As web marketers, we are always trying to find new ways to generate exposure for our clients. Until recently, I’ve only been using StumbleUpon as a hobby of sorts (despite my boss’s insistence it was a powerhouse), viewing recipes in my spare time and my favorite category “bizzare/oddities.”  But recent stats from the growing social bookmarking site reveals it’s underlining potential.  In the USA, StumbleUpon is trumping use over all social media site referrals holding over a 50% share of the top 7 from August- November 2011.

On average, people spend 69 minutes on a session; that’s more than three times the average time on Facebook! What’s most interesting is the longevity of a link on the site. The average half-life is exponentially larger than Twitter (2.8 hours) and Facebook (3.2 hours) at an astonishing 400 hours.The reason behind this is Twitter and Facebook get bombarded with new information on a streaming basis where the old stuff gets pushed to the bottom and if you aren’t glued to the site all day, posts will get missed. However, content on StumbleUpon, gets categorized so when a new viewer wants to view information in a particular category, the page will show up. And if it is “liked” by its viewers, it’ll show up even more.

The StumbleUpon LogoStumbleUpon offers advertising which is looking more and more desirable as the above stats continue to improve. By purchasing a sponsored stumble, advertisers can get their webpage to appear more often in the stumble cycle. Although a sponsored stumble guarantees a certain number of page views, the higher rated your ad is, the more likely it is to be stumbled upon.  StumbleUpon delivers the right audience to your site by allowing you to target the page by category, location, demographic, and device.  They also give you access to a report on how many people saw your site, and how many voted your page up and down.  Advertising is relatively cheap with a standard price of $0.10 per visit and you don’t actually need to create an ad, just a page to send people to.

A StumbleUpon infographic showing many of the stats we outlined in this article.Some have voiced their concerns in the past about advertising with StumbleUpon, or even submitting their blog posts because the site will most likely increase your bounce rate. People are concerned that if they received an influx in traffic generating a high bounce rate, Google will discredit their site and it will affect their rankings. After discussing this with our SEO specialists I know this is false but even without their help I do know Google isn’t stupid . Even if Google could detect the bounces it has a pretty clear idea of what StumbleUpon is and how it works; it’s a discovery engine built to show you things you may not have otherwise ‘discovered.” It’s expected your bounce rate will increase. And surprisingly, according to StumbleUpon, the average stumble page view lasts 14 seconds longer than the average web page view (not bad).  I wouldn’t let this probability dissuade you in the least.

My advice to you, look into pursuing StumbleUpon advertising or ask for help. It’s affordable, unique, and could generate a mass amount of exposure for your website with the right content.

Lastly: Here is a great infographic from StumbleUpon illustrating the statistics I noted above.