How to Use StumbleUpon to Drive Web Traffic
Capitalizing on an Innovative Social Bookmarking Phenomenon
Dec 1, 2008
What sets StumbleUpon apart is its toolbar, which includes a unique “Stumble!” button. Users that download the StumbleUpon toolbar and press the button are sent to a somewhat randomly selected web page that is chosen based upon the user’s self-described interests and other users’ ratings of the page.
Unlike other social bookmarking sites, which collect popular links in a centralized location, StumbleUpon serves them up directly to the web browser, one stumble at a time. Sites that are “stumbled” often see a spike in visitors for a short period of time.
Using the StumbleUpon Toolbar
Installing the Stumble toolbar is necessary in order to use the service. Using the buttons is the only way to successfully drive traffic to one’s own site.
- The Stumble! button selects a random page based upon the user’s interests. The more this button is used, the more heavily that user’s opinions are weighted when selecting sites for other users.
- Thumbs-up and thumbs-down rate sites. The former is also used to stumble a new site; the latter will reduce the likelihood of other users seeing the same page.
- Tag adds keywords to a site. The larger number of keywords a site is given, the more likely it will be viewed by other Stumblers. Irrelevant keywords can earn a page the dreaded thumbs-down.
- Send to shares the site with others, but frequently those who are not registered users may be confused by the email and not find the link to view the page. A large number of stumbles in a short time period will generate more hits, so the send to button is a valuable tool.
- Other buttons allow users to read and provide page reviews, focus stumbling on specific interests or friends’ interests, and view various toolbar settings.
Select Stumble-Ready Pages
Stumblers are an impatient lot, and will stumble away if a page isn’t very interesting. As blogger Franklin Bishop says, avoid stumbling pages that are section packed with ads, as Stumblers don’t like to page down. Likewise, avoid home pages, as they appear to be “paid stumbles,” as detailed below.
Landing pages for StumbleUpon should be immediately engaging. Humorous graphics, videos, and eye-catching text will encourage users to linger and rate the page favorably. A small number of those that visit may explore the site further, but as Bishop says, “SU sends so much traffic that if even a small percentage of these visitors are converted, you’ll add quite a few subscribers or repeat visitors.”
Paid Stumbles
StumbleUpon monetized this system in 2008, charging five cents for each time that a page was served up to a Stumbler, to the rave reviews of many. However, in time StumbleUpon will likely find a new way to generate revenue, because over the long haul its users will prove too intelligent for such a system.
- Advantages: unlike most web advertising, paid Stumbles deliver the page itself to the user instead of a link that must be clicked on. If the content is engaging, the visit may convert into a sale. A thumbs-up means that the site will be served up to additional users for free.
- Disadvantages: Paid stumbles are marked with a small green man icon on the right side of the toolbar. Even without that feature, however, most paid stumbles tend to have a commercial “feel” to them. Many Stumblers resist the concept by clicking thumbs-down, or tagging the site “paid stumble” to warn other users off.
Utilizing the free features of StumbleUpon will generate more traffic to a page in the long run than paying for the service. However, keeping the users on the site may take some killer web copy.
