How to get the most traffic from Stumble Upon?

[Greg]

Here's a good article on writing blog posts that appeal to SU readers.

http://www.copyblogger.com/writing-for-stumbleupon/

The takeaway message -- put the interesting stuff above the fold. The secret is to have that hook that gets the channel surfers (hermione ) to pause and actually take a closer look at your site.

[brokegradstudent]

My articles that have received the biggest stumbles are ones that are likely to be bookmarked. They are either lists of resources on a particular topic, like paying back student loans, or guides on how to do something (college student's guide to Roth IRAs).

While these are topics that everybody writes about, I think the key is adding something unique to it. This article that Greg linked to is great. There's at least one of those elements in each article of mine that has been stumbled -- a killer opening, an attention grabbing title, or hand drawn illustrations.

[hermione]

Originally Posted by Greg

The secret is to have that hook that gets the channel surfers (hermione ) to pause and actually take a closer look at your site.

I have witnessed the power of a good stumbleupon review on my site. When I publsihed my Free and Frugal Things to Do in Los Angeles post back in August, I received about 5,000+ unique visitors to that post in the week following, almost all from SU.

I had a similar surge with the Festival of Frugality I hosted a couple of weeks after. But the funny thing is, our 101 Ways to Save Money in Your Everyday Life got thousands of visits from MSN Smart Spending (and had way better Google Ad revenue than the other), a good number from Tip'd, but only a few from SU (it might have to do with our cheap web hosting going down about 5 minutes after some of my twitter friends stumbled it and the traffic started coming in.)

Word of advice if you want to survive a good Stumble surge (or Digg, etc.) - Cache and pay more for better hosting!

[arkadofbabylon.org]

There is so much super detail in this thread. It hadn't ocurred to me to consider SU as an option for getting hits on my blog. Thanks to everyone for the great tips and links to articles/information. You guys rock!!

[brokegradstudent]

Originally Posted by hermione

I had a similar surge with the Festival of Frugality I hosted a couple of weeks after. But the funny thing is, our 101 Ways to Save Money in Your Everyday Life got thousands of visits from MSN Smart Spending (and had way better Google Ad revenue than the other), a good number from Tip'd, but only a few from SU (it might have to do with our cheap web hosting going down about 5 minutes after some of my twitter friends stumbled it and the traffic started coming in.)

It makes sense that the MSN readers clicked on ads more. Since they're coming from the MSN Smart Spending site, they're more targeted visitors looking specifically for things related to personal finance.

On the other hand, StumbleUpon visitors are more likely to just be channel surfing through sites, so many of them will just skim and stumble onto the next site.

[Philip Brewer]

I've been working my way into SU pretty gradually. I used it first as a way to find cool pages, just stumbling through randomly and thumb-upping pages I liked.

One key, I eventually figured out, is to notice when one of your blog posts gets reviewed: Notice who reviewed it, look at other stuff that person reviewed, and seriously consider becoming a fan of that person. (If they like what you write, you may well like other stuff they like.)

People that you become fans of often friend you back--especially if they've previously reviewed one of your posts.

That, together with generally being involved in the community, is how you put together a large-enough network of friends that your thumbs-up begin to drive traffic for your friends, and their thumbs-ups begin to drive traffic for you.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Philip Brewer

One key, I eventually figured out, is to notice when one of your blog posts gets reviewed: Notice who reviewed it, look at other stuff that person reviewed, and seriously consider becoming a fan of that person. (If they like what you write, you may well like other stuff they like.)

People that you become fans of often friend you back--especially if they've previously reviewed one of your posts.

I think that's a great point. As web publishers, we bloggers worry about how to be relevant on the social sites -- more cynical folks would call that "gaming" social media. Isn't it funny, though, how one of the best marketing tactics for the social web is to, well, be social.

[MoneyTrev]

Originally Posted by Philip Brewer

I've been working my way into SU pretty gradually. I used it first as a way to find cool pages, just stumbling through randomly and thumb-upping pages I liked.

One key, I eventually figured out, is to notice when one of your blog posts gets reviewed: Notice who reviewed it, look at other stuff that person reviewed, and seriously consider becoming a fan of that person. (If they like what you write, you may well like other stuff they like.)

People that you become fans of often friend you back--especially if they've previously reviewed one of your posts.

That, together with generally being involved in the community, is how you put together a large-enough network of friends that your thumbs-up begin to drive traffic for your friends, and their thumbs-ups begin to drive traffic for you.

Great tips. This is exactly what i'm doing

[Babalu]

Social bookmarking traffic isn't sticky. You get a temporary traffic boost, but it doesn't last, and social bookmarking visitors don't click ads or hang around very long. Posting is ok for getting backlinks, but little else. I have never gotten a front page Digg submission, but I understand the thrill is over the next day.

[Philip Brewer]

Originally Posted by Babalu

Social bookmarking traffic isn't sticky. You get a temporary traffic boost, but it doesn't last, and social bookmarking visitors don't click ads or hang around very long. Posting is ok for getting backlinks, but little else. I have never gotten a front page Digg submission, but I understand the thrill is over the next day.

That's mostly true. (My vast experience: I've had one post make the front page on Digg and a couple make the front page on Reddit.)

However, it's much less true of StumbleUpon. Now, even a good Stumble isn't like making the front page on Digg--but it goes on much longer. Unlike Digg, where once you're off the front page you vanish, a Stumbled page continues to bring in some traffic for a long time. When new members' thumbs-ups suggest to SU that they might like one of your pages, it'll go ahead and send them your way, so even months or years later a Stumble will continue to bring in traffic.