Kick StumbleUpons Ass (A Mini Guide to StumbleUpon)

by Franklin Bishop on October 22, 2008

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Have you ever wondered how you can get hundreds to thousands of visitors to your blog because of one of your articles? Well, you do not have to wonder anymore because I’m going to show you how to kick StumbleUpon’s ass and get tons of Stumbleupon traffic to your blog.

Last night the thought came to me that I should do a mini guide on StumbleUpon after I saw some users at Bloggeries having trouble with it. When you’re just starting out it is difficult to understand how to use StumbleUpon  and of course how to get the most out of it.

StumbleUpon Is Personal to Personal

  • One thing that you always have to remember when it comes to StumbleUpon is that it is a personal to personal social media site. Even though you may never build in depth relationships with other users, you do build relationships as StumbleUpon users.
  • What do you get when you are in a StumbleUpon relationship? Well, you will get many more stumbles to your blog and way more traffic. Even though a StumbleUpon relationship like that is a good one, you really want to make sure not to make any enemies on StumbleUpon. There are some people that would rather go about giving you a thumbs down because they are angry with you.
  • If StumbleUpon is personal to personal then you want to make sure not to treat it as business to personal. Do not become someone that treats StumbleUpon as a business because this really can turn off other StumbleUpon users. Or in other words, do not become some robot. Instead, act like a human being.
  • Of course other than StumbleUpon being personal to personal, there is the most important part of being a StumbleUpon user. You want to get traffic to your blog. I know what your question is so the answers are below:
  • StumbleUpon doesn’t like to go into what works and what doesn’t work to get more people to see your stumbles. However, it is pretty easy to figure it out. Start off by putting all your information on your StumbleUpon page. Include a little about you in the about me section. Also add your blog address in the about me part also. The reason I say this is because when someone comes to your StumbleUpon page they will see your blog address right away. If you only put your blog address in the URL section then it will not show up unless they click on the tab. However, don’t actually forget to put your blog address in your URL. Some people will overlook your about me section and click on the tab to see if you have a web site.

Discover and Stumble Everyday

  • Make sure you give thumbs up to different web pages and posts every day. When you discover a new post or web page then a new window will pop up. If this happens then make sure that you really want to submit the web page or blog post to StumbleUpon.
  • The more people that give thumbs up to each blog post or web page you submit the more power your stumbles have. So obviously only discover pages that you no other StumbleUpon users will like. Try to stay within your niche, but obviously remember that StumbleUpon is personal. (So do not look like a business BY ONLY stumbling pages in your niche. StumbleUpon users are not stupid.)

Find Similar StumbleUpon Users

  • Make sure to go through and find people that stumble web sites like your own blog. To do this make sure to get the StumbleUpon toolbar like I mentioned above. Go to the most popular blogs in your blog niche. This will make it easier to find StumbleUpon users who are willing to stumble your posts. When you get to a post click on the little quote icon on the StumbleUpon toolbar. It will then take you to a page that shows you everyone that gave that article a thumbs up.
  • From here you want to subscribe to each one of these peoples StumbleUpon pages. Also try to bookmark it into whatever browser you are currently using. It is the easiest to make a folder so that you can keep all of your StumbleUpon pages in one.
  • Also, become what I call a StumbleUpon stocker. Try to give thumbs up to the pages you like from their StumbleUpon page. After a while you will likely get noticed and they will stumble some of your blog posts in return. (By now you should be feeling that karma is on your side)
  • Make sure to go through and find people that have blogs that are similar to yours and comment on their blogs. Use your StumbleUpon Web address as your URL when you are commenting. Try to do the same thing as I talked about above. You will have many users already saved in your bookmarks if you listened to me. So go back through all the StumbleUpon profiles that you bookmarked. Each user normally puts the web address to their blog on their page. So you can collect all these blogs and subscribe to them.If you’re like me, then add them to your feed reader and make a folder specifically for these blogs. Then make sure to comment on them. The reason I said to use your blog address as your URL is because they will go to your StumbleUpon page. This could get them to go to your web page since you will have your blog address on your StumbleUpon page. They might also subscribe to your stumbles. Of course the point here is to get them to your blog and stumble your blog posts. Just making people realize that you are a StumbleUpon user could get them to stumble your articles. Many other StumbleUpon users think the same way I’m teaching you, that is to stumble other people’s articles and hope they stumble your articles in return.

