For many small businesses, reaching the widest customer base possible is generally a priority. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are useful but sometimes they do not offer the broad promotion that your business needs simply because they are based on the extent of your network. There are alternative methods to gaining a broad audience that will get people talking and more importantly, drive sales. Using social bookmarking sites, such as StumbleUpon, can significantly increase the amount of random hits on your website. StumbleUpon has been credited with being far better than any other site in this regard. Here, is why and how you can use it to promote your small business:
1. Easy to set up and use
StumbleUpon is self-explanatory, so setting up an account is simple. In order to establish an account for your small business, just follow the guidelines and you will be up and running in no time.
2. Allow discovery of your webpage
This bookmarking site allows an individual to use their own preferences to score websites, pictures, videos and text. A user tells StumbleUpon whether it liked or disliked a certain website and StumbleUpon remembers this. They compile this information and then show the user websites that match their “likes”. This is the perfect way for the masses to discover your website. StumbleUpon allows internet users to surf sites they would not have come across previously, so it does not matter how small the business is or the extent of your network, this site can work for you.
3. Obtain “likes” from individuals
Viewers of any website can decide whether or not they like it by clicking on a ‘LIKE’ icon. This will tell multiple viewers how many people approve of the web page and the more ‘LIKES’ a page has, the more traffic it will receive. Therefore, you want to encourage customers or potential customers to like the web pages on your small business site to drive more customers in.
4. Create unique content
The more unique content on your small business web page that is created, the more hits your website is likely to receive. StumbleUpon aims to highlight original work, and by definition, articles that are pasted and copied are not unique. It can be very exciting creating something from nothing, so put on that creative hat and get to work.
5. Use what you have
Use other social networking sites and customers to promote your webpage on StumbleUpon, so that others will follow. As stated previously, Facebook has its uses! Try to engage the customers you have, to give a thumbs up for your website and plenty more will follow suit. Use your initiative to create the reality you want. After all, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Any small business will profit from a site such as StumbleUpon, and your small business is no exception, as the idea is simple and, the methods are easy to apply. It is not meant only for super technological people but for the layman who simply wishes their small business website to flourish.