Stumbleupon.com has been one of the biggest sources of traffic to my blog in recent months (non-search). The pie chart below from my Google Analytics shows the number of visitors by referral source – with Stumbleupon sending me a whopping 26% of all my referral traffic!
While most of this traffic is coming directly from my blog content that users stumble, I do notice a few folks coming through the links in my profile. Over the past few weeks, these visitors have asked me how to pimp their Stumbleupon profiles with links.
Let me stress again that a small amount of traffic from Stumbleupon actually comes through my profile. Your time is best spent creating kick-ass content that people will stumble because they love it!
That said, the following tweaks only take a few minutes:
1. Use an avatar of your face that’s fun and reflects who you are.
Most folks can use their built in camera and photo-editing software (I like Photoshop Elements) to create a result that’s simple, but stands out.
2. Make it easier for folks to visit your blog or website by including links within your profile box.
You can edit this section by following these steps:
First, click on your username and then click on “preferences”
Next, click on “customize”
Next, within the “Introduce yourself to everyone” box, enter html code with anchor text and images.
Which gives the results similar to my stumbleupon page.
3. Shrink your URL
The field for “Your website” has a character limit causing long URLs to get cut short, resulting in a “404″. Use TinyUrl to create a custom short URL. I use: “http://tinyurl.com/shitstorms” which links to: “How To Do Social Media When You’re Going Through An Emotional Shit Storm“
4. Select a color theme that matches your blog or website.
Within the “My Preferences” section select the pallette that best matches the colors on your blog.
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