Social Bookmarking – What is it?
Social bookmarking expands on the individual nature of the web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox etc) bookmarks by allowing a person to show everyone else what they find important or what interests them. This section explains Social Bookmarking and how it can be useful to bloggers and business.
How Does Social Bookmarking Work?
When a visitor views a page in a web Browser (i.e Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari) if they like the page they can bookmark the web address so the visitor can return easily to that page. A bookmark can be seen as a reference that the visitor likes the chosen content and finds it useful. In Social Bookmarking the links that a user finds interesting are saved to a webpage (e.g. Digg , Reddit, Delicious, StumbleUpon) and can be viewed privately, in groups or by everyone.
Bookmarks both on the internet and on the browser do not hold any content from the article the bookmark refers to. By bookmarking certain topics and allowing your bookmarks to be viewed publically it is possible to find individuals or groups with similar interests. Additional information is shown with a bookmark stating how many people have also selected that link and also related articles.
Social Bookmarking and Blogs
Social Bookmarking is very popular among blog users due to the very social nature of bookmarking. The use of services such as Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon etc are widespread. Many blog articles (including this one) have social bookmark icons attached to articles which let users bookmark the articles immediately.
More advanced tools are available like chicklets which allows a visitor to bookmark and they hold the amount of bookmarks for Digg, Google Buzz, Share on Facebook or Twitter Retweets next to the article. This number can work to show a passing visitor how interesting and popular the article is.
Social Bookmarking complementing the Search for Information Online.
Social Bookmarking sites rank and show articles based on the popularity of bookmarks. Search Engines show search results based on ranking factors connected to link popularity, relevance and reputation. Both are open to misuse but social bookmarking can work much quicker than the search engines in identifying and ranking cutting edge stories, articles, videos, and images.
It takes time to rank on the search engines, although search results have improved vastly with more choice and recent appearances of popular topics from Social Media sites in search ranking.
Digg.com has a some great tools including a recommendation engine and a toolbar for Firefox, check out this Mashable article for more help. For Delicious.com this is a great interactive Insights Group article filled with resources.
Social Bookmarking For Business
There are benefits and pitfalls to using social media. Any business wants to succeed and it’s products to reach as many potential customers as possible. Helping customers return to your site easily and also making a recommendation by way of a bookmark is invaluable.
By receiving large amounts of bookmarks and ranking on sites like Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon (who have large audiences), the equivalent result is advertising that would usually cost thousands. However it must be traffic that will convert to customers.
The people who will primarily vote on your articles will be your usual blog audience, to receive Digg Votes the article needs to be designed with this audience in mind. Awareness of time and resources are also a factor. Is it worth your while trying to create a viral Digg campaign? Would the resources be better spent on your blog or on Search Engine Optimisation?
- Either way it pays to have the option to vote on your websites content.
- Read and listen to customer comments
By monitoring your number of votes, the popularity of your content and feedback you can understand what the customer requires and tailor future content towards that requirement.
Forms Of Social Media
Each form of Social Media listed below has a link explaining the method of use and how people, bloggers, and Small Business can use these technologies.
Follow Us!
Follow Us for HTC and Web Design Updates