Every time you forward a joke, funny picture, or link to a friend, you participate in a form of social marketing. Many sites have automated that process by allowing people to “bookmark” (links) to a site associated with multiple keywords and ratings. These sites include organizations such as del.icio.us, yoono, digg, and reddit. From a business point of view, social bookmarking sites are, in effect, a different kind of search engine, and a search engine that you want to appear on.
The simplest way to get listed is to simply submit your content or site to the social bookmarking site with a suitable list of keywords (Note: keywords on social bookmarking sites can be pre-categorized or completely free of charge ).
Another way to use social bookmarking sites is to submit a wide variety of pre-tagged content or page links in more detail. Submit each individual blog post or section of your website, and carefully tag each appropriately. For example, each product description page can be submitted separately.
With a concerted effort to get listed on all the various social bookmarking sites, you will get three results:
(1) It will increase the level of highly targeted traffic to your site.
(2) You will drive sales directly through referrals to call-to-action sales pages, and
(3) You will improve your search engine rankings by increasing backlinks to your site.
All in all, making sure you’re posted to multiple sites is a great way to increase your internet marketing effectiveness!
