Social Bookmarking and the Hub of Business

By Scott Lindsay

The act of social bookmarking is becoming something more than a potential tool for online marketing.

Many entrepreneurs are finding social media sites to place business information in an informal setting.

Once you finish developing your social media site the marketing potential is just beginning.
Obviously you hold out hope that visitors will drop by your online presence, but you may want to go fishing for friends.

In some social media environments you are allowed to make a 'friend' request while other sites invite you to bookmark sites of interest.

What Does It All Mean?
If you wonder why you should care about making or accepting a friend request or participate in bookmarking let me attempt to explain the process.

When you initiate a friend request to an individual or business you are familiar with it is possible that your social media page will be listed on this secondary site. In essence when someone visits this site they also have a compelling link to your site.

On sites where bookmarking is allowed this feature is often divided a second time. In this kind of site environment visitors can see who you have bookmarked or selected as friends, but they can also see how many others have chosen to bookmark your site.

Some social media sites provide their own inner site rankings based on the popularity of a site. If your site ranks well that also provides the opportunity to have your site publicized even more.
Social bookmarking is the process of establishing a network among peers, friends, family and interested guests.

This is an important component when it comes to the already established benefits of owning a social media site. In this environment you can invite guest comments, you can receive private inner site emails from those who may have questions and you can participate in blogging. In some cases you may even be allowed to post pictures, video or audio to enhance the experience of your site and promote your online business.

Connecting Links
Links can easily be established to your primary site where you can welcome visitors to a more business-oriented experience.

The reason so many online business owners are adopting the use of social networking sites is because they can be obtained at no cost in most cases. Each of these sites can be designed to point back to your primary website. In that way they are extremely useful in the promotion and marketing of your main business site. These ancillary sites also provide a valuable backlink to your online business presence that is useful in improving potential in site rankings. For every backlink to your primary website the greater trust most search engines place in your site.

Putting It All Together
In a practical sense social bookmarking provides a trail back to your social networking site. That process opens the map so the visitor can find their way directly to your business site. The process acts as spokes in a wheel. Social media sites are the spokes that, through backlinks, lead to your hub of business, which is where you want them to end up in the first place.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Lindsay

Can You Cheat to Get Traffic From Social Bookmarking Websites?

By Stephanie Foster

Sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon can drive delightful amounts of traffic. If you want to have high levels of traffic driven to your site, they're one of the great ways to get it. But actually getting the traffic is difficult. So many people look for ways to cheat their way to traffic.

There are ways to do this. There are groups that will Digg, Stumble or bookmark on various other websites for you, just as you do so for other members. I won't name any here; if that's the solution for you, search them out on your own. You'll find them.

However, a lot of people really don't understand what they should be having other people submit for them. They'll put in just any old blog post and hope for traffic. But what you really want to submit are things that will get people interested in what your site has to offer. Otherwise, all you are doing is burning up bandwidth.

If you're going to do something like this, start out by using the service you're targeting. What kinds of pages tend to do well? You don't want to be copying anyone, but you can be inspired by the general topics that tend to do well.

The thing about having a group submit your site is that unless the quality is there, it won't do you a bit of good. In fact, if you aren't careful about it, you can get your account and your website banned. You can lose all your chances to make the most of social bookmarking simply by abusing it.

The key is to remember to be a genuine member, even if you have others help you get your sites up there. Share the pages you really like, not just the ones you have to share in order to get your sites submitted.

You will also want to remember that social bookmark traffic as a rule converts poorly. What you should be looking for is how to get people to subscribe to your newsletter or feed, or other ways to keep people coming back on their own, rather than just when they read about a hot topic they found through a social site.

You'll also want to remember the other benefit that you are working towards - getting other people to link to your site. While not every blogger bothers to give references when they post on a topic, the better ones will mention if something you said inspired their own comments on that same topic.

Yes, it can be considered cheating to find a group that will bookmark your site for you, but it can help to get a well-crafted page noticed when you don't have the traffic to drive it on your own. But it's a risk, and there is still no substitute for page quality. It needs to be good enough to stand on its own when other people notice it.

Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.aspectsofhomebusiness.com/blog/ about running a successful home business. Get more tips on social bookmarking from her site.