StumbleUpon Help Thread

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

This is a thread for you to ask questions if you're a bit stuck with StumbleUpon and anyone in the team can answer them.

Also, if you have any tips you want to share with the team, this is the place.

PLEASE do not post any items, sales, BNS/BNR, treasuries, etc here. We have threads for that.

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

I'm going to close down the thread "How to Make StumbleUpon Work for You" but before I do that, I'm going to put all the really good info here so stay tuned...

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Hippiechicjewelz from HippieChicJewelz says

StumbleUpon is really great to use! Be sure that when you add Etsy pages, only add two at a time then add something that isnt ETSY related or they will freeze your adding ability! I will go and find recipes from my blog, or you could add movie reviews, motivational quotes or whatever else you like!

Here is how StumbleUpon works when you stumble an item:
When a site is first stumbled, it is put through both the Classification Engine and the Clustering Engine. The Classification Engine filters the page by topic and tags. Sometimes a user does this work, but sometimes it’s submitted without any of this information, so the engine has to determine where to put the content. This is a big job when you have over 30,000 pages each day being submitted, as StumbleUpon has.

The Clustering Engine sorts out the votes a site is getting so it can determine which sites are the quality ones that should be served. Again, this sounds simple enough until you realize that StumbleUpon has 5.6 million users. This engine is a key cog in what serves up over 10 million stumbles that take place every day.

How StumbleUpon works

When you come across something you like online you can vote for it with a button on your toolbar. The page is then shared with others who have similar interests.
When you’re bored, or looking for inspiration, click ‘Stumble!’ and great pages others have liked will be shared with you.

One tip: make sure your username and profile picture are branded in line with your Etsy Shop. Use yourshop name for your profile, and a photo or logo people will be familiar with.
Once you have your account and StumbleUpon homepage, make sure you customize your interests to suit your tastes. You can ‘manage your interests’ via the sidebar. This is important, as it will effect what kinds of pages you get when you Stumble. It will also change the kinds of people who take an interest in your votes.

Connect with others

To start connecting with other Etsians through StumbleUpon, all you need to do is vote up their content (when it’s good). The more traffic you send them, the more likely they are to go and investigate the source, or even add you as a friend. StumbleUpon can be a great networking tool.
On top of that, supporting Etsians you like is just good karma. Remember, what comes around goes around, and in StumbleUpon land that's what we want!

When you vote up a site that hasn’t been voted up before, you ‘Discover’ it. This means that you write its first review and your profile information appears in the sidebar of the reviews page for that item.

Great content can drive a lot of (influential) stumblers to the page profiling you, as they rush to vote and review it. Some of them will be drawn into visiting your profile, simply because you have such great taste. But how can we encourage these visitors to check out our shop?

Highlight your blog in your StumbleUpon profile:
This is easy. Enter your blog URL as your website address, and this will be displayed above your image on the main page of your profile. You can also write a bit about yourself and add a link to your Etsy shop in your About blurb.

Connect with your readers:
When you start to see traffic coming from StumbleUpon, take the time to visit the reviews page readers have voted up. The stumblers on this page have been enthusiastic enough about your content to want to Stumble it.

Take the time to thank them for their Stumble, and add them as a friend. Little acts of generosity like these leave an impression and may encourage the Stumbler to see what other types of great items your shop has to offer!

Make friends for a more powerful profile:
The StumbleUpon algorithm is a mysterious thing, but evidence seems to suggest that the most active and popular stumblers are rewarded with the ability to control large traffic-flows.

The ‘active’ part is up to you; how much time are you willing to put in? The ‘popular’ part of the equation, however, depends on how many fans you have. Fans are those stumblers who’ve added you as a friend in order to see the pages you stumble.

How do you get fans? Great, properly labeled stumbles will do it. Another successful strategy is to add those who vote up your content. If they took the time to explore your blog they might recognize you as the author of the content they liked and add you in return. The friendship will enhance both of your profiles and you’ll be connecting with more potential friends and clientele.

Create a profile people will visit for its own sake:

Treat your profile like a biography about your shop. If you make it a place people will want to visit for its own sake, the chance of visitors engaging with it and following the link back to your shop increases.

Take the time to play with the colors, add images to your reviews, and explore the functions on offer to create your ‘blog’ (StumbleUpon actually refers to it as such). Fill your profile with votes and reviews for great content your friends will want to visit, and tell others about. A great profile will naturally attract interested and admiring visitors, and raise your profile in the StumbleUpon community.

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Craig & Michelle Zuiderweg from somadlyinlove says

Stumbled items do not remain "stumbled" forever. So you will have to go back and stumble old items or make sure they keep getting those thumbs ups every now and then. And well, that is what this team is great for! GO TEAM! :)

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Kay Marriott from RubyRobinBoutique says

So does stumbleupon work like pinterest? Do you get a stumble button for your toolbar that you can click whenever you find something you want to share with others? I have an account but can't see how I can share pages!

Craig & Michelle Zuiderweg from somadlyinlove says

Yes, you should have some new buttons on your tool bar. One says "stumble!" and you click it and the site gives you a page that someone else has added. It is good to click this now and then and view their pages instead of always adding etsy shops. (that's what I do and I have never been blocked from adding links)

You should also have a thumbs up and a thumbs down. When you want to add a site all you have to do is click the thumbs up and a review box should pop up. Please make sure to give a full review. That's the only way the item will get picked up by search engines.

If no review box pops up but the thumb turns green then generally, but not always, it means the page has already been added but you are adding your thumbs up which is nice!

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Kay Marriott from RubyRobinBoutique says

One of my pairs of earrings was landed on 3 times today from Stumbleupon, I can't see how I can investigate it from my end? Is there some way I can track down the location on Stumbleupon and see who liked it?

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Kay Marriott from RubyRobinBoutique says

Also, how do I got about labeling stumbled pages to increase views?

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

since I'm not an expert at StumbleUpon (yet - LOL!), here's an article I found helpful...

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/increase-traffic-with-stumbleupon/

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Alisha Scites from FruitofPhalanges says

i've just added two pages of my own items to a list and when i click on the pages nothing happens. it's just a white screen. can anyone tell me what i've done wrong or why the link doesn't seem to work? i've clicked on other pages and they work fine. can anyone help?

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

I asked Stumbleupon how I could see who favorited my items, or at least get some more info on where my likes were coming from. Here's one answer... Not sure I really know what it means, to be honest..LOL

You can read comments by clicking the speech bubble icon, either on the tile for that specific stumble in your Likes or wherever it appears, or on your toolbar when you are on that page.

[SueForeyfibreart]

Just bumping this thread up so it doesn't get lost.

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Here's a new tutorial I just stumbled upon ... ;)

http://help.stumbleupon.com/customer/portal/articles/665195-new-user-guide#article5

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Kay Marriott from RubyRobinBoutique says

hey guys, I found this today and found it really insightful, thought it might be of use to some of ye!

blog.kissmetrics.com/increase-traffic-with-stumbleupon/

[RFColorfulCreations]

I noticed when I click on a etsy item in Stumbleupon If producess a white blank screen. Anyone else showing this.

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Rosemarie - this is not happening to me. Have you been stumbling other things besides Etsy to see what happens?

[RFColorfulCreations]

It works fine with everything else. It's just Etsy pages. I have been posting in Wanelo then adding it that way to Stumbleupon.
If you have something in stumbleupon that is from Etsy it has a blank page. This is how is looks
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1Y1Lu6/www.etsy.com/listing/99486311/jewelry-holder-rack-leaf-design/
On my sons pc it shows up fine. This happens on my laptop also. Maybe I have something that is blocking it. I have no idea whats wrong..

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Rosemarie - I clicked on the link above and I can stumble it just fine.

Try stumbling lots of other non-Etsy stuff for a day or so and then try again.

Also, make sure you clear your history and cookies.

[RFColorfulCreations]

I will do that. I still do not know how to use it that well. I will stop stumbling Etsy like you said then try it again. I had already cleared my cookies and history. THanks. I will let you know what happens.

[RFColorfulCreations]

I cleared the cookies and history and it is working perfectly now. Thanks a million. :O)

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

Sometimes the simplest things work!! Glad it's up and running again.

[aclhandweaver]

I notice that I try to follow people and the button clicks to say I am following them, but I reload or go to another window, and the follow goes back to not following? How do you get it to stick?

[aclhandweaver]

I also notice a lot of folks have lots of likes, but 0 lists, and adding something to like or lists, does not add it to the other section... I know pinterest seems to focus more on boards (like lists) and and still has a separate likes page and the emphasis seems to be opposite... or is this just a newbie thing...

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

@Amy

Try clearing your cache. I know it sounds simple, but it often works when SU is acting up.

"Liking" an item simply means you've marked it off as something of interest. You might choose to "like" something as opposed to "re-pin" because it doesn't quite fit the style or theme of any of your boards, but you don't want to lose it in the mix.

[aclhandweaver]

Thanks Donna! I notice I have to click through to something to like it, otherwise it goes to a board, but liking it doesn't put it on a board automatically but stumbling it does...

Still getting the hang of it...

[SharPharMade]

HