Social bookmarking is a fascinating phenomenon. While it’s a new trend, it brings with it elements of the pre-search engine Internet, creating interesting opportunities along the way.
Before search engine algorithms advanced enough to give birth to websites like the now-ubiquitous Google, there were directories. These human-edited, categorized listings of websites were how the first travelers on the Internet superhighway found destinations.
As the scope of the ‘Net grew, however, it was impossible for the directory model to sustain itself in a credible fashion. The sheer bulk of new sites and contents outstripped the capacity to effectively log it.
This development set the stage for search engines. These tools broker the connection of user and content by utilizing complicated programs and automated “bots” that discover new content as it appears on the web.
That “mechanical” method of cataloging the web isn’t flawless, though. What Google finds interesting or valuable doesn’t always match up with what real human beings would like to see. Search engines are a wonderful and necessary tool, but they’re not a perfect substitute for human assessments.
Improved technology, programming and an astoundingly large (and growing) Internet user base has created an opening for “folksonomic” organization of the Internet in the form of social bookmarking.
Social bookmarking is filling the gap left by the death of the human-edited directory in the face of Google and other search engines.
Basically, individual users can “bookmark” web sites they find interesting or valuable and can then share those observations with others. It’s a chance to make recommendations, give notice and to point out value from person to person.
In addition to its organizational potential, it brings with it a collection of other benefits to those who do business online. By bookmarking your pages and making it easier for visitors to bookmark them, as well, it’s possible to attract more traffic to your web properties.
In many cases, it’s also possible to create inbound links to your website - the holy grail of search engine optimization. That’s right, a system that exists because of search engine shortcomings can simultaneously help you to get better search engine placement.
There are countless social bookmarking options.
Propellr, Digg, StumbleUpon, RawSugar, Delicious, Reddit, Memestreams, Spurl, Simpy, Sitetagger, Linkroll and Jumptags are only a few of the hundreds of social bookmarking sites one could conceivably use to promote his or her online business.
The challenge, of course, is finding a way to use social bookmarking sites efficiently. While one may gain value through participation with any of the many sites, the idea of trying to cover every base is unthinkable in terms of time constraints.
In response to that quandary, developers have created tools like SocialBookmarker, Social Bookmarking Daemon and OnlyWire. These tools will allow you to quickly and easily bookmark your pages across a wide swath of social bookmarking territory, making it simple to list your content on a variety of sites.
Social bookmarking isn’t a business model.
It can help your efforts tremendously, however. That makes it something that every Internet entrepreneur should understand and use to maximum effectiveness.
Pages of interest:
Can you Make Money Socializing?
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