StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking site that allows you to bookmark all your favorite websites. This includes your own links as well, to help you generate free traffic to your website. However, as with any other social site, there are pros and cons of using the site.
The Pros
Free Traffic. Stumbleupon, when used correctly, can generate you high amounts of traffic almost immediately. This traffic does taper off in a few days, but nevertheless, it is ongoing traffic.
Build a Network of Friends. StumbleUpon also allows you to build a network of friends that will help you out by stumbling your content, and in return you do the same for them. This not only helps to increase your views but theirs as well. One of the best ways to ensure that your friends will stumble your content is by sharing your sites with them. This way when they begin their stumbling sessions, your pages will be the first ones they come across.
Rate and Leave Comments. StumbleUpon also makes it extremely easy for you to rate and leave comments. You can comment on the StumbleUpon site, or you can leave your comments on the stumbled page itself if there is a comment box. This not only helps you to establish your online credibility, but when you leave a comment, others are more likely do the same for you.
Build Back Links. StumbleUpon allows you to customize your settings so that you can stumble across a specific set of websites. This helps you to find new websites where you can leave comments and build back links to your website. Therefore it actually helps you to kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak.
The Cons
Time Consuming. Believe it or not, StumbleUpon can be time consuming. No I am not talking about when you upload a link, but with StumbleUpon you basically get back what you give. So if you want to be able to get lots of views to your content, then you need to take time out of your day to stumble other people’s pages as well. The more you end up stumbling other people’s pages, the more stumbles you will get to your pages.
Not Targeted Traffic. I find that even though I get a lot of traffic coming from StumbleUpon, the traffic is not targeted and does not convert well. But nevertheless, any traffic that you can get is better than no traffic, as it will help to give you a boost in the search engines.
So really, Stumbleupon is a great website to help you to get the word out about your website, as the traffic you can generate is well worth your time.
