StumbleUpon was founded by Geoff Smith in 2002, Garrett Camp and Justin LaFrance and is now owned by eBay.
What is StumbleUpon: it is a social network that helps you discover unique and interesting things across the Web. StumbleUpon is basically a discovery engine of entertainment that recommends
- photography
- art
- humor
- fashion
- sports
- technology etc.
StumbleUpon is a discovery and advertisement engine (a form of web search engine) that pushes recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing, social-networking and advertising (sponsored pages) principles. Some key features of StumbleUpon are
- StumbleUpon use “random” content suggestions.
- StumbleUpon has also been called a “Discovery Engine”, similar in concept to a Search Engine.
- Users select categories of content they want to see and StumbleUpon will then show them a random piece of content on the web that is in that category.
- Users can leave a comment or give a thumbs up or thumbs down on content they view.
How StumbleUpon Works
The key to StumbleUpon is that its users can share interesting Web content. When they find something they like online, they have a Web-based outlet through which they can let others know about the site. Other users can then view that content, through topic-orientated browsing or purposeful searching, and reciprocate the favor by sharing their own interesting finds.
StumbleUpon offers a personalized Web experience. At one time or another, every Internet user experiences difficulties getting the intended match from a query entered in a search engine. Narrowing search results can be a challenge, especially when you’re not sure what you’re looking for. Let’s say you’d like to check out some cool photos taken around the world. Type “cool photos” into a regular search engine and you might get some worthwhile links mixed in with some questionable, unrelated or uninteresting content. Try the same phrase with SU, and not only will you receive hits related to quality photography sites, the photos will crosscheck with your other interests. And you don’t need to keep returning to a search page; you can simply move through the results. A tool like SU helps filter Web content into a manageable, customized experience. And the more you indicate what you like, the better StumbleUpon gets at offering content you’ll appreciate.
Source from computer.howstuffworks.com
Some steps to increase our traffic using StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is one of the best traffic generators among the top seven social media sites, referring more than other social bookmarking and voting sites such as Digg and Reddit according to Statcounter.
Because when a user likes, or stumbles, a particular page, it is put into the StumbleUpon lineup. As other StumbleUpon users are randomly searching for new content on a specific
topic using the Stumble button on their toolbar, any pages in the lineup for that topic will be displayed to them.
So how can you capitalize on this great network and start getting traffic?
Essentially, if your content does well on other social networks, it stands a good shot at doing well on StumbleUpon also. Now let’s learn how you can get more StumbleUpon traffic for your website.
- Get Organic Stumbles
- Most website owners and bloggers discover the power of StumbleUpon through their analytics,
- If you want to increase your chances of your content getting stumbled, the best way to do so is to add a StumbleUpon badge to your website content.
- You can grab the coding for it on the StumbleUpon badges page. This page even includes integration tips for Blogger, Feedburner, Movable Type, TypePad, and WordPress integration.
- Share Content with Su.pr on Other Networks
- StumbleUpon has its own URL shortening system, Su.pr.
- Once you have signed up for StumbleUpon and logged into your account, you can enter your message or just a URL to shorten with the Su.pr system.
- You can then copy this message and send it as a status update, or let Su.pr connect to your Twitter and Facebook and post it directly to those accounts immediately or schedule it for later.
- When someone clicks on the link, they will get to your website with the StumbleUpon toolbar conveniently above the post, making it simple for logged in users to thumb up your content.
- Build a Following Base and Share Content
- Want to take matters into your own hands when it comes to traffic from StumbleUpon? Once you have followers on StumbleUpon, you can share your content directly with them.
- Getting followers on StumbleUpon is much like getting followers on Twitter except that there is no automatic follow back users to rely on. You have to find users to follow, follow them, and essentially hope that they follow you back. Most will receive an email notification (if they have the option turned on) letting them know that someone has followed them.
- Finding followers interested in the same topics as you is simple. You can start by going to http://www.stumbleupon.com/discover/keyword/ and replace the keyword with topics you are interested in. It will then show you users who are interested in the same things. This is generally a good place to start.
- Increase Your Chance of Being Followed
- The best way to ensure higher chances of being followed (or followed back) by another user is to create a great StumbleUpon profile. So once you have signed up, be sure to:
- Fill out your basic bio information under the Settings > Customize Profile to let people know who you are and what you are interested in.
- Select the topics you are interested in under the Settings > Manage Interests.
- Upload a profile photo of yourself under Settings > Profile Picture. Be sure to use the same photo on StumbleUpon that you do on Gravatar (blog comments), Twitter, Facebook, etc. that way people who are connected with you elsewhere will recognize you here.
- Sharing Content
- Once you start following people and they follow you in return, you can exchange shares using the StumbleUpon toolbar. I find that the one for Firefox is the most reliable.
- Use StumbleUpon Paid Discovery
- If you’re not getting the results you wanted, don’t want to wait for natural discoveries, and want to bypass community building, then StumbleUpon’s Paid Discovery is for you. Unlike Facebook Ads, you’re not relying on a small space and image on a page in hopes that your link will get clicked upon. When you put yourself into the StumbleUpon discovery system, people interested in your topic will get directed straight to your site.
Source from blog.kissmetrics.com
