The Tyler Hayes

What is social bookmarking?

In its simplest definition, “Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet” (Wikipedia ).

Social bookmarking is “social” (as opposed to just regular bookmarking) because the bookmarks are saved onto websites, rather than just the user’s local computer. That way, other users of the same bookmarking website can see valuable information about the webpage they are bookmarking, i.e. how many others have bookmarked the same page, what “tags” (words that describe the page’s content) were applied to it, etc.

How does it work?

Look at the bottom of this post where it says “Share and Enjoy.” Those icons enable you, the reader, to bookmark this post across a variety of social bookmarking sites.

How does it help me/my business?

Have you ever run an ad? Consider social bookmarking sites to be another form of marketing. Here’s a short list of immediate benefits:

1. Increased search popularity – The more people who bookmark your stuff, the more people will see how popular you are. For example, social bookmarking sites affect your Google PageRank, so you’ll move up in the rankings.
2. Untainted feedback – “Tags” visitors use to describe your site will help you to see what people think of your material, without even asking them!
3. Ideas for improvement – If you look deep enough, you’ll see what visitors want to see more/less of.
4. Creativity & innovation – It forces you to create great content, rather than just churning out the same stuff your competitors are doing. When people are judging you so openly, it really helps you to focus on what you’re putting out there, since we all know nothing is ever really removed from the Internet.
5. There are plenty more!

Your next steps

Add social bookmarking links to your website. NOW. Your visitors need to be able to submit any page on your site with only 1 click.

This doesn’t just apply to blogs. This applies to microsites, brochure sites, and even big corporate sites.

I guarantee you there is at least one person out there who would add your site to a social bookmarking site; and 1 is more than 0 last time I checked. Hence, you’re already increasing awareness of your brand, as well as your ROE (“15 Ways to Measure Return on Engagement of Social Media“). And considering it’s free for you anyway, what do you stand to lose? Social media is just another form of media, and it’s not going away anytime in the next 100 years, so don’t expect social bookmarking to lose popularity either.

Do all sites need social bookmarking capabilities?

Yes.

Sure, sometimes there is a point where appeasing too many people can detract from the main focus of whatever it is you’re doing. However, adding social media bookmarking capabilities to your site is typically very quick & painless. And, if done right, it won’t clog up your site, nor will it detract from the main focus of your site; rather, it will enhance it by allowing communication!

Plus, if you run a blog (i.e. WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Myspace, etc.), I guarantee there is already a widget available, cutting down on any real effort. I’ll even give you a little push, here are two popular widget options: ShareThis and AddThis. Now go and spread the bookmarking love!