How to Drive Traffic Using StumbleUpon*updated*

How to Drive Traffic using StumbleUpon

Written by: Anyonita Green on 1/23/2104

Have you heard of StumbleUpon? It's a content discovery tool and a number of bloggers are beginning to discover its traffic-boosting properties. As the name suggests, users simply stumble across carefully selected content, filtered by their interests and preferences. 


When used to its full potential, StumbleUpon can greatly influence traffic to a website or blog. All it takes is for the right person to "discover" your content, cache it in an appropriate list or category and for that content to be stumbled by like-minded users who share interests. When this transpires, content has the ability to go viral within days, if not hours, sending a spike in traffic to blogs and websites.

I've compiled a quick list of StumbleUpon tips to help you identify areas in which it could boost your traffic and to ensure that as a blogger you are getting the most out of this versatile platform.

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For the last few weeks, I, along with a number of food bloggers, have begun promoting our own content and each others' via StumbleUpon. We have all pretty much reported seeing an increase in traffic as a result of incorporating this social media platform into our blog promotion routine.

In the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, I must admit that I am not a StumbleUpon expert. I only started using it this year and I'm only going to share with you tips that I've learned over the past few weeks that have increased my traffic and made sharing routinely on StumbleUpon a valuable part of my blog promotion strategy. That said, I do not intend to pass this information on as ultimate StumbleUpon knowledge. I am certain that there are others with more knowledge of this platform than the little I have gleamed from my sporadic use of it this month. But with more and more bloggers joining us in promoting one another's content via StumbleUpon (and nearly all of them asking basic questions about StumbleUpon), I thought it would be nice to lay out a few tips.

Check out these great pins for tips on food blogging, too:
I have already mentioned that StumbleUpon is a content discovery tool, preoccupied with bringing engaging content to its users, but not just any content. Content that has been chosen by people intended for other people with similar interests. StumbleUpon is like a virtual scrapbook of things you would share with your best friends. That is what makes it so powerful.

When content gets discovered on StumbleUpon, it gets slated into appropriate interests. Everyone who stumbles within a specific interest usually does so because they find it interesting. There is a set number of interests available to choose from in the StumbleUpon platform, so you can be certain that your post will fit into an appropriate category. While some interests have more followers than others, each of them is in the thousands, many in the thousands of thousands. Just think: if only 10% of those people liked your content, traffic to your site would skyrocket.

How to use StumbleUpon to drive traffic to your blog:

1. StumbleUpon is not just about you and your blog.
   Don't limit yourself by listing only interests that reflect what your blog is about. StumbleUpon is first and foremost, a way for people to find cool websites, not a billboard advertisement for your blog. List your genuine interests when creating your StumbleUpon profile and you'll benefit more.
2. StumbleUpon is not your personal backlink generator.
   Don't stumble every post you create. In fact, you shouldn't discover your own content anyway. Join a group where bloggers get together to support one another via StumbleUpon and let someone else discover your content on StumbleUpon while you do the same for them. It's the best way to avoid getting penalized for spamming the site. I belong to a number of these groups on Facebook. If you're interested in joining, leave me a comment and let me know! This practice has been identified by StumbleUpon as being against their rules and I can no longer advocate this behavior nor do I participate in it.
3. StumbleUpon is a pretty cool site; use it genuinely.
   StumbleUpon is the source of much knowledge; take advantage of it. Spend a few minutes each day using the site the way it was intended: stumble in your interests and find out new stuff.
4. StumbleUpon has a strict "like" limit.
   If you discover or like too many times in one day from the same website, StumbleUpon will block you from discovering any new content from the site in question for a set amount of time. (Usually around 8 hours or so.) You can get around this by first adding pages to your lists and then thumbs upping or liking them or you could simply wait for the ban to be lifted.
5. StumbleUpon likes balance.
   The number of stumbles you make on content from within your interests list needs to be roughly equal to those outside of your interests and for every discovery you make, you should try to stumble about 5 times. 

How to get started with StumbleUpon:

1. Set up a complete profile. Select some interests when prompted, and remember: you can't have too many interests, but you can have too few. I have 51 interests on my profile, for instance.
2. Find some channels to follow. Channels are like the "big accounts" of StumbleUpon. You'll find companies like The Food Network here.
3. Connect with other stumblers. StumbleUpon works because people share content that other users with similar interest will enjoy. Establishing a network of users whose interests mirror your own means things you share are more likely to get a good reception and you're more likely to find interesting things too. There are a number of Blogger Facebook groups that promote StumbleUpon activity. Alternatively, you can join this link party and live your StumbleUpon username to find other bloggers with StumbleUpon accounts.
4. Use StumbleUpon daily. You don't have to spend hours stumbling, but it's worth taking at least 10 minutes and using the site organically. Find an interest or a user you've connected with and stumble from their likes or recommended pages. It's this type of organic stumbling that the StumbleUpon algorithm looks for.

Have you used StumbleUpon to promote your blog or website? Have you found that it's increased traffic? I'd love to hear about your experiences with StumbleUpon since I'm still learning about it myself!

Check out these other traffic boosting tips:

7 Organizational Habits of Super Star Bloggers + Free Blog Organization Kit

How to Get Viral Posts with Markerly

How to Dominate Google Image Search Results