The Power Of Using StumbleUpon

I first noticed StumbleUpon showing up in my website stats in December.

Stumble I thought?

Stumble who? Of course when I entered the site  I recognized the icon and thought I should investigate. What article was stumbled? Analyzing the blog stats would indicate is was Oh Fudge! My Top Three Fudge Recipes post and my recipe post on the Top Three Christmas Crack Recipes.

My Five Day Whirl On Stumbleupon

The Stumble Stats:

December 9 76  referrals

December 10 357 referrals

December 11 462 referrals

December 12 38 referrals

December 13 17 referrals

When the five day whirlwind on Stumbleupon  concluded I have done a little more investigation as to the power of Stumbleupon.

The Positives of StumbleUpon As Social Bookmarking

What I liked about StumbleUpon was the diversity of content and ease of access. It is like a small plates meal with just enough content to whet your appetite and keep you coming back for more.

I appreciate that StumbleUpon does not add an interest category by default. If you stumble and like a few articles in a category you had not indicated as an interest, a box pops up asking if that is category you may like to add.

The Stumbleupon App

The Stumbleupon app on my tablet makes surfing Stumbleupon very easy. A quick thumbs up and move on to the next article or image. It is available for all platforms.

Sites Like Stumbleupon

For the social sites I frequent I find Stumbleupon to be in the Pinterest category for social bookmarking. Or perhaps pinterest with words.

I love animals and photographs so frequently surf through those categories for the visuals. As a social bookmarking type site, I also pin from Stumbleupon to Pinterest.

The Negatives Of StumbleUpon

What I did not like about StumbleUpon actually has nothing to do with the Stumbleupon interface or design. If I am in the mood to stumble it needs to be a quick moving experience for my patience and interest level. Websites with annoying pop up boxes did not fare well to the Stumble experience – but that’s just me.  A pop up box which takes over half the screen, then an exit pop up box is simply irritating on Stumbleupon.

My Activity on StumbleUpon

I definitely took heed to the advice of experienced stumblers to be more active if your post is showing traction. And in the process discovered I am a fan of the website. I enjoy stumbling others’ content and enjoy stopping in for a few quick stumbles.

Latest Stumbleupon Update

I’ll leave it to the blogging pros for the in depth analysis.

There are two schools of use if you wish to share to Stumbleupon: never stumble your own content and do stumble your own content albeit sparingly.  Some maintain it is against the TOS to stumble your own content. Either way it appears beneficial if you are active on the site should a post of yours start to catch on with the community.

From my experience one never knows what catches the eye of the Stumbleupon community at that moment in time. I’ve had different types of articles do well from the serious to the humorous.

Define Doing Well On Stumbleupon

Stumbleupon can bring a spike in views to your analytics. The spike is short lived and usually concludes within 48 hours for the major increase in traffic.

However the bounce rate is notoriously high and if that stat is important to you and your analytics,  then it should be closely monitored. Depending upon the monetization of your site, it can make a difference with the type of ad placement and ad relationships.

I find Stumbleupon a fun magazine type social bookmarking site for when I am in the mood or when I am stuck waiting …

Let’s stumble!