Explosive Stumbleupon Traffic
I am not very fond of using social bookmarking to promote my blog. I think people often forget that blogging is social networking, but get overly caught up in different sites to build traffic, like Digg and many others. My favorite is Stumbleupon. What most people don’t realize is how much traffic a single stumble can bring. Because of how the Stumbleupon algorithm works, it is fairly common to receive massive quantities of traffic from only one person stumbling you at the right time. Every now and then you get that lottery stumble, which can generate thousands of visitors in just a few hours.
On May 19th, my great blogging buddy Marzie - the Genie Princess stumbled my homepage (thanks Marzie!). I had reached around 80 visitors that day, until that magical stumble! A few hours later, I noticed I was up to 674 readers and 969 page views in under an hour - that was quite an explosion of traffic. I ended up with almost a thousand visitors before I went to sleep. Many of those visitors left comments and viewed more than one article, which was fantastic. You don’t always get such an explosion of traffic, but every now and then, you do. It’s freaking great when it happens.
I wrote an article about how to use Stumble correctly: Stumble Upon: A Cool Ethical Approach with a few solid tips and a few great links you should check out. Here are a few more:
- Don’t stumble your own articles - a TOS violation
- Don’t trade stumbles with people - a TOS violation
- Don’t ask to be stumbled - a TOS violation
- Try to review what you stumble - many people don’t bother. I explain how in my link above.
- Use it often, and it will increase your chances of being stumbled
- Let people know you’ve stumbled them in a post comment
- Make sure you review every time you stumble
All these tips are basic, but if you violate Stumbleupon’s terms of service, they will drop your account. I know many people this has happened to. It’s a great way to support your fellow bloggers. Many people use social networks only to gain things for themselves, they rarely do things only for others. This is what is wrong with society as well as in blogging. I use Stumbleupon everyday because I know how powerful it is. I stumble people’s homepages, and also when I see a really good post. Just keep the Stumbleupon toolbar open, and use it liberally. If you use the stumble tool bar, take a look at who stumbled your site. You do that by clicking the little white balloon while looking at a particular page. The ethical and honest way to use it, is to stumble lots of people and hopefully you’ll get stumbled too - not because you’ve asked (hey I’ve asked before but I won’t anymore), but because someone chose to on their own.
Sometimes I wish I had a different approach to blogging, but I am happy with my methodology. I have written many Bobby’s Batch posts where I link to my fellow blogger’s fine posts. In my opinion, it is the best way to help people out. If blogging worked by such ethical and kind giving, the blogosphere would be a better place. My blog is rarely found in Google searches landing on my homepage. With Google searches, my individual blog posts are found, which is what I want. It is the content that matters, not the homepage. However, I am trying to change my views on many things in blogging, be much more positive and less critical of what other people do.
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Hola Bobby! You just reminded me abt the SU toolbar! I lost it over the weekend thanks to the restore and now I gotta reinstall it again.
Wow!! 674 visitors, I’ve never received that many visitors in a day Bobby, so good for u. I hope my magical stumble helped he he!! Oh and of course, thanks so much for the linky love, you’re da best!
Genie Princesss last blog post..Disconnected Weekend
I remember while back, Mike Wheeler had received a few thousand visitors because of being stumbled in his post “Stumbleupon Stampede”. I really never had that happen to me, until that one from you! You always bring me good luck - maybe you really do have magical powers. I just wanted to share this so people realize what really can happen. Thanks again Genie Princess
I had a stampede . . . once. Boy, I never knew all that stuff was against TOS. and so many people are doing it! I think I’ve even stumbled my own stuff. Will have to look into it.
kurb music marketing blogs last blog post..Ad supported music revenue report June 08: sex, drugs and green tea
Hi Matt (I checked out your site just now) yeah, it’s great when it happens and simply using it more often definitely increases your chances. Thanks for reading
The more thumbs up and reviews something gets, be it a stumblers page or a normal page the more traffic it receives. The more traffic it receives the more chance people will thumb it up.
However while stumbling may increase the chances of people spotting you in there recent visitor list, your stumbling habits does not directly effect either your sites or your profiles chances of being thumbed up
what little benefits it would bring is when you stumbled your own pieces (which of course you said you don’t do) because the amount of stumbles an individual thumbs up brings is dependent on how much they use stumbleupon.
So unless you do #1, #5 makes no sense
Tim Nashs last blog post..You Could Be My ATM With One Line Of Code
Just to add #1 while technically against StumbleUpon Terms of service is very unlikely to be the cause of any ban, as the algorithm used to determine who to show the article to is designed in such a way that self promotional material gets very few visits. Where it is enforced tends to be related to people making spam notes against a site, the stumbleupon staff just don’t have the resources nor I suspect an interest in blanket wide attempting to ban self stumbling.
Tim Nashs last blog post..You Could Be My ATM With One Line Of Code
Thanks Tim, so it’s not a bad idea to occasionally stumble yourself? I always feel weird doing that, so I usually don’t. I am using it much more than I have in the past and am looking for new ways to attract stumbles. I know a few people who have been banned, but these same people have been banned from Digg and several other sites too…haha. I guess they’re up to no good
Ha ha ha ha!!! For that, here’s a special GP sprinkle of luck for u Bobby!
Anyway, I wanted to come over and tell u that u finally made it back to my Top 10 but then you arrived first with ur comment LOL! Thanks so much for the SU tips Bobby. Errrr, what white balloon were u referring to and hey, I want a Stumbleupon Stampede too!!
Genie Princesss last blog post..Disconnected Weekend
Hi Marzie! On your stumble toolbar, just go to tools; toolbar options; configuration under “other” and make sure the 1st 4 squares are checked. Then, after you give a thumbs up, it will automatically open the review window in a new tab and you can write a quick review. Try to tag the site correctly. My site should be tagged “blogging ethics” or “horror” …haha. The little white balloon I’m talking about is on the toolbar - it looks like a little cloud like a comic book dialogue is often depicted in. While looking at your homepage, click that little cloud, and you will see all the reviews and stumbles that page has received. Haha…I’m sure you will have a stampede sometime, it’s really random so there’s no way to predict when it will happen
While it does no harm occasionally, long term use will cause a negative effect.
Basically the more you stumble a domain the more your thumb doesn’t count on the following visit. If you or your regular visitors continuously stumble your posts then it will be difficult (but not impossible) for the post to gain traction. It is worth knowing that the biggest single factor in a stumble is the original first stumbler, now if that first stumbler is a regular stumbler on your site then its going to have less effect then a fresh new face to the site. Ultimately for the big stumbles (in the 10s of thousands) you need a stumbler with a high profile of lots of stumbles, visit the site thumb up and discover a single page and then the process repeated by two or three more of these types of stumblers. Once you get a few hundred visits presuming the content is good the visits will follow.
Tim Nashs last blog post..You Could Be My ATM With One Line Of Code
Great tips Bobby! Thanks for sharing!
gypsys last blog post..Master of Dance? Really?
I launched a new website two weeks ago. My very first post got stumbled and within 24 hours of my blog being on the net I got just under 2,500 hits from StumbleUpon. However, subsequent posts get Stumbled by people every day and I never get more than one or two hits. This has been the case with every blog I’ve operated. StumbleUpon sends a flood of traffic the first couple of posts, and then it all stops.
I must be doing something wrong…just can’t figure out what.
Bill Huffhines last blog post..Principle of Freedom #3 - Virtuous Leadership
I think I understand what you’re saying Tim. So really, by branching out and being seen by new, fresh stumblers with preferably high profiles is better than being stumbled by the same people over and over. I’m still a newbie at all this and am really new to seo. On another aspect, I don’t have the knowledge of a coder or an expertise on seo to start a real money making website (at least not a site about seo). I am working on some ideas for a few new sites about something I do have a great deal of knowledge about: guitars. From what I’ve seen so far, I should have no problem with competition in that area (at least my specific area of guitars). I am writing and preparing articles already and within the next few months, I will be ready to start up. I may need your services for seo on those sites, and I will contact you when I’m ready.
You’re welcome Gypsy, I hope you found it useful!
Hi Bill, that’s quite a traffic surge! Read the comments from Tim Nash above, he knows stumble very well. I would recommend you check out his sites
I have heard of stumbling, but I didin’t know what it was. I just added their toolbar and am looking forward to checking it out. Thanks for another relevant post Bobby.
Robins last blog post..My 1st Belly Dance Performance
Bobby,
Great post! I’m completely on board with your methodology and I think that it’s definitely the only way to go. Treating the blogosphere as a community of folks helping each other is much more pleasant than pointlessly commenting just to get a linkback or two, anyway.
Bit of a tip. If anyone really wants to get away with Stumbling their own blog - which doesn’t really help much in the long run anyway - create a SU user that is not connected to your blog domain in any way. Sure, SU could link the two if they really wanted, but I don’t think they are too serious about that rule yet.
I think letting people know that you stumbled their posts in a comment is a great idea. When you left a comment on my blog saying you’d Stumbled one of my posts it was a great surprise. It’s a nice thing to do and can really brighten someone’s day - and boost their traffic, of course. =)
Thanks for the great advice, Bobby!
Sara
p.s. How do you get these cool threaded comments?
It is amazing the change social networks can make for a blog. Bobby do you know how much traffic you can get if you reach the front page of digg? I was just curious.
wow, 674 in a day! that’s so cool!! I’ve nvr received that many visitors in a day! congrats, bobby! yeah, thanks to recommending SU to me. Even tho’ i’ve installed the toolbar, i seldom use it. I need to learn to maximize it.
Jean Chias last blog post..Beauty Secrets Meme
Hi Bobby! My SU Toolbar is up and I finally saw the white balloon LOL! And I’ve ticked the 4 boxes, thanks Bobby! And it was great to see ur avatar at MPG today.
Genie Princesss last blog post..I Signed Up For Bloggerwave!
Might I suggest you don’t do that
two accounts coming from the same IP are a very quick way to get a Ban plus it will as I explained above no more use then you stumbling your own stuff. If caught with two accounts both get banned, as does your primary site.
StumbleUpon are very hot on multiple accounts because they consider that to be a gross breach of their TOS the occasional thumbing up your own stuff is a mere infraction.
Tim Nashs last blog post..You Could Be My ATM With One Line Of Code
Thanks Tim & Sara, yeah…if you want to go that route, you have to go the shady route and use a different IP, preferably from someone else’s home in a different town…haha. I am quite sure there are many prominent bloggers using multiple profiles and trying to deceive Google and many others just to get ahead. Since I read your post on the stumbleupon graveyard, I have discovered several of my posts where people clicked thumbs up, but then clicked cancel to avoid doing a review; thus, putting my article in a casket. I’ve really learned a lot from you Tim!
It’s almost like training people to stumble, which really is important because many people cause damage without even realizing it.
Sara: You’re welcome for the stumble. Also, I use Brian’s threaded comments plug in, in case you want to try it out
Actually, I think Digg is more difficult to use and I haven’t really used it that much. The competition is so ferocious and I feel lost trying to use it. I will look into it, but will read a lot before I give it a serious try
Hi Jean, just make sure you review everything you give thumbs up to, especially if you discovered it (you are the 1st one to stumble it).
Alright Robin! Just read up on how to use it beforehand, there are some good tips in this post and comments - if you have any questions I’ll be glad to help you
Hi Marzie…hahaha, really check out the toolbar and learn the functions. Don’t forget to review what you stumble!
I’m bad, I sometimes Stumble my own stuff.. uh-oh!
Lady Bananas last blog post..Me And My Guitar
Stumbleupon i great. Once it brought more than 20K visitors to my site in a single day . Andmy site got suspended by the host .
Madhur Kapoors last blog post..Tweet when Twitter is Down with Twiddict
Oh yeah? You are really naughty Lady Banana.
I’ve heard about people getting that much traffic, but I have yet to get there. That’s an insane amount
I have to build a better stumbleupon community and get to know some true power stumblers. Thanks Madhur 
I’m actually have a lot of trouble with SU in the last 2-3 weeks. Very little of it works for me which is a shame as I love wasting time on it…
Got a nice guy from SU trying to help sort it out but so far no luck
Lady Bananas last blog post..Links for 2008-06-13 [del.icio.us]
Hi Bobby
I have always approved of your ethical methodology and the number of regular visitors and comments you get attest to how successful this is.
I am taking your advice and letting you know that i stumbled this post.
Sueblimelys last blog post..Blog Contest With + $3000 Prizes
Thank so much Sue!
I am a big stumble fan, and have recently learned how little I know about getting the maximum from it.
I still don’t know much about stumbling but I do stumble others when I really like or have been impressed by what I’ve read. I will come back to your links so I can learn more about it soon. Unfortunately I am getting here in the wee hours of the morning so I’ll have to come back when my brain isn’t sleeping. LOL.
Teenis last blog post..Book Sentence Meme
Hi sleepy Teeni! Yeah, it’s not something to go crazy with. The most important things to do is install the stumbleupon tool bar (I don’t see how it could be done without it) and review everything you stumble. If you do these two things, you’ll be fine
Just thought I would add a last comment to think on, while a small amount of behaviour modification might be acceptable I think people tend to forget its your stumblers experience that is the important thing.
While many web site owners get wrapped up in the idea of x hundred stumblers visiting, they tend to forget the vast majority of the people arriving on the page are using stumbleupon for their own pleasure and not to provide a source of traffic. The best way to modify their behaviour is to give them a true incentive to do so
but ultimately you have to take the attitude when it’s your blog that occasionally some one will make a mistake its not the end of the world, and its unlikely to effect your livelihood
If stumblers get worried that they screwed up some strange protocol then it may reduce their overall experience just a thought.
Tim Nashs last blog post..Improve your Podcasts with a Pair of Tights!
While stumble traffic is fantastic for more readers and visitors, it is terrible for actually making any money. None of the visitors it sends your way even considering clicking anything that resembles an ad. I guess it depends what you want from your blog.
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Thanks Tim, you’ve been a big help and I’ve learned some interesting new information from you! Have a great week
There probably are ways that stumble can help a blog make money, but this blog is a personal blog which isn’t about making money.
Tim,
I should have qualified that. If you are going to create a second account on any social network (Digg, StumbleUpon, whatever), it has to be COMPLETELY removed from the site you are promoting. I use an email address and site hosted on a different host and head to a friend’s house.
Needless to say, this isn’t a method I use a lot. I was just saying that if people really wanted to stumble their own stuff it is possible to get away with it.
Thanks Tim!
Sara
Saras last blog post..Call to Action : Protest Against Whale Slaughter
Just a quick question, with Digg, isn’t it possible to create + - 100 different accounts and then Digg a blog submission, getting it on the front page and then receiving the boodles of traffic it would bring.
I know it’s unethical and all, but is it actually possible?
Bobby, your thoughts?
Hahaha…yes, of course it’s possible. I know people who have more profiles than that (highly developed profiles). It is however not real, so you won’t have actual real people who like your work
I know, but just think of the massive amount of traffic and exposure your site might receive if it hits the first page?
Something to ponder, although I suppose Digg checks IP addresses to counter this.