Appreciate Other StumbleUpon Users

  • If you thumb something up and the discovery window pops up, then make sure to write a review for that blog post. When writing a review try to at least write three sentences. People like to know what the blog post is about before they go to the web page. So other users will really like you if you give them more information so that they do not always have to go to the web page. It also tells other users that you are just not stumbling a web site to stumble it. It shows that you have a reason and a purpose for your stumbles. Other users will appreciate this and may stumble your blog posts and other articles you submit to StumbleUpon.If you see that someone else has submitted one of your blog posts, then make sure to thumb up that same post. That will get you more traffic to your blog.You can watch and see if your page gets stumbled by looking at your stats a couple of times a day. I tend to use the Wassup plugin for WordPress. With this plugin I can tell when a person goes to a certain page because it shows what URL they are on such as: http://franklinbishop.net/a-unique-blog-design-and-free-sponsors/ and then below it will say where that visitor came from. So if a visitor came from StumbleUpon it will show you the URL to the StumbleUpon page. Once you see that your post is stumbled give it a thumbs up yourself. StumbleUpon users do not like you to stumble just your own posts so if you decide to discover your own article then make sure you’re still discovering other articles throughout the Internet.
  • Make sure after four or five days to send a thank you to each one of the users that stumbled your posts. It can’t hurt you to let people know you appreciate their stumbles. Plus it is always good karma for yourself.
  • For the people that stumbled your blog posts, make sure to try and go to their blog and stumble some of their best blog posts. People will usually do the same for you and of course it is good karma for yourself. Like your mom said, do for others as you would want them to do for you. If the other person doesn’t stumble your articles back, then don’t worry about it. You will have plenty of other users to try and get stumbles from. If you’re like me, then StumbleUpon will become a game.

Article Topics and Headlines

  • Make sure to try and write good blog titles. Many StumbleUpon users quickly surf through articles. So make sure your blog title is towards the top fold of their blog. Do not write some boring title or headline that will not make a visitor want to read your post. Writing a good post title or headline is a whole article itself though.
  • Make sure to also write content that will intrigue the reader. Make sure to write good content or no one will want to stumble your posts. The better content you write the more thumbs up you will receive. Try not to write just one or two paragraphs otherwise I can guarantee you will not get many stumbles.

Simplicity and Traffic

And of course you can always add a StumbleUpon button at the top or bottom of each post. This will make it more likely that your readers or visitors will stumble or thumbs up your post. Web surfers do not like to have to take the time to find something or do anything extra. However, if you make it easy for web surfers to do something, then you have a better chance they will do it. StumbleUpon users have told me that they sometimes forget to stumble a page or give it thumbs up. Obviously, you should make sure it to grab one of the StumbleUpon buttons with the code so that you can put it on each of your blog posts. Need help doing this contact me

Now to the best part, two or three thumbs up can get you anywhere from 300 to 1,000 visitors to your blog. Of course the more thumbs up you continue to get, the more visitors to your blog you get. If you happen to get a lot of thumbs up you could get constant traffic to your blog for weeks. It does vary depending on what category your article is stumbled under. I have three different blogs running right now and of course politics has taken over everything. However, after November 4 everything should go back to normal where politics is not such a big deal on StumbleUpon or similar web sites.

There are many things you can do to get the most out of StumbleUpon. If you just spend 30 minutes to 1 hour a day using StumbleUpon, then you shouldn’t have a problem getting traffic to your blog. I’ve been averaging around 6,000 visitors every month from StumbleUpon and you can too. The benefits of StumbleUpon are wonderful if you use it correctly.

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Kick StumbleUpons A** (A Mini Guide to StumbleUpon) - Bloggeries Forum
October 22, 2008 at 9:05 pm

{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }

Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy October 22, 2008 at 12:14 pm

Great insights. I’ve just recently started exploring StumbleUpon. What are your thoughts on submitting your own blog to stumbupon yourself? Is that frowned upon, or a good way to get your article into the mix?

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Franklin Bishop October 22, 2008 at 7:35 pm

It is okay to do it every once in awhile. Like the comment below, just don’t over do it so you look like a spammer. One of the things to make you look like you’re not a spammer is by stumbling other blog posts. Because if someone goes to your StumbleUpon page and see that you are only stumbling your own blog, and they will automatically think that you’re a spammer just trying to get traffic to your blog.

