AddThis – Easily Build Traffic To Your Site
A simple way to build traffic to your site is to allow readers to bookmark your pages easily.
Many blogs have a series of icons or buttons at the end of each post to allow readers to submit content to one of the social bookmark sites like Digg, del.icio.us or StumbleUpon.
These can drive significant amounts of traffic to your site, either as an initial burst such as making the front page of Digg, or a more steady stream of traffic like I see with sites like StumbleUpon.
There are some excellent WordPress plugins out there that make bookmarking posts easy. But all the plugins I have tried lack one thing – the ability to know which posts are being bookmarked.
Analytics packages such as Google Analytics or Clicky are great for discovering the most popular content on your website, but they don’t tell you what posts are being bookmarked. To fill this gap I use AddThis.
AddThis works like several of the other WordPress plugins out there. A button is displayed at the end of each post, which when activated displays a list of social bookmark icons.
What sets AddThis apart from the competition is that it includes a piece of tracking code that records not only which posts are being bookmarked, but which bookmarking site was used.
You may find that certain types of posts are bookmarked more often than others. Bookmarked pages stand a better chance of getting more traffic. You may, therefore, decide to create posts in the future you feel are more likely to get bookmarked.
You may also find that the majority of your visitors bookmark posts to Digg or StumbleUpon. If so you may want to consider adding a Digg This button to your site so that it is even easier for visitors to bookmark your posts.
Getting your own free AddThis button is easy. Just head over to their website and get the necessary code to add to your website. If this sounds too complicated, then they offer a WordPress plugin too.
To gain access to the tracking code, you will need to register. Registration is free and well worth it. You can then log in to your AddThis account and keep track of which posts are being bookmarked.
They also provide a Feedburner flare so you can keep track of bookmarked posts in your feed too! Technical Itch recommends you browse around their website as they offer other features too like widgets and browser add-ons. They also provide an RSS feed widget too.
Overall AddThis is an excellent addition to any website. It will help your visitors bookmark your site or blog, and promote it to the social bookmarking services, sending you back more traffic.
Source: Technical Itch
