Social bookmarking is a fairly new idea. While we can think back to the mid-to-late 90's for something similar which may have been around then, social bookmarking didn't really materialise until the forerunner site Delicious came onto the scene. Social bookmarking sites collect all kinds of information, such as articles and blog posts which are then stored, organised and sorted by their tags and degree of relevancy.
Some people have defined social bookmarking as search engine marketing with a human touch. The information is seen as relevant due to the fact that it has been provided by a human being, rather than assessed for relevancy by a robot and through search engine algorithms. As the people who interact with social bookmarking sites often allocate points to the content according to relevancy and usefulness, this human touch is re-emphasized.
Social bookmarking is widely renowned as a fantastic SEO tool, as it directly feeds off the networking capacity of the Internet. The most popular sites have huge numbers of avid followers who are essentially creating a new trend by receiving their news on any given subject or niche online rather than through the traditional methods of old. Social bookmarking sites may be linked and an RSS feed established, creating an aggregate of news which can be delivered in a virtually effortless way.
While it isn't always applicable, in most cases you can create back links to your website by placing URL's in your content. Some social bookmarking sites initiate a "no follow" policy, which means that the operators attach tags to your links that effectively negate any SEO advantage. This does not stop people from clicking through to your site and becoming a potentially valuable visitor, of course, but it means that you won't gain any advantage in terms of the search relevancy ranking for your page.
If you're savvy about your online marketing, you can use social bookmarking to great effect. Put meaningful content out there with valid and informative material, and people within the social bookmarking arena will rate it highly. Sharing of content is actively encouraged, and as a user's network is informed of the existence of your content, the potential to go viral appears.
Make sure that your marketing message is subtle, as with any Internet marketing initiative. Blatant advertising is frowned upon, but relevant links when displayed in a soft-sell way will result in an increase in visitors. Always ensure that you properly attach your tags and your keywords, so that you can be confident your message can be discovered within this world-wide Internet arena!
There are literally hundreds of social bookmarking sites out there, and you should really make an effort to include a plug-in within your website to provide people with a way to simply and easily bookmark your content. Sites such as WordPress make this very easy for you. RSS feed aggregators essentially summarize blogs and content and allow users to categorize things they find of interest into one easy to find place.
Social bookmarking should be an essential part of an overall Internet marketing and SEO strategy.
------
Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, an accomplished Executive
Virtual Assistant Service which helps companies of all sizes reach their commercial targets. Want to get more information about online business building success strategies that really work? Then why not Contact VMF Today at=>
http://www.virtualmissfriday.com 
