StumbleUpon is an online discovery engine which provides personalized web content to its users, allowing them to discover and share online content. The popularity of this site, its social ethos and the fact that it allows its users to discover relevant things they would not normally discover on their own, is proving to be quite significant with regards to SEO and online marketing. This guide explains how to get started with StumbleUpon and what to think about if you are planning on using it for commercial purposes.

Creating an Account

It is very simple to sign up with this website. You can register with your personal details and email address or you can connect straight away with your Facebook account. Once you have registered the next step is to create your profile. This is mostly a guided process. You should now select the categories that are relevant to you or your business. The platform takes your interests and preferences and then recommends online content that it thinks you will like. There is an invite feature where you can manually invite friends, or let the website scan through your contacts to send invites automatically.

Profiles and Features

Now you will have access to the StumbleUpon toolbar which is available to add to your browser’s toolbar. The ‘stumble’ button on this toolbar is a filtered random internet page generator - you simply click the button and you are sent to a random site that may or may not interest you. We say random, though it is actually heavily influenced by the recommendations and other activities of friends you have on the site.

All StumbleUpon members are able to ‘like’ other websites, ‘stumble’ (add new content to the StumbleUpon index) and add them to their profiles. These activities link to other users, who will then come across these recommended pages when they use the toolbar and provide ratings and reviews and share the content with others. The site allows you to stumble your own content and your own sites, and this is where the potential for internet marketing steps in.

StumbleUpon for Internet Marketing

This social site is predominantly used for personal entertainment and leisure, but it can also be used to drive traffic to certain websites and generate interest as part of an online campaign. For any online marketing campaign it is always a smart move to make use of social media platforms, and with millions of registered users and a healthy stream of targeted users, StumbleUpon can generate a large source of high quality leads – as long as you know how to do things properly.

Submitting Content and Ratings

As is the case for any social media site, successful business and brand marketing is never a one-way affair. If you want any hope of gaining interest you must actively and regularly contribute, befriend like-minded people, rate the content of others and of course, stumble. You will gain absolutely no benefits if you simply sign up, submit the website of your business and leave it at that.

If you are planning on using StumbleUpon for commercial purposes only, you are required to sign up for the commercial program (Paid Discovery), which offers a number of beneficial business-related features. Regardless, if you do not participate or focus on you and your business only, the site will view you as a self-interested spammer and kick you out.

The unwritten rule is not to stumble your own content and let others do it for you instead. This helps you to stay on the right side of the website’s policy.

John Kravz is a representative of Proessaywriting.com that provides professional help on your essay writing.