StumbleUpon is a social website that allows its users to discover and rate web pages, multimedia etc. based on their personal and professional interests. It displays web pages when the user clicks the "Stumble" tool bar. Users can rate the web page accordingly by giving a "thumbs up", if they wish to see that page again or giving "thumbs down", if they do not find the content worthy enough. The user can also keep a track of submitted websites and recommend it to other stumblers.

 

Why StumbleUpon is better than Digg and Reddit
StumbleUpon is consistent than Digg or Reddit: Traffic from StumbleUpon lasts longer as compared to Reddit or Digg. You would obviously get a good traffic to your site if it makes to the first-page of Digg or Reddit but after few days the traffic to your site would be just diminished whereas StumbleUpon continues to drive traffic to your site in a consistent manner.

StumbleUpon has higher page views than Digg or Reddit: According to statistics available, the average time spent by users reading a content on Digg or Reddit is less as compared to StumbleUpon, where a user spends more time reading your content and may become your regular reader.


Why StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a great way of generating huge traffic to your website or content that you have stumbled. If your content is good and useful, you will be able to generate a large amount of traffic. Hence, you require StumbleUpon to :

• Generate exposure to your brand.
• Build a good reader platform for your blogs.
• Gain enormous backlinks.

Ways to drive traffic from StumbleUpon
Choose the correct section for your topic: When you submit any site to StumbleUpon, it allows you to submit it under a particular section that suits it accordingly. So, it is important for a user to select the appropriate section because if a user submits any web page in a wrong section, it will not fetch reader's interest and hence the web page might get simply dumped. Similarly, by submitting the content in the right section, you are more likely to receive "thumbs up" for your content. For e.g. If you submit a site related to social media, then submitting it in appropriate section like - social media, Internet marketing etc. would gain better results than submitting it in general Online Marketing section.

Use correct tags: Choosing correct and relevant tags is important for your web page. People would easily find your content if you categorize them with right tags.

Send stumbles to your friend: StumbleUpon allows you to send your stumbles directly to your friends such that they can view your page. Do not abuse this feature by sending too many stumbles because it would annoy your friends and they might remove you from their friend list.

Join groups: Join relevant groups and forums in StumbleUpon and post good content. Do not spam as the group moderator can remove you from that group.

Stumble only high-value content: Stumble only the informative content that you wish to share with other StumbleUpon users. Remember one golden rule that people would visit your site only if it offers them educative content.

Ways to improve the rate of repeated users back to your site
Set your goals: It is mandatory to keep in mind your main focus. Know the right section to post the article offering educative content. Also make sure that the title you choose is captivating and exciting so that the visitors are compelled to visit your site. The article should be meaningful and precise.

Offer high-value content: Ensure that the content you stumble is of high-value for users to spent time on your website. Avoid spamming in groups or forums because it may bring huge traffic in the initial stage but after sometime, it would simply fade out.

Promote your brand effectively: It is essential to work on the design of your website to ensure good visits to your site. Customize your site and choose some good templates to make it look informative as well as appealing.


Steps to avoid getting banned on StumbleUpon
Unlikely promoting a site: People generally make friends with you in order to promote their links or brand. So, StumbleUpon is a blessing for such "marketers" who can get a huge traffic to their site owing to their friends who give them a "thumbs up" to maintain the friendship. StumbleUpon has caught on this act by not only banning the promoters of that particular site but also disabling the account of friends who give them "thumbs up". StumbleUpon wants informative content from different sources that would be beneficial to its readers.

Avoid stumbling your own content: Stumbling your own content is an act of "self-promotion" in the eyes of StumbleUpon. So, try to avoid it and allow other users to stumble your content. You can only receive good reviews if the stumblers feel that you provide high-value content to the StumbleUpon community.

Avoid stumbling your own content: Do not create fake profiles on StumbleUpon only to stumble your friend's content because if you are caught, your account can be disabled temporarily or permanently from StumbleUpon.