Not too many people are worried of servers crushing down from the “stumble effect”, but I got scarred yesterday when over 500 visitors came to my site in a span of 10 minutes. I guess it all depends who “stumbles” your posts. Thanks Andy! It did not continue but I think time will come that traffic from StumbleUpon can be as heavy as from Digg.
If the post is really good it doesn't matter much who stumbles upon it really.
hi Actually I've been experimenting with this over the last week or two. Stumble is always returning upwards of 150% more traffic than Digg or so I have found. Early days yet in my own experimenting with these kind of sites and I'm just about to add Reddit into the equation. What I did was have an article Digged and see the traffic result from that. Then add stumble to the equation by having teh same article stumbled. Result: Far as I make out for every 50 users from Digg I get around 200+ from stumble. Thats an increase of 150ish% in traffic return. I think part of the reason that is happening is in how stumble works compared to Digg. In Digg it's a by choice click where as when you are stumbling, it's a random link based on your tag settings. So if an article is 'Stumbled' it is then in the database. The more that page is stumbled and then thumbed up the more it will be presented but it is always going to be presented a percentage of times to the relevant category. Bit more complicated than that really but to give a quick simple explanation it will suffice. I'll be doing a more in depth article hopefully with some good numbers/percentage breakdown around the end of the month. Sure you'll probably 'Stumble across' (Excuse the pun 😉 ?)…
If the post is really good it doesn’t matter much who stumbles upon it really.
hi Actually I’ve been experimenting with this over the last week or two. Stumble is always returning upwards of 150% more traffic than Digg or so I have found. Early days yet in my own experimenting with these kind of sites and I’m just about to add Reddit into the equation. What I did was have an article Digged and see the traffic result from that. Then add stumble to the equation by having teh same article stumbled. Result: Far as I make out for every 50 users from Digg I get around 200+ from stumble. Thats an increase of 150ish% in traffic return. I think part of the reason that is happening is in how stumble works compared to Digg. In Digg it’s a by choice click where as when you are stumbling, it’s a random link based on your tag settings. So if an article is ‘Stumbled’ it is then in the database. The more that page is stumbled and then thumbed up the more it will be presented but it is always going to be presented a percentage of times to the relevant category. Bit more complicated than that really but to give a quick simple explanation it will suffice. I’ll be doing a more in depth article hopefully with some good numbers/percentage breakdown around the end of the month. Sure you’ll probably ‘Stumble across’ (Excuse the pun 😉 ?)…
@Andy (another one),
I look forward to see your statistics. I used to have a Digg widget here on this blog as well, but I was banned from Digg and will never support them again. I find that SumbleUpon users to be far more intelligent, all you need to do is to read the comments from Sumblers.
I really had bad experience with Digg- once even called them bunch of angry and arrogant teenagers.
I have also noticed that “Stumblers” are more likely to subscribe to your feed if they find your articles interesting. I can't prove it but I notice a slight increase of readership on my blog every time my posts get “stumbled”.
@Andy (another one),
I look forward to see your statistics. I used to have a Digg widget here on this blog as well, but I was banned from Digg and will never support them again. I find that SumbleUpon users to be far more intelligent, all you need to do is to read the comments from Sumblers.
I really had bad experience with Digg- once even called them bunch of angry and arrogant teenagers.
I have also noticed that “Stumblers” are more likely to subscribe to your feed if they find your articles interesting. I can’t prove it but I notice a slight increase of readership on my blog every time my posts get “stumbled”.
I am in 2 minds about stumbles , On one hand i would love to get enough to test my server but I am not convinced that there is any long term benefit from SU traffic. I much prefer the traffic i get form community style Social networking sites , they seem to stick around for much longer and will probably be of much more benefit in the long run.
I am in 2 minds about stumbles , On one hand i would love to get enough to test my server but I am not convinced that there is any long term benefit from SU traffic. I much prefer the traffic i get form community style Social networking sites , they seem to stick around for much longer and will probably be of much more benefit in the long run.
I experienced something similar and the effect lasted all month. I actually need to upgrade my server to cope with the new traffic level. I wrote a post called “how to Andy Beard your blog” to look at how to… well Andy Beard it.
I experienced something similar and the effect lasted all month. I actually need to upgrade my server to cope with the new traffic level. I wrote a post called “how to Andy Beard your blog” to look at how to… well Andy Beard it.
@Mark, in a way your right, though I have noticed way more traffic from stumbleupon than say Digg for instance, turning that into returning traffic is difficult. This is probably due to how the stumble model works as opposed to how other models such as Digg or Reddit work.
That said though, you still have the same with Digg or Reddit, how to get that traffic to return and that comes down to making interesting informative articles such as what the owner here has done. Thats why they have two comments now from myself, whereas 99.9% of blogs I visit, I'm gone within seconds.
