Like the other leading social media websites, del.icio.us can be a great source of traffic for your blog. In order to make the most of del.icio.us, follow these steps and you’ll be on your way to driving thousands of new visitors to your blog.
1 - Use Powerful Headlines/Titles
Headlines and Titles are always important for getting your blog posts read, but they are especially important for drawing traffic from del.icio.us. Some readers will bookmark a page without even reading the whole thing, influenced primarily by the title. Even more important, as your post starts to move its way up the popular pages on del.icio.us, the title will either entice people to click or it will not stand out enough to get them to take action. If you look at the items that make it to the front page, you’ll see a predictable trend that almost all of the items have very effective titles.
2 - Be Original
Think about what makes you decide to bookmark a page. If it’s information that you can find at a number of different websites or blogs you’re probably not going to bookmark it. Be original, provide readers with something they haven’t seen before, and make them want to bookmark it before the forget where to find it.
3 - Use Lists
While lists aren’t a prerequisite for getting to the front page of del.icio.us, it’s another consistent trend that you’ll see. Why do lists work? For one thing they’re easy to scan and readers can quickly gauge the content without reading word-for-word. Numbered lists, such as this one, also tend to work well.
4 - Encourage Bookmarking
If you actively encourage your readers your bookmark your posts they are more likely to do it. This can be accomplished by placing a sentence at the beginning or end of your posts, or it can be accomplished with buttons and widgets that let readers bookmark with one click. Whatever your method, for the best results you should place the link to bookmark in a prominent spot where readers will see it. WordPress users can use the Antisocial Plugin (an SEO-friendly version of the Sociable Plugin) to display buttons for various sites, including del.icio.us.
5 - Encourage Others to Join Your Network
Building a network is one way of sharing links with other users. It certainly doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get more of your pages bookmarked, but it makes it easier for others to see your bookmarks. del.icio.us provides a great tool to make this easy. When you’re logged in, go to the settings page and you’ll see a link for “Network Badges.” From that page you’ll get some code to paste into your blog that will encourage visitors to join your network (Mine is on the sidebar if you want to see an example and join my network).
6 - Write About Hot Topics
When you’re looking at the del.icio.us front page you’ll notice that many of the popular bookmarks are technology-related. This is a common trend, so if you write about technology you have a better chance of getting bookmarked. Visit the page regularly to see what is hot and learn how you can benefit from knowing other users’ bookmarking habits.
7 - Get Your Posts Popular with Some Other Social Media Site
This may not be easy, but many of the pages that are popular on del.icio.us are also popular on other social media sites. This is actually how I made it to the del.icio.us front page for the first time. My article 83 Top Webmaster Resources became popular at D-Zone, and the increased traffic that came from D-Zone lead to a lot of bookmarks and a spot on the del.icio.us front page for a while. Using other social sites as a gateway is a proven tactic.
8 - Show How Many People Have Bookmarked Your Post
The del.icio.us Tagometer will show readers how many people have bookmarked the particular page they are viewing. It’s a great way to remind visitors that other people are bookmarking the page. If no one has bookmarked the page yet, it will say “be the first to bookmark this page!” Here’s an example from our post Find the Perfect Colors for Your Website.
9 - Use FeedBurner’s “Save to del.icio.us” Feed Flare
FeedBurner users can insert a link into their RSS feeds that will allow readers to bookmark. It also shows the number of bookmarks and the most popular tags from within the RSS reader. To active this FeedFlare, login, click on the Optimize tab, click on FeedFlare and check the box.
10 - Allow Other del.icio.us Users to See Your Bookmarks
By default your bookmarks are viewable to other del.icio.us users. You can change them to be private in the settings tab, but if you’re bookmarking your own pages you will be decreasing the chances that others will see your pages. Leave this on the default setting.
By using these 10 tips you’ll be able to increase the number of bookmarks your posts get, which will help you to bring floods of new traffic from del.icio.us. If you have any additional tips for our readers please leave a comment. If you’re a del.icio.us user feel free to leave your id or a link to your profile in the comments and grow your network.
45 comments from readers
1 Feng Shui Tips Aug 16, 2007 at 9:35 am
Great suggestions - well thought out.
2 Vandelay Design Aug 16, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Thanks for your feedback, I hope you can use some of the information here.
3 Jon - FreelanceFolder Aug 16, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Hey thoose are excellent tips
Friends are the ultimate power when it comes to social networking, when you have a community of people that stumble, del.icio.us or reddit your posts it usually works pretty good 
4 Vandelay Design Aug 16, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Thanks Jon. I agree, that’s why those sites can be frustrating sometimes
5 cmanlong Aug 17, 2007 at 11:51 am
Thanks for stopping by the site and dropping me a line. I have sent you back a response email. You have some great articles here.
6 Weekend Links 08/17 Aug 17, 2007 at 12:55 pm
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11 Michael Fultz Aug 18, 2007 at 11:06 pm
These are some great tips! Thanks for the info!