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Michael Aulia October 27, 2008 at 6:23 am

I thought that StumbleUpon will ban you if you submit your own blog post?

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Franklin Bishop October 27, 2008 at 3:54 pm

In certain cases. Check VlogHog’s comment below..

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Salwa October 22, 2008 at 5:45 pm

@ Your friendly neighborhood computer guy: What i have read from the expert’s that it’s ok to stumble your own blog/posts but just don’t over do it or else you will be concidered as a spammer.

Thanks for the great post and stopping by to my blog Franklin.

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Franklin Bishop October 22, 2008 at 7:46 pm

I completely agree with you on the spammer thing. It looks like you have done your reading on StumbleUpon. I am happy that I have been able to learn a lot just using StumbleUpon and get thousands of visitors every month. A lot of them turn into subscribers also.

You’re welcome for stopping by your blog. You really have something good going there and I enjoy it.

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Freddie October 22, 2008 at 6:10 pm

Franklin, I have to book mark this post because I am very new to Stumble Upon and I definitely want to kick its ass.

I subscribed to you as well on here and on Twitter. Excited to see what you got for me. I need someone in my life that focuses on social media as I have a lot to learn.

BTW, this was my first time to your blog.

Let’s get it crackin!

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Franklin Bishop October 22, 2008 at 7:52 pm

Hey, thanks for stopping by at my blog. It looks like we are a subscriber buddies now. I’m really huge on social media because it is really easy to make money when you get traffic from it. Let me know if you are interested in anything specific. It is always easier to write knowing what people are looking for.

I enjoy your blog so keep up the good work.

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Freddie October 22, 2008 at 10:15 pm

Yes sir, looks like we are subscribe friends! I will be sure to shoot you some of my ideas on what I need to learn in the future. Looking forward to building, learning, and growing with you.

BTW, I was changing servers on my blog when you commented, so don’t think I erased your comments. They were just on the old server after I had done my backup and restore on new one.

It’s all good!

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Thanks a lot for letting me know about the comments.

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Cats into Lions October 22, 2008 at 10:54 pm

This is the greatest social media network for me. I get 300-500 uniques daily from stumble upon. Thats why I do not care about SEO much. This traffic comes effortless. ( Given that you write good posts like this one.) And I can predict this will be a SU hit. Thumbs up right away.

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 11:59 am

That is a pretty good amount of uniques. Writing good posts is one of the best ways to get StumbleUpon traffic. A lot of people do not know what a good post is though.

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Lainie Petersen October 23, 2008 at 1:03 am

Great tips for using StumbleUpon. I agree: You need to just take a little extra time each day to stumble properly and responsibly, and to get to know fellow stumblers. A little courtesy goes a long way.

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 11:57 am

You said it best. It really doesn’t take it on a time to use StumbleUpon every day. Over time you’ll realize that it was well worth it.

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Lainie Petersen October 24, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Actually, this is true with most blog/website promotion, just a bit of common sense, common courtesy, basic friendiness, and a little extra time makes a huge difference.

But a lot of people don’t realize this.

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Girish October 23, 2008 at 5:54 am

That’s an amazing post Franklin. I found your blog through Danny Cooper’s blog and the title of the post (props to CommentLuv) was intriguing to say the least.

Maybe, you should include some tips about how to organically transform your account into that of a power stumbler’s?

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 11:55 am

I guess a good blog post title can catch someone’s attention. I can write on how to become a power stumbler but it’s not really going to help you much in terms of traffic to your blog. But of course I will write about it.

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Girish October 24, 2008 at 12:04 pm

Franklin- If you’re a power stumbler, your stumbles count more and this leads to increased traffic :)

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Yeah, but that means you have to stumble your own posts. Check out this Dosh Dosh post: http://www.doshdosh.com/how-to-become-a-top-stumbleupon-user-or-why-shouldnt-bother/

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Dennis Edell October 23, 2008 at 7:06 am

As a newbie to SU (yea I know) this is going in the reference folder. ;)

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 11:53 am

The best thing is StumbleUpon is easy to catch on to. I will try to keep the post updated because StumbleUpon changes things quite often.

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Lainie Petersen October 24, 2008 at 11:56 am

Please do, Franklin. And other articles on SU would be great!

