After its update this week, StumbleUpon.com has a new logo, new channel feature, and improved profiles.
The “Explore” search feature is also out of beta and ready to change the way people search for interesting pages on the web.
Just like the recent YouTube upgrade, I think these changes are notable.
Here are 5 reasons you should check out StumbleUpon:
1. StumbleUpon sends more traffic than Facebook
Yep, you read that correctly.
With well over 1 Billion pages visited through their service each month, leaders can no longer afford to ignore it. If you’re producing great content on the internet, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to have your work seen by people who have opted-in to see the very topic you just wrote about.
2. StumbleUpon now allows brands to have their own channel
This has huge potential.
In the past, it was frowned upon to open up an SU account just to share your own blog posts. Recently they’ve done a 180 and now encourage brands to share their content via integrated RSS feeds, Twitter, and Facebook. The only problem is that it’s not an easy process to set up a branded channel. In fact, there is absolutely no instruction on how to create a StumbleUpon channel, despite the fact that their blog clearly states that it’s open to everyone now.
Stay tuned. I’m sure they’ll work it out soon.
It will look something like the 8pm Warrior profile:
3. StumbleUpon has 20,000,000 users and counting
It’s definitely not a passing fad. It’s been around since 2001 and is now seeing tremendous growth. More members means a larger community of people exposed to your content and sharing it through the Su.pr shortlink system or the StumbleUpon “Submit” buttons (see example on the left or bottom of this post).
Almost all top blogs have these “Submit” buttons and now services like Triberr have it built in too.
Ubiquity + 20,000,000 users = Success
4. StumbleUpon Paid Discovery
For as little as $0.05, you can have someone on your site without another click (beyond clicking the “Stumble” button). No banner ads. No miniature square Facebook ads or small text-based Adwords. An impression is an impression of your whole page, not just a small logo.
It’s also not too expensive either.
You can target it to interests, locations, or demographics and it integrates with Google Analytics so you can see what’s happening with your traffic.
5. New “Explore” Search Feature on StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon.com is not a full-blown search engine (yet), but it does allow you to search almost 500,000 topics and find pages at least one person found interesting. Yes, it takes some of the serendipity out of finding a cool site randomly, but it allows for a more customizable feed of stuff that is more likely to please. A big win for users.
The “Explore” feature looks like this:
Any leader, marketing pro, producer, or blogger needs to be aware of the positive impact that StumbleUpon can have on your business if you use it correctly. In the Attention Era, there’s nothing as valuable as free attention.
If you’ve never heard of it before, check out the 45 second video below and learn how the new site works:
If you’re already on StumbleUpon, let’s connect. Here’s the link. I always follow back my fellow 8pm Warriors.
Stumble around tonight,
Aaron@Biebert
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So, you set your own up? Did you have to have a separate email? Thanks for the heads-up. Looks fun. I love SU! But I really like order and the ability to focus vs surf if I feel like it.
Thanks again Aaron!
Hey Betsy, no, I just created a regular account. I’ll wait until they really open it up to brands/blogs/businesses. That’s my biggest complaint right now is that it doesn’t appear to really be working as promised.
I’ll keep everyone posted.
Thanks for this eye opening post Aaron! I need to get more involved w/stumple NOW!
Lois, you are very welcome! I highly recommend it. Let me know if you have any questions. I’d be glad to help.
StumbleUpon is a great tool and is easily one of the best ways to drive traffic to a site. I have been very pleased with it.
Yes, I’ve really grown to appreciate it. Didn’t always see the value. That’s all changing now.
Great post, Aaron!
Stumble Upon has been an awesome tool for traffic and it looks like it’s getting even better. I’m excited!
You bet Kris!
Very interesting I need to experiment. Thank you Aaron.
You’re welcome Kevin!
Awesome post Aaron, coming right up in the 12most series on 12 most Buffer-Worthy posts, watch out! :)
Looking forward to it. Thanks Leo. I’m a big 12Most fan.
You made a comment about the channels and I want to know how I start my own. I think it would be beneficial to start one for my business so that I can re-post my blog posts in Stumbleupon. But I’ve seriously searched the internet over and over and nobody can tell me how to make a channel. Any ideas?
Gary, they screwed up the launch and didn’t explain it very well. I even got confused.
Basically, you’ll have to wait until they open for everyone, for real. Right now, it’s just invited folks.
Stay tuned. I’m reaching out to them to find out the timeline.
StumbleUpon was my favorite years ago, but every “improvement” makes it less usable and less valuable to me. What boggles my mind is that they have the VERY BEST CONTENT already ranked by keyword – but only IF you know the syntax to get to it!
Not only do they have pages for specific topics – those pages also rank the users who shared them so you can immediately find experts on any topic. Why they don’t make those pages easy to find, get them indexed, and then add highly relevant ad opportunities is beyond me. They could give AdWords a run for their money if they did that.
Great – the recent change has changed the syntax for getting to those pages yet again. Here is how to see them. Go to http://www.stumbleupon.com/interest/keywords where what you put in keywords is what you want to find. For example, you could go to http://www.stumbleupon.com/interest/social-media and see the top content about social media and who shared it.
Note that social-media and socialmedia would be different and these are based on the keywords selected by the person who shared the content there.
Before this change StumbleUpon usually sent me about 8% of my traffic. Since the change that is down to a little over 3%. I consider removing StumbleUpon PhotoBlog It a great loss and am hoping the new toolbar grows on me because it isn’t as useful as the old one. Maybe I just need to find better ways to use it.
Gail, between you and I, this 8pm Warrior blog doesn’t get much traffic from StumbleUpon. I know others do, so I must be screwing it up too or else my blog isn’t fun enough. :-)
Let me know if you find the secret.
Aaron,
I have kept this front and center on my screen. I guess I am just lost. I am having a heck of a time figuring out …HOW to use it by more than only luck.
I have been tumbling around on Stumble since I was first told to use it. … Need more input!
For instance, I tried to Stumble something I read on either your page there or maybe someone else’s… it wouldn’t let me, and I couldn’t figure anything to make it actually do us good.
Umm, more input please… (I know I already said that, but still…)
Hi Amber-Lee,
I just got back from vacation and saw your comment. Do you have a StumbleUpon account? If you are logged in and click the button here on the blog, it should open a window where you can choose to “Like” it or review it.
Let me know if I’m helping or not. Always glad to help.
Aaron
Simple explanation but with great impact on the members/users of SU as well as SU itself.