I have to admit, I started using Stumble Upon with a ton of hesitation. I didn’t quite “get it” and so I was intimidated by it. I’m here to break it down for you and provide some simple tips for getting started and boosting your blog traffic with Stumble Upon.
I have to admit, I started using Stumble Upon with a ton of hesitation. I didn’t quite “get it” and so I was intimidated by it. I’m here to break it down for you and provide some simple tips for getting started and boosting your blog traffic with Stumble Upon.
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What Is Stumble Upon?
Stumble Upon is a popular social bookmarking community, owned by eBay that is used by thousands of people all over the world. As a member of StumbleUpon, you are able to rate websites, video clips, articles, photos, and more. Members within the community are known as “stumblers,” and they mark websites that they have enjoyed by clicking on the “thumbs up” button that is located in the toolbar of their browser, or by submitting content directly via the StumbleUpon website interface.
Basically, stumbling via the toolbar is like channel surfing on your cable. You “stumble” and it shows you a new post you might be interested in. If you are, give it a thumbs up. If it’s not interesting to you, click the thumbs down.
The more info you give Stumble Upon, the better job it can do at showing you sites you’ll love.
How to Boost Your Traffic With Stumble Upon?
The more “likes” a website receives, the more popular it becomes throughout the StumbleUpon community, and in turn, the more traffic it can expect from the constant exposure to new stumbles.
In essence, StumbleUpon is a recommendation-based system powered by the members who visit websites and decide which ones are worthy of a notable stumble.
Does Stumble Upon Really Bring in New Traffic?
I can only vouch for my own traffic, and YES, since I’ve started using Stumble Upon, my traffic on stumbled posts is INSANE! Here’s an example of a post I shared in a Stumble Upon Sharing Tribe on Facebook {I’ll share that info with you below}
25 Quick and Easy Workouts
Take a peek at the social media impact that Stumble Upon had on that post! Unreal, if you ask me! Thank you, Stumble Upon! You can follow ME on Stumble Upon here.
How Do I Get Started with Stumble Upon?
To get started, you will have to create a StumbleUpon account; you can do that at this link. As soon as you have created your StumbleUpon account, you will be given the option to download a toolbar for the browser of your choice; toolbars are available for Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer.
To start using Stumble Upon, you should either use Firefox or Chrome. There are SU toolbars use can install that make using Stumble Upon a piece of cake! I use the Firefox Bookmarklet for my stumbling! You can download it HERE.
So, to start, bring up a link in your browser, and click the thumbs up on the Firefox toolbar.
Then, to stumble other posts you might love, click the little red stumble button at the far left of the toolbar.
If you’d like to get Stumble Upon going and be part of a Stumble Upon Sharing Tribe, I’ve got two Facebook Sharing groups for you:
Are you already using Stumble Upon? Have you been able to boost your traffic with Stumble Upon?
Thanks for this post, trying to get comfortable in the land of SU. Key word…trying 🙂
I felt that way too, Lori, and honestly, it’s just not as scary as it seems! 🙂
Great break down Melanie! Thanks for putting this together for us! You make it sound really easy and not as scary as I first thought. I’m sure there is a learning curve, and to think of starting one more social media outlet… I don’t think I will start tomorrow, but I’ll work on it! 🙂
Thank you SO, SO much for sharing this! I’d signed up a while ago, but never really used my account – I had no idea what it was all about! Looking forward to exploring a bit now 🙂
Great post, Melanie. I just joined Stumble Upon this week. I understand the basics, thanks to your message, but I can’t figure out how to follow people on Stumble Upon? Can you point me in the right direction?
I”m signing up now! Thanks for the breakdown! xx, b
I was so lost about Stumble Upon… Thanks for the great tips. Your blog is beautiful!!
Aw… thanks Katie! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!
I made an account recently and instantly felt lost. This article cleared up a lot for me! Thank you for writing it.
~ Sofie
Aw… thanks for coming back to let me know Sofie!