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Author: Sharon Housley

Take this Social Bookmarking Quiz and determine how much you know about the collective voice!

What Is Social Bookmarking?
Social bookmarking is a web 2.0 fad where users indicate that a specific web page, article, podcast, video, or other content is of particular value. The "bookmark" is seen as a vote for that item. The more users who bookmark an item, the more pronounced (popular) the item becomes within the social bookmarking network.

What Are The Major Social Networks?

Different social networks appeal to different demographics. For example, "Digg" is a relatively technical social network, so the focus of most resources found in Digg are technical in nature. "Delicious" contains a wider variety of materials, and is easier for the average user to manage. Here are a few of the most popular networks:

Digg - http://www.digg.com - technical users
del.icio.us - http://del.icio.us
StumbleUpon - http://www.stumbleupon.com
Reddit - http://www.reddit.com
Furl - http://www.furl.com

What Are Social Bookmarking Chicklets?

Social bookmarking "chicklets" are icons that webmasters place on their web pages, which identify the various social bookmarking networks. Typically when they are included on a web page, the visitor can click the icon and it will automatically bookmark that page within the social network that the chicklet represents.

Create chicklets - http://www.feedforall.com/social-bookmarks.htm

What Are The Benefits Of Social Bookmarking?

Social bookmarking is a grassroots process that allows users to establish the value of a specific web page, article, podcast, or video. By bookmarking an item, individuals are casting a vote to endorse that specific resource. The idea is that social bookmarking gives a resource credibility; the more users who bookmark a specific item, the more valuable the resource is considered to be.

Social bookmarking is all about the collective voice. Most of the social bookmarking networks increase the profile of items that receive numerous bookmarks. It probably won't be long before the major search engines begin to include social bookmarks as a part of their ranking algorithms.

What Is Social Bookmark Tagging?

Tagging is used as a way to categorize related bookmarks. The tags are keywords that relate to the resource. In most cases, users can search on specific tags to locate similar bookmarked items.

How Is Social Bookmarking "User-Generated Content"?

Social bookmarking is all about people power. "Users" enter their favorites, and the social bookmarking networks manage all of the user information, provide aggregate data by keeping score, and manage social bookmark tags. Essentially, without "users" the social bookmarking websites would not have any content.

What Are Some Of The Popular Uses For Social Bookmarking?

Scholars and researchers often use social bookmarking to share research material and information. News headlines often find their way into social bookmarking networks, and users determine the popularity of a story with their voting power.

Is Social Bookmarking A Good Search Engine Optimization Technique?

While social bookmarking may generate some marginal attention for you, the content quality must be decent in order for others to endorse the site. The power of the collective voice and multiple bookmarks is what will really draw attention to your website. Social bookmarking will certainly not hurt your search engine optimization efforts, but social bookmarking alone will not result in a top search engine ranking.

Are Social Bookmarks Currently A Factor In Search Engine Ranking?

At this time it does not appear that any of the major search engines use social bookmarking as part of their ranking algorithms. That said, the incoming links for social bookmarking sites certainly do not hurt a website's search ranking. It is likely only a matter of time before the major search engines begin to use the collective voice as part of their ranking algorithms, as it is becoming too loud to ignore.

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This article may be used freely in opt-in publications and websites, provided that the resource box is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon[at]notepage.net.

Additional articles available for publication available at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm

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About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software."