How to Optimize for Social Bookmarking Sites
7 Tips How to Get More Traffic from Social Bookmarking Sites
May 26, 2009
There is hardly a web master, who doesn't optimize his or her content for Google. However, many web masters optimize their content not for Google (or not only for Google) but for Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon and the other social bookmarking and social networking sites. It is hardly surprising that web masters are optimizing for social bookmarking sites because these social bookmarking sites can drive more traffic than Google and the other search engines.
Optimization for social bookmaking sites is still not a science as SEO but it is slowly becoming more and more popular. Certainly there are some common rules a web master should consider. Here are some of these rules and the majority of them are valid for many (or any) social networking site:
1. Keywords in Headlines Matter Less on Social Bookmarking Sites
For traditional SEO keywords in headlines are very, very important. For optimization for social bookmarking sites keywords in headlines are also important but the attractiveness of the headline matters more. Headlines on social bookmarking sites are for humans and that is why a catchy headline works better than a keyword-rich one.
2. Good Descriptions Are Important Both for SEO Optimization and for Social Bookmarking Optimization
Site descriptions are one more way to catch the user's attention on social bookmarking sites. Even if the title says it all, a good description is a valuable option to provide more details and to attract even those users, who weren't especially impressed by the title.
3. Know Which Topics Are Popular on a Particular Social Bookmaking Site
Different social bookmarking sites have different users with different interests. As a result, some topics are more popular on a particular social bookmarking site than on the rest. For instance, Digg is great for submitting technology related articles but for health and relationships it doesn't work that well. All equal, even if an article is very interesting, but its topic is not popular, this will get less votes than for a mediocre article in a popular topic.
Also, lists of all kinds (i.e. “Top 10 Whatsoever”) are very popular and perform well. Well, this doesn't mean that the content of a site should be converted to all kinds of Top 10 lists just to please Digg users.
4. Research Popular Keywords/Tags for That Particular Site and Use Them
Similarly to topics, keywords popularity also varies among sites. As a result, articles are optimized for a given set of keywords/tags, which are popular on that particular site. Additionally, unlike search engines, where single and plural forms of a keyword are not treated as different words, on social networking sites this is usually not so. That is why almost always a web master has to include many tags with the same root – i.e. “diet”, “diets”, “dieting”, “dieter”.
5. Choose the Right Time to Post
The right time to post is critical for success. Usually it is considered best to post in the morning on weekdays because then there are the most visitors and if the article is popular, it can soon attract a lot of attention. However, some web masters prefer to post at times when there are fewer readers because at such times there is less competition (less links are posted) and the article stands a better chance to be noticed.
6. Become a Popular User
Social networking sites were not meant to be popularity contests of users but they have turned into such. If a web master doesn't have a network of friends and supporters, even a top story will not make it to the front page. When popular users submit stories, this automatically boosts the votes for this story. On the other hand, being a popular user could also be a problem because if people don't like somebody, they could bury a story this person submits even if the story itself is great.
7. Get Reliable Web Hosting
Finally, one important preparation step before taking Digg and the other social bookmarking sites by storm, is to ensure that the server the site is running on can handle the attention. Digg traffic can crash a dedicated server but when a server is shared and the bandwidth is limited, a crash is bound to happen. Traffic from social bookmarking sites is one more reason why it is important to choose a reliable hosting provider.
Social bookmarking sites have become an institution and if a web master wants to drive traffic to his or her site, optimization for Digg and the other social bookmarking sites is a must. For many web masters Digg and the other social bookmarking sites are driving more traffic than search engines, so the question if it is worth to optimize for social bookmarking sites or not is pointless.
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