How the internet has changed over the years! When I first started designing websites, I used Windows notepad and a book that seemed like one thousand pages as a reference! Besides the advent of new software that makes designing complete websites easy, and scripts that allow great flexibility, the way in which users interact has also changed. Over time people have moved away from E-mail to social networks such as
Facebook. Especially for SEO professionals, this shift in user behavior must also be met with a marketing strategy that continually evolves.
While most businesses are on the major social networking websites, there are still many lesser known areas where intelligent internet marketers are starting to pay close attention to. For example, social bookmarking websites have many of the same features as Facebook. Like their larger counterparts, social bookmarking websites also get a lot of traffic and remain an untapped resource for many that are not listed in these communities.
Although many may disagree with me, social bookmarking should not be restricted to simply bookmarking your own pages. The real value in these micro-communities is developing relationships with other members that hold similar interests in what your business sells or provides. To develop these relationships, you must contribute to their communities in such a way that adds value to the conversations while also earning the respect from the other members. Although this is a lot of work, some of the relationships you develop could pay dividends well into the future and open up doors that would otherwise be closed.
To find the best social bookmarking websites, I would highly recommend that you check out this
social bookmarking list. In their list you will find the newest social bookmarking websites, most of which use Drigg, Pligg, PHPDug, Scuttle and other popular platforms. Getting in on the ground floor, and contributing to these communities, offers you the opportunity to establish yourself as a respected member right from the start. As your public bookmarks get voted on and discussed by the other members, you will be presented with the opportunity to further expand on whatever it is that you have posted. If you stick with a topic that you know a lot about, preferably in the area of your business, it will be easy to establish yourself as a knowledgeable source of information.
Considering that Facebook recently overtook Google as having the most traffic online, the shift towards
social media should not surprise anyone. In fact, some businesses have updated their internet marketing strategy to place more emphasis on networking as it is beginning to offer a greater return on ones valuable time. Additionally, mobile website traffic is on the rise and more consumers are using their mobile devices to not only network but to make purchases online.
Whether you are a search engine optimization specialist or a webmaster, using a quality social bookmarking list can help you to reach more people. If done properly, the relationships you develop on these social bookmarking websites will have a positive impact on your website traffic and sales. With the unpredictability that many website owners encounter from search engine algorithm changes, receiving a significant amount of social traffic should be considered a blessing. What are you waiting for? Get registered, post and contribute to these communities and get the traffic that you deserve!
