| Social bookmarking is a method by which people share lists of their favorite sites with each other. It works pretty much like the personal bookmarks of favorites that most people have on their computers, except that the lists of websites on social bookmark sites are public access, with people leaving their lists of favorite sites open to all users. They can also choose to restrict access to certain groups of users, and even categorize their favorite lists so that people of specific interests can find what they need faster. Having your website on a social bookmark site can generate quite a bit of traffic to your site - but you have to be able to keep new people's interest if you want to do two important things: keep them coming back to your site for more, and be likewise added to THEIR favorite lists so that even more people can see your site. Here are some simple ideas to help you along those lines: Update your material often - bringing in fresh new material in the form of articles, updated graphics, events, etc is a good way to keep people coming back. If after several trips to your website viewers find that you still have the same old stuff their interest will start to drop off. You don't necessarily need to strain your creativity to the breaking point to do this either; there are tons of online options you can use to get new material, ranging from pools of freelance writers, programmers, and graphic designers, to premade customizeable programs simple simple online games. Know what your viewers want - always keep an eye on which sites bookmarked you. This will give you a fair indication of the hobbies and interests of the people who added you to their favorites list. Social bookmarking sites also usually give their contributors the option to categorize and even leave comments about their favorites, so you shouldn't simply assume what they want based on the nature of the social bookmarking site in general - do a little digging. Once you have a better grasp of why you were added to their favorite list and who they chose to share your site with, you can tailor your content to give them more of what they want. Interaction is crucial - there are three main forms of interaction you should try and provide in your site. The first is to give your viewers a means of interacting with you and your site directly, whether in the form of surveys, idea lists, contests, and whatnot. This gives your viewers a sense of ownership of your site. The second form of interaction is from you to your viewers. Always let them know that you are there and it's not just a program you left running to make you money automatically while you go off somewhere else. Lastly, give your viewers the chance to interact with each other. This is extremely important especially for customers who went to your site via social bookmarks. They will have to feel at home on your site, and there's no better way to do that than to give your kindred spirits a chance to chat with each other and give each other advice and opinions. Make it worth their while to bring new people in - keeping your community growing is a great way to assure continuity of traffic to your site. To this end, you can set up reward systems, with contests or referral programs to encourage your members to bring new people in. Be careful what you offer as rewards though, as this can cost you a bindle if you're careless. Instead of direct cash, its always a better bet to give away things like discount coupons for your site (which increases your sales) or promotional items like T shirts or mouse pads (which act as marketing aids). |