Looking to get your small business onto the front page? If the New York Times and Wall Street Journal seem out of reach, you might want to aim for Reddit. The popular social bookmarking site calls itself “the front page of the Internet.” A link to your content on Reddit can help drive traffic to your website or blog.
In case you aren’t familiar with cloud-based social bookmarking sites, many of which like StumbleUpon and Declicious (formerly Del.icio.us) have been around for years, think of them like the bookmarks or ‘favorite’ website addresses that you save on your browser. Social bookmarketing is similar, but instead of saving a favorite URL to your computer, you save it to a site, which enables you to access it from any computer, tablet or smartphone wherever you are. In addition, social bookmarketing sites allow participants to share their bookmarks with each other and see what sites are popular each day. This sharing aspect of bookmarking is what helps make web content go viral.
If you have a blog or update your website with compelling content about your product, services or the market you serve, social bookmarking can be 
a very effective way to get your content in front of lots of people and in turn attract visitors to your site. Also consider that search engines are using ‘social signals’ to influence content rankings. The more people bookmark your site – and the more views you get from it – helps push your small business website higher in search rankings.
If you think social bookmarking has a place in your marketing, here are some tips for best results:
- Learn the categories and culture: Each of the various social bookmarking sites has its own culture; content; methods of engaging in terms of how members vote, share and tag content; and categories. Spend time on the various sites to find out what’s trending and popular and which categories or communities are most appropriate for your small business content.
- Register as a user: Once you identify sites that are appropriate for your small business, register and create a profile that includes a brief overview of your business. Include your website URL. In place of your photo, consider using your small business logo.
- Post compelling content: Make sure that your content is relevant, interesting and engaging and not simply promotion for your products and services. Also create a headline that stands out to encourage community members to click through.
- Participate: In addition to posting content, get involved with your community by sharing other content, commenting and voting on content.
- Research the market: Use the sites to get feedback about your business or market. Monitor the relevant categories to find posts and comments about your small business products or services, the competition and trends to find out what is top of mind among customers and prospects.
Also don’t forget to include social bookmarketing icons at the end of your blog posts or web content so others can easily share your content.