What is StumbleUpon and How Do I Use It?

Here’s a video on how to join StumbleUpon, install the toolbar and “stumble” a post or use stumble to find new and interesting websites:

Or if you would rather read about StumbleUpon, here are some FAQ’s!

Q: What is StumbleUpon?

A: StumbleUpon is a type of search engine, called a recommendation engine. It uses a combination of machine-generated and human-generated review systems to suggest web pages that an individual user would like. By recording sites and pages that you like or don’t like, you tell Stumble about your preferences. Stumble uses that information to pull up new sites/pages especially chosen for you.

Q: Why does a blogger want their posts “Stumbled” or “Liked”?

A: If your posts are frequently reported as a “liked page”, Stumble will be more likely to suggest your page and site to new readers. It’s a way to expose your blog to new readers that you otherwise may not have connected with. Stumble Upon has 14.4 million members! Yes, 14.4 MILLION! You want them to know you and recommend you.

Q: How do I “stumble” or “like” a post?

A: The first step is to register at Stumble Upon and download their toolbar. (added example of Google Toolbar instructions below) Once you do that, you will see a toolbar like this on your browser page.

To “like” a page, you click on this thumbs up sign.

After you “like” a page it will change to a green thumb.

It’s a good idea to make sure that you are on the main url of the page. For example, the url of my blog is just http://kellysluckyyou.com – that’s the url of the whole blog, not an individual post.

The url of this post for example is http://kellysluckyyou.com/2011/02/tutorial-how-and-why-to-use-stumble-upon

Sometimes, after you leave a comment on a blog, you will have a different url in the browser window. It’s a good idea to make sure you have a post url, when you stumble a site.

Q: I don’t see any message, how do I tell if I successfully “liked” a page on Stumble Upon?

A: The thumbs up icon on your Stumble Upon toolbar will turn green (see above). Anytime you go to that page, you will see a green thumbs up. In fact, don’t click it again or you will undo your “like”.

You can also click on the Info icon.

That will show you everyone who has stumbled or liked that post. This is an example of what you might see when you click on the Info icon.

This page has been stumbled or liked by five people. If you don’t see your own stumble user id there, then you have not stumbled that post. Go back and click that thumbs up, watch it turn green, click on info and your id should show up. If it doesn’t email me and I’ll help you figure out what’s going on!

Q: I click on the Stumble! icon – doesn’t that “stumble” a post?

A: No! As counter-intuitive as it sounds, when people say “stumble” a post, they mean “like” it. When you click on the Stumble! Icon, you are telling Stumble to find you another page that looks like this one, and it will use it’s search engine to take you somewhere else.

So when you want to “stumble” a post,

click the thumbs-up I Like It icon

NOT the Stumble Icon.

Q: What if I use the Google Toolbar instead of the Stumble Upon Toolbar?

A. On the Google toolbar, click “Share” and “Stumble Upon”then “I Like It”!