Everyone is talking Web 2.0, and with over 68 million Google search results, it’s clearly a term that’s here to stay. But, surprisingly enough, not everyone understands what it means. Web 2.0 is an all-encompassing name for the large number of online changes occurring at the same time. These changes include the addition of more complex media to websites, the movement to more user-friendly ad and text alignments, and the explosion of interactive formats and blogs.
One web 2.0 buzzword that is getting a lot of attention right now is social bookmarking. Marketers want to know how they can use social bookmarking to increase their site’s traffic.
The first step to answering that question is to become a social bookmarker yourself. Become familiar with the popular social bookmarking sites by joining them and creating a profile. Immerse yourself in the site and become familiar with the contributions that are most popular. Share favorite sites and include great content from your own site. Pick up on the tone and comments from the site’s users and ensure you are contributing items that are appealing. Social bookmarking users interact in a very personal way. They share product ratings, interesting sites, ideas, opinions, and articles. They develop a special community. If one or two users find and love your site, you often get the attention of their friends, too.
But, be forewarned, attaining people’s attention on social bookmarking sites is only the first step in achieving the results you seek. It’s critical that your site is attractive, innovative, interesting, and offers unique benefits to the users. It must transform that initial attention into true interest. Sites that are rich in regularly updated, fresh content are more likely to keep the attention of its traffic.
There are a number of top social bookmarking sites from which you can get started. But remember, you can’t just bookmark a page and expect the traffic to come. Again, you must have an interesting, content-rich, benefit-oriented site that is meaningful to people. Then your initial followers will return. Become part of the community themselves and really understand the role users play in evolving the site.
To make the most of social bookmarking, understand it. Become part of it. Use it. Join the community and start contributing.
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This post was written by Robjohn on June 15, 2009