12 » 113 Must Read Blog Tips Warrior Blog- Internet Marketing Made Easy: The Affiliate Guide Marketing, Offering Affiliate Marketing Tip and Affiliate Marketing Tool Aug 19, 2007 at 2:09 pm
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13 Omaha Poker Tips Aug 19, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Ive always had trouble with delicous…i think netscape is great though.
14 Blogging Articles Aug 21, 2007 at 6:02 pm
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16 I Am Working My Way through 31 Days of Blogging Tips at Aug 22, 2007 at 10:44 am
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17 Talkgold Money Blog Aug 25, 2007 at 7:33 pm
We just started blogging last week as an additional means of getting information out to our clients. Great tips. I bookmarked this page myself
18 Vandelay Design Aug 25, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Thanks for bookmarking! I’m sure you’ll find that your blog is a great way to communicate with your clients.
19 Social Media Marketing Roundup @ chrisg.com Aug 30, 2007 at 4:30 am
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21 Enterprise Feedback Management Sep 4, 2007 at 6:47 pm
The most difficult suggestion on that list is “be original”. I usually stare at my screen for sometime before actually writing anything. Even when I sit down to write something i’ve thought about for sometime, I find it to be a lot of tripe when i see it written down. Original content is so crucial, the thought gives me headaches.
22 Social Media Marketing: Is it Worth Your Time? << Vandelay Website Design Sep 4, 2007 at 7:03 pm
[…] For specific tips on using del.icio.us, see the 10-step process that I used to get to the front page. […]
23 Mason from SmallFuel Marketing Sep 6, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Wow, great title and a great set of tips and look what happens - a whole lot of backlinks.
It’s always fun when following your own advice works. Great article, now I just need to follow your tips for something of my own
- Mason Hipp
24 Vandelay Design Sep 6, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Mason,
Thanks! I’m glad you like the information.
25 mediatools Sep 9, 2007 at 6:30 am
Thanks for the info’s. What do you recommend for non english web-sites ?
26 Vandelay Design Sep 9, 2007 at 7:39 am
mediatools.
Sorry, I don’t have any resources for non-English websites. I would just try a search.
27 Making blog post more del.icio.us and stumbled-upon : 10 Tips | Marketing, Outsourcing and Delegating Strategies for Internet and Home-based Business Sep 9, 2007 at 4:42 pm
[…] This article from Vandelay Design blog on 10 Tips for Making Your Blog Posts More del.icio.us for information on how you can tap into this resource. […] […]
28 Christoff Sep 11, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Thanks for providing such great insights into del.icio.us. My blog site went live one week ago and I’m on the hunt for ideas of getting it “out there”. Your tips much appreciated.
29 Christoff Sep 11, 2007 at 1:01 pm
My blog went live one week ago and I’m working hard at trying to get its traffic up. Thanks for the great tips posted here. I’ll give them a go!
30 Vandelay Design Sep 11, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Christoff,
Thanks or reading. Good luck with your new blog!
31 Nick Sep 20, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I don’t get the lists.. I personaly don’t like them, but they seem to get results on social bookmark sites..
Ah well.
32 Vandelay Design Sep 20, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Nick,
Not everyone is going to like lists. They do work well for drawing new visitors and getting links. They appeal to a lot of people (me included) because they put a bunch of useful resources all in one place.
33 Indian web company Sep 21, 2007 at 6:50 am
I love these SMO tips, hope for looking more.
34 SEOv Oct 26, 2007 at 7:23 am
Is it adviced to import bookmarks from del.icio.us to to other social book arking websites. Please leave the reply here or commnet at my blog
thnx
35 Vandelay Design Oct 28, 2007 at 1:54 pm
SEOv,
I like to have my bookmarks all in one place, so if you are switching from del.icio.us to another bookmarking service I would probably import the bookmarks if possible.
36 Mike Oct 30, 2007 at 8:57 am
I don’t use delicious on a daily basic and i never subscribe my posts their, although some of my readers do. But i never had any real traffic from it. What could you tell of Delicious traffic comparing it with the one coming from Stumble? Which one is better? 10x
37 Ruchir Nov 20, 2007 at 2:14 pm
All of the points hit right on. Great tips and I’ve started to implement most of them. What else can I say…
38 Vince Nov 25, 2007 at 5:27 pm
But still, CONTENT IS THE KING RIGHT???
Thanks for the additional tips!!!
39 Clicksharp Marketing » Blog Archive » Styling your blog content to attract and hold readers - Part 1 Nov 27, 2007 at 5:33 am
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42 Timothy Carter May 5, 2008 at 4:22 am
Good info. More information to continually tweak my blog. I’m really beginning to enjoy the info I find here!
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45 Pepsi Jobs Jul 22, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Very true… lists are an excellent reason to get people to digg you or link to you. For some reason people find them more attractive than traditional article formats.