It's interesting, easy to read and get's the info across without any needless banter. It's quick to read being relatively short but with all the main points getting across. So there you have it, keep it as concise as possible but get the information you want to deliver in there. With that you will achieve 2 things; the reader will stay interested and that in turn will convert to a higher return rate in traffic, which at the end of the day is the whole point of the exercise in the first place.
@Mark, in a way your right, though I have noticed way more traffic from stumbleupon than say Digg for instance, turning that into returning traffic is difficult. This is probably due to how the stumble model works as opposed to how other models such as Digg or Reddit work.
That said though, you still have the same with Digg or Reddit, how to get that traffic to return and that comes down to making interesting informative articles such as what the owner here has done. Thats why they have two comments now from myself, whereas 99.9% of blogs I visit, I’m gone within seconds.
It’s interesting, easy to read and get’s the info across without any needless banter. It’s quick to read being relatively short but with all the main points getting across. So there you have it, keep it as concise as possible but get the information you want to deliver in there. With that you will achieve 2 things; the reader will stay interested and that in turn will convert to a higher return rate in traffic, which at the end of the day is the whole point of the exercise in the first place.
Lord Matt,
I thought this was going to last because Andy Stumbled this post was well. However I also know the power of “thumb down” on Stumble ;). Just got one.
That was a negative review, not a thumb down – thumb downs are not visible
I just marked the negative review as not being useful, because it wasn't
Whilst this post is quite sort, there is useful information in it for people interested in this kind of content.
Lord Matt,
I thought this was going to last because Andy Stumbled this post was well. However I also know the power of “thumb down” on Stumble ;). Just got one.
That was a negative review, not a thumb down – thumb downs are not visible
I just marked the negative review as not being useful, because it wasn’t
Whilst this post is quite sort, there is useful information in it for people interested in this kind of content.
Congrats! I have received some stumbles which gave just about 500 visitors in 30 minutes. My own profile generates just about 100-200 visitors but I hope my profile gets bigger soon 🙂
Congrats! I have received some stumbles which gave just about 500 visitors in 30 minutes. My own profile generates just about 100-200 visitors but I hope my profile gets bigger soon 🙂
I'm not sure I agree with the thumbs down button. I would prefer to be an Ignore function for that user so the page is not served again. I know I've thumbed down one or two things but I still get them served from time to time and that was the only reason I thumbed it down, so I didn't get to see it again which is how I thought it worked? Obviously not.
Personally, I don't like rejecting anything out of hand unless it something really nasty. What stumbleupon needs is the current thumbs up – Hey! Look at this guys, I like it! – The thumbs down – Nope! Sorry I don't like it (But that doesn't mean that the article is then buried – others may like it – in fact I don't agree that an article should be buried at all) plus an extra button – Ignore or 'Seen That' – OK! I've seen that like 20-30 times already, lay of a while ok?
That way others get to see a page even if it has been thumbed down and no special rating is given to a page either way. If a user then doesn't want to see the page again, they hit the ignore button and that user doesn't get to see it again. Simple enough to do really.
Anyway just my slant on it. Just because one person doesn't like something doesn't mean others will dislike it and vice versa. It needs the third option IMHO and that goes with all social bookmarking sites in a way. That third option though should only be user specific and not associated with the rating of an article in any way. I see that as being way more fair in operation.
hmm maybe an idea for starting up a new social bookmarking site with a different approach – a Fair one.
nb: No nicking my idea now lol 😉
I’m not sure I agree with the thumbs down button. I would prefer to be an Ignore function for that user so the page is not served again. I know I’ve thumbed down one or two things but I still get them served from time to time and that was the only reason I thumbed it down, so I didn’t get to see it again which is how I thought it worked? Obviously not.
Personally, I don’t like rejecting anything out of hand unless it something really nasty. What stumbleupon needs is the current thumbs up – Hey! Look at this guys, I like it! – The thumbs down – Nope! Sorry I don’t like it (But that doesn’t mean that the article is then buried – others may like it – in fact I don’t agree that an article should be buried at all) plus an extra button – Ignore or ‘Seen That’ – OK! I’ve seen that like 20-30 times already, lay of a while ok?
That way others get to see a page even if it has been thumbed down and no special rating is given to a page either way. If a user then doesn’t want to see the page again, they hit the ignore button and that user doesn’t get to see it again. Simple enough to do really.
Anyway just my slant on it. Just because one person doesn’t like something doesn’t mean others will dislike it and vice versa. It needs the third option IMHO and that goes with all social bookmarking sites in a way. That third option though should only be user specific and not associated with the rating of an article in any way. I see that as being way more fair in operation.
hmm maybe an idea for starting up a new social bookmarking site with a different approach – a Fair one.
nb: No nicking my idea now lol 😉