Is Social Bookmarking SEO?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Saturday, 6 of October , 2007 at 12:41 pm

Someone I respect likes to refer social bookmarking as another form of SEO. Another friend says it will eventually displace SEO. I think, personally, social media - and not just bookmarking, but all social media - is a form of Internet marketing that is outside of the realm of SEO, but that has some SEO benefits.

What I mean is, you can build a nice solid link building campaign through social networking, bookmarking, and other social media. But that’s not its primary purpose nor is it the primary benefit. Social bookmarking is better utilized as a traffic tool. Sure, you can increase your link popularity and search engine positioning by adding a lot of links to your portfolio, but if you don’t have really useful social content then all you have are links.

Just like the on-page content for your website, social content has to be valuable and unique. You can’t just throw out a bunch of garbage into the web universe and expect that earn you some respect. Remember, your name is attached to all of that. You are building your reputation. You want people to recognize you as someone who appreciates valuable content. So make sure that when you do bookmark certain items that you are bookmarking items that you truly find valuable and unique. In that way, as people come to rely on your bookmarks, they will recognize you as someone who can identify what valuable content looks like. You’re more likely to get reliable traffic to your website that way.

Category: Social & Viral Marketing

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