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You know for sure - it’s not a secret for anyone - that social bookmarking sites are one of the most powerful tools for content distribution. The first plan or major players like Digg, Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon are distributing tons of new content each day. Those giants are gathering millions of members like you and me but also professional journalists and full time news writers. Thus, the competition for the front page story is hard. Let’s say only 500 000 members submit their content on Digg in a single day, what is the position of your article? In fact, 2 major factors work against you:

1. The big numbers.
2. The time available to spend on an article.

Of course, there are many other factors that may influence your position. For example: your niche, your headlines, your topics, your friends, etc. Nevertheless, let’s put that aside and let’s call a cat a cat: reaching the front page of Digg is an accomplishment in itself! Just as an example, only 2 articles from Skellie hit the front page of Digg. You probably know that Skellie is a blogger that I really like and respect for the quality of what she does. In fact, I personally think that she deserves more than 2 hits, but the only thing I have under my control is my right to vote for her and to ask all my friends to do the same!

While giants like Digg and Del.icio.us get tons and tons of submission, second tier sites like Furl and Ma.gnolia get significantly less than that. In fact, this is precisely where their strength is; your chance to hit their front page is notably better! The keyword here is positioning. Being well positioned on Digg is a challenge in itself. However, getting a good position on Furl or Ma.gnolia is relatively easier. Standing out of the crowd is a matter of quality but it is also a matter of number. The bigger the number, the harder it is!

There are several factors that may help you to succeed and be well positioned on second tier sites:

1. The quality of your content.

In fact, wherever you plan to promote, quality content is essential to succeed. Focusing on quality will positively influence your content distribution as well as links creation.

2. Your choice of second tier sites.

Some second tier sites are targeting particular niches. For example, Sphinn works well for SEO. Make your own observation and experimentation. Try to find the second tier site that gives you the best results.

3. Your understanding of second tier sites.

As soon as you chose your preferred second tier sites, be sure to well understand their mechanism. The more you master them, the more success you may have.

4. Your relationship.

Obviously, the more your develop relationships into these sites, the wider your content distribution may be. Blogging is all about relationship; be generous with the other bloggers and you’ll most likely be on their friend list!

5. Your presence and your activity.

The more you are active, the more you are visible! Presence and visibility are essential to build your branding. The other bloggers will recognize you as part of the community if you demonstrate your presence!

6. The awareness of your readers for second tier sites.

There is an educational part in that strategy. In fact, if your readers don’t know about the bookmarking sites you are using, they won’t vote for your articles even if they like it. The best would be to create an article that explains the bookmarking sites you are using and the benefits they can get from them.

7. The ease to submit your content.

The easier it will be to share your article, the better chances you have to distribute your content widely. To do so, just integrate easy links at the end of each article to share it.

Getting more and more traffic from second tier sites is excellent but the potential around them can be multiply by 2, 3 or even 10. In fact, second tier sites may be the starting point of a domino effect in term of traffic. Let me explain. Most of the time, people are users of many social media sites. For example, one may be an active member on Digg, Del.icio.us and Reddit at the same time. Thus the chances are that this member will distribute his preferred content to all 3 networks. The same case is also possible for a member of Ma.gnolia or Sphinn. Let’s say, for instance, that a power user of Sphinn is aso a power user of Digg whom is friend with a power user of Del.icio.us; here comes the domino effect! Submitting your content to Sphinn may start the whole process and create a wave of content distribution which will lead to a very large amount of traffic.

In summary, never underestimate the potential of second tier sites. They may be your best source of traffic. Being active on Digg or Del.icio.us is desirable, but choosing 1 or 2 second tier sites is a must. Take the time to search and analyze the bookmarking sites related to your niche. This will help you to make the most judicious choice and to invest your time and effort on networks that will give you real and concrete benefits.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.