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Franklin Bishop October 24, 2008 at 5:23 pm

I’m setting up a free course through aweber so check back. :)

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VlogHog (A. Lloyd) October 27, 2008 at 3:19 pm

From my experience, you can Stumble your own posts. BUT, also you should Stumble similar posts to your own. Also, you can Stumble pictures, videos and entire websites.

Two to three posts of your own will not hurt you in a group of hundreds of other Stumbles.

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Franklin Bishop October 27, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Correct! They only care if you just stumble your own posts. Otherwise it doesn’t matter.

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Michael Aulia October 27, 2008 at 5:15 pm

Well some people get their blog/site banned because they stumble their own post :(

Read more here: http://www.xarj.net/2008/i-cant-stumbleupon-my-own-blog-anymore/

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Franklin Bishop October 27, 2008 at 7:55 pm

Interesting, I guess persuade others to stumble your posts.

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The Almost Millionaire November 1, 2008 at 7:59 am

This really helps brother. Thanks much. I actually know one of the guys who started Stumbleupon, he went to Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Very Cool, Did you know that E-bay owns them now.
Anyways, thanks for stopping by my site last week. I’m glad to be back!

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Franklin Bishop November 24, 2008 at 9:52 pm

I need to make sure to stop by your blog more. It is a cool that you know one of the guys that started StumbleUpon. It is one of the best ways to get easy traffic to your blog.

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rei November 3, 2008 at 1:24 am

i definately will try that, thanks

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Franklin Bishop November 24, 2008 at 9:53 pm

I am always happy to help.

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vloghog (alloyd) November 17, 2008 at 1:03 pm

To Micheal Aulia :

If you Stumble about two to three of your best posts, you should be fine out of a hundred or so. I’ve done it and have gotten no grief.

xarj.net stumbled 13 of his posts out of about 200 or so. That’s too many.

Try to discover as many blog/website as you can, like Franklin suggests and it gives you more power.

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Franklin Bishop November 24, 2008 at 9:55 pm

I completely agree with you. Try to only stumble your best blog posts you write.

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Debbie James November 29, 2008 at 3:17 pm

I found your website thru Remarkablogger’s site. He has an article on “The 7 Factors of a Successful and Trusted Blog” and mentioned you at the bottom of the page. Your info has been so useful. I have been blogging and not getting enough traffic. Looks like I’ll be “stumbling” around!

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Franklin Bishop December 2, 2008 at 11:00 am

Yeah, I wrote a guest post for him. I do believe that StumbleUpon can bring you in a lot of traffic if you use it right. I do recommend that you subscribe to a few people’s StumbleUpon pages every day now. This will give you the opportunity to be noticed more.

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How to Blog December 1, 2008 at 4:37 pm

Great guide on stumbleupon. It’s a great source of traffic, and so few people know how to really implement it. I’ve gotten thousands of hits from it, and it’s relatively easy to do. Good job sharing this knowledge to other people.

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krissy knox December 4, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Hi Franklin, thanks a lot for this post! I wasn’t quite understanding Stumbleupon or its importance. So I am definitely safekeeping this post!

I also wanted to let you know that I have moved my blog — and it now has a new URL. It went from it’s AOL site when AOL journals shut down — over to it’s new Blogger site (where the AOL blogs were transferred/migrated to). Here is the new URL for Sometimes I Think:

http://sometimesithink-krissy.blogspot.com

Thought you would like to know. Thanks!

Krissy :)

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Shanker Bakshi December 12, 2008 at 1:10 pm

frankly speaking bishop i don’t use stumble upon much. i get very little time for blogging as i’m not a full time blogger, its only 3 hours daily i get to manage my blogs so its difficult for me to concentrate on various social media sites, though i use twitter and some other stuff to boost traffic to my site. but yes i have learned few lesson from this post about how to use SU, lets see if its works.

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The Envoy June 10, 2009 at 10:58 am

Interesting read. Stumble Upon requires a lot of time and dedication though, I think.

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Darren September 30, 2009 at 1:31 pm

That is great advice and I will definitely start doing what you recommend. I’ve been using StumbleUpon for a while and I notice traffic surges when I give my post a thumbs up and then get just one more person to give a thumbs up. StumbleUpon is certainly a Powerful marketing tool, there is no dought about that. But, I think it get over looked with everyone running for Twitter and other sites. I believe you get a lot more bang for your buck and time, with Stumbleupon. Come Thumbs Up my Environmental blog http://yourgreenability.com. I just gave you one for this great post.
Thank again
Darren

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