? The basic concept of social bookmarking is that when thousands of people bookmark their favorite pages and apply descriptive tags to each page that they bookmark, certain websites will understandably emerge as being more popular. This will indicate to the visitors what websites are currently widely favored by users.

Social bookmarking was originated by Del.icio.us back in 2003. Just by visiting the front page of Del.icio.us, you can know the social bookmarking. On the right hand side of the page there is a column labeled ‘Popular’. These are websites that currently are receiving a lot of attention from users under specific keywords and phrases. These websites are listed under common ‘tags’ that users have given.

But experts say that social bookmarking sites may be good to attract traffic but in the long run most of these social visitors seldom come back again. This is only a temporary phenomenon that usually last only for a couple of days. They claim that social bookmarking sites make a very little impact to your traffic as many of these visitors seldom stay and become a regular member of your site and  it is therefore preferable to build a loyal readership than getting several thousand impermanent visitors on one day with no appreciable long-term benefit. They even go to the extent of saying  blogs and orums are healthier traffic sources. and more likely to develop relationship with you and participate in discussions. They spread the word about you and have their friends and relatives visit your blog and join your loyal legion of readers.

Of course there is no denying that sites like dig.com, reddit.com, stumbleupon.com, del.icio.us will positively bring you huge traffic and getting to the front pages of these types of sites is also not very difficult.Now let us study the various possibilities of obtaining traffic through social bookmarking sites. Many deserving articles do not attract traffic on social bookmarking sites because their headlines are not catchy enough. Your headline is what is expected to impress your most and if you fail to provide a catchy headline, your chances of getting to the front page are to that extent bleak.

After providing the right headline to draw attention, a meaningful description is critical if you want to retain that attention. The description must be thought-provoking because this draws more attention. But make sure never to use lies and false facts to sensationalize matters. The opening paragraph has to be unique to entice visitors to remain and read more. Never let a bad first paragraph prompt them to leave your site. This is a fundamental rule for successful social bookmarking.

Then there is the famous adage ‘Content is King’ If the content is irrelevant or badly written, then bookmarking them is of no avail. What is more, you run the risk of getting your site banned from social bookmarking sites, if you persistently post junk.

It is advisable that other people bookmark your site and not yourself. Therefore, you must provide excellent content to spur your visitors to do it. You can put a bookmarking button at the end of the article, so if users like your content, they can easily post it. If you are using a CMS, then make sure there is an extension that allows the visitor to add Digg, Del.icio.us, and other buttons. But if you are using static HTML, you can always go to the social bookmarking site and copy the code that will add their button to your pages.

The timing of you submission can be extremely criticial when you make attempts to get to the front page. On most social bookmarking sites you have only 24 hours to get to the front page and stay there. So, if you post during lean hours when most users are still sleeping, you are making wasteful attempts. By the time they get up and become active, you might have gone to the tenth page. Many people say that they get more traffic around 3 in the afternoon US Central Time. Workdays are generally better in terms of traffic but the downside is that you have more competitors for the front page on workdays than during weekends. Please also bear in mind that sometimes a site might not work for you either because there is no right category for your content or because you did not submit to the right category. 

Please also note that social bookmarking sites do not treat all users with equal respect. If you are a regular user who has prolifically posted reader-worthy content, the probability of what you submit getting noticed is very much higher.

Posting links to interesting articles on other sites is vital for building a top-profile. Many social bookmarking sites resent when users submit their own content because this appears like self-promotion.

It is interesting to know that many stories make it to the front page not only because they are of high quality but because they are backed up by a network of friends. If in the first hours after you submit you get at least 15 votes from your friends and supporters, it is more likely that other users will also begin to vote for you. Remember 50 votes can get you to the top page of Digg.

Yet another important factor is language. The majority of users are from English-speaking countries and they mostly do not understand other languages. So, for most of the social bookmarking sites submitting anything in a language different from English may not fetch favorable results. Again, submitting old and stale news will not help you earn any benefits. Yesterday’s news has already become history. But if you still wish to submit old news, write reviews and comments that may look up-to-date. 

Although you may feel flattered that lots of users read your postings, you will feel uncomfortable and embarrassed when users prove that you have got the facts wrong. In addition to sarcastic comments, you might also receive negative votes for your story. The only way to avoid this is to doubly check your facts - or your readers will do it to humiliate you.

As we stated earlier, Traffic gurus opine that traffic from social bookmarking sites is more like an invasion – the visitors swarm for a day or two and then they are gone. This is true as after your list rolls from the front page, the drop in traffic is considerable. Besides, many users come just following the link to your article, remain for while and then they are gone. One of the ways to keep them longer on your site is to have links to related articles or something similar that can arrest their attention to other material on the site and lure them into reading more than one article.



By: don omar

About the Author:

Copyright (c) 2008 Sean S Sampson

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 right 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. 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/

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.



By: Sean S Sampson

About the Author:

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.

By: Sean S Sampson

About the Author:

Social bookmarking has been around for a couple of years, but for me, it’s a whole new concept as I learn more and more about internet marketing and how best to get traffic to my site and blog. It is a process that is becoming more and more popular as a means of generating traffic and page rank, so it’s something I want to get started with right away! Most of us who own a PC know that when we come across a website that we like, we can add that site to our list of favorites or bookmark it for our own future use. Social bookmarking takes that organizational process a step further by making public the list of sites you frequent. This article will discuss what social bookmarking really is, its advantages, and how it can help your website.

What is social bookmarking? As mentioned above, social bookmarking is a system of organizing websites that you want to re-visit, but rather than bookmarking them in a folder on your computer, you bookmark them on a special social bookmarking website. If you do a Google search for “social bookmarking websites” you will find a list of the top social bookmarking sites that you can join to add your favorite sites to. The way you go about this is to use keywords that represent your favorite site’s content, or in other words, you “tag” it. You can then make your entries public or private. The ones that you make public can be seen by anyone who visits the social bookmarking sites and looks up the keywords you used to describe your bookmarked sites. The public display will also show who created the bookmark, when, and how popular those keywords are.

There are many advantages of using social bookmarking as opposed to simply bookmarking. By making your list of popular sites public, you have the ability to share information with others who are looking for the same type of information. They will be able to find a list of sites that display exactly what they want just by logging into a social bookmarking site and typing in some relevant keywords. This is a tremendous way of helping others find useful information, or sharing resources with a group of people. For example, a group of network marketers may want information on prospecting, so they would log in, type in “prospecting” and receive a list of bookmarked sites on “prospecting”, and other related topics, just like that! Not only will you find links to sites that you are interested in, but you can find out who has bookmarked your own site and how popular it is. Also, if you want to contact others who are interested in the same topics and sites as you, or know more about it than you, you can easily make a new connection with someone! How handy is that?

Aside from the benefits of resource sharing, social bookmarking can help generate traffic to your site and blog. You can set up your blog to link to your favorite tagged sites, and allow your blog visitors to easily bookmark your site. This will result in more traffic, possibly a better Google Page Rank, and potentially more sales! Some of the social bookmarking sites that you join allow you to add your bookmarks to your blog. In this way, your blog can be updated with tags and links on a daily basis! If you know how important it is to update your blog frequently to get the search engine spiders and traffic over to your site, then you will appreciate this feature! Not only that, but you can use your social bookmarking sites to post links to your website, thereby increasing your traffic and PR with a backlink from authority sites!

I have yet to discover the disadvantages of social bookmarking, but its advantages, as listed above, are enough to get me excited about this relatively new way of marketing my website and blog! I hope you are excited too, and will take action to improve your websites and blogs! You never know, you may even connect with an expert in your specialty area that can help you achieve your goals and dreams!



By: Liane Bate

About the Author: