Sunday 19 April 2009

Lesson 14: Social Bookmarking


LESSON 14
SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
SITE: http://www.socialmarker.com

So, you've finally got something on the web that you believe to be the next best thing! It could be an article you recently wrote and published on one of the web's article database sites, or it could be a posting you made on your blog. It may even be one of your latest web pages linked to your main web page. It could even be a page of your photography – or a page of your online shop where users can see more about what you have to sell – and of course buy from you directly!

Did you know that there must be some 15 BILLION web pages available at the moment? Just imagine this now. Let's say there are 6 billion people in the world… and each of them is looking for something in particular. Well let's do some wild guessing now. Imagine that you've just developed the latest widget gadget! This gadget is the world's greatest bread preserver. In addition to being able to preserve bread for months on end without the slightest trace of mould or becoming dry and hard – this unique machine doubles up as a refrigerator – because it needs to be cool to keep the bread fresh. It also doubles up as an oven – so that you can just turn up the heat quickly when you need to warm the bread (always tastes better this way!) It has some other unique abilities, such as being able to fold open so that you can place a number of loaves of bread (of various kinds) inside it. In fact, it has a special shelf that also allows for the actual baking of bread to take place. It's really a superb device. As I said – the latest widget gadget available. This device could make you millions and you could find yourself on the next "World's top 100 Billion" list. Fantastic!

Anyway back to reality. So you've got the goods sitting in your home all ready for production. You've got the webpage designed artistically so that any deficiencies in the product will be more than made up by the splendid graphics you've chosen to make your page a big winner. And you've uploaded a beautiful picture of your widgetmagoo. Now there you have it – your page is out there with Paypal button on and all. It's sitting… and sitting…. You can't seem to work out why nobody knows about your product though. It's there – isn't it?! It's on the big I(nternet!)

Hmmm… let's get the picture clearer now. So, you've got a bread maker haven't you?! And yours is the best – isn't it? What with the built it oven, fridge, and radio/cell phone too. And there are really only 15 BILLION pages of Internet out there. What with 6 billion people – I'm sure that at least every third person should get to your page…. Eventually!

Of course the truth is, if you've done a recent search on Google for "bread maker" (for lack of a better word to describe our widgetmagoo) you'll get over 1 million results. Now, your superb page is sitting there somewhere of course. But maybe... just maybe it's number…. 1 million! Considering that the average person would have to click on the "next page" button some 100 000 times (10 pages are shown on every page) – I guess it would take the average person a few years before he gets to your page, and by that time, he'd be too exhausted to think of new widgetmagoos.

Of course if someone did a search for "widgetmagoo" they'd probably see your listing in the number 1 position. But I just don't know how many people know about widgetmagoos. So, it's going to be kind of difficult to make sure people get to know about your product – whether it's called a "widgetmagoo", a "widegetmagee", or even just a plan old fashioned "bread maker" or "bread freshener."

But we've got the goods, and we know that once people see them, they're going to buy these little gold nuggets in no time at all – just as soon as they see them!!!

Welcome SOCIAL BOOKMARKING!

Social bookmarking is a way to get others to know about your famous page in a zillionth of the time it would take for them to know about it – without the bookmarking! In fact, you have two advantages with social bookmarking. One is that by doing this, anybody else who uses these bookmarking tools will have faster access to your page – if they're serious about finding the latest greatest things on the Internet. And second of all, when one social bookmarks, one's own page automatically gets a higher list ranking with Google. Google tends to think that if someone out there (no matter who it is – whether the author himself or another person) – bookmarked a page – it really must have some value. In fact, you might find your page suddenly jumping to position 20 from position 1 million in just a couple of days! And if it's really something special, and people do start clicking on it… well, you may get good ol' position number ONE! And that's really what the web is all about. You want everyone doing a search for "bread maker" or "bread freshener" or the like, to end up seeing your page at the number one post so that they'll all click on it and buy YOUR product! Whoopee!

So, now for the practical. How do you bookmark your site, your photographs – whatever?!:

Take a trip to www.socialmarker.com – because this is the site that will make things easy for you – to get your site listed in some 160 places in 5 minutes flat!

Just one word of warning before we begin. Do be careful not to get too carried away with only your pages – and doing all 160 bookmarks every single time. Google has it's ways of seeing what you're up to… So if you start abusing the system which is made to actually help people and not to simply spam everyone with your goodies – you may find yourself in trouble. This won't do much good to the terrific widgetmagoo you have recently invented, so do things cautiously.

Let's go now:

You'll actually see a button on the page under the "how to use it (help)" section. If you drag this button to your main browser toolbar, you will automatically set everything up for future use. It will make life easier from now on, because you will now have a button on your toolbar that will allow you to bookmark any page by simply clicking on that button – instead of having to log in every single time to the main site. So do add it.

Once you've added it, you're ready to begin!

1. Go to the site you'd like to bookmark so that others will know what you're up to.
2. Click on the social bookmark button on your browser (the one you just set up)
3. Fill in the information about the site that does not already appear in the boxes.
4. You'll need a title for your post (such as Widgetmagoo Miracle.)
5. You'll need the link (it should be filled in, because you're already on the page.)
6. You'll need some text – something like – "This tool will keep your bread fresh for years on end! A must for anyone who ever eats bread!)
7. Then some tags (bread,maker,fresh,widgetmagoo,oven,fridge,bake,cellphone)
8. Check (place a tick) in the social bookmark engines that you want to list your page on. Choose them all, or just a few. Some work better. I'd recommend Propellor, Digg, Twitter, Reddit, MrJeeves.ask.com. Though you can really choose whichever you want. There is no reason not to use the others at all. Experiment and have fun.
9. DONE!

Now what you'll need to do is to actually make your submissions to each of these sites. Most of the information will appear on the bottom of your page so that you can simply drag and drop your info into the required blocks without having to re-type the pieces of text you entered about the site on the front page. Each page will tell you as you go along how they work.

You'll have to register with each of them (which is a bit time consuming for 160 sites!) But once you're registered, you'll simply log in, submit the info, and everything is done!

Once you've done this, you'll be listed on these utilities. They work in incredible ways, and before long, you will actually see people coming to your site from having found you on one of these bookmarks. It is actually quite remarkable how it all works. I am surprised every day when I see how many people find their way to my sites from these bookmarks.

I'd suggest getting stuck into them immediately, as you only stand to gain as hundreds and thousands of new people get to find out more about you faster than ever!

If you still need help, please do email me and let me know what's on your mind. rebeliyahu@gmail.com

For those interested in watching a video, below is a short and easy video to watch that explains social bookmarking in tv form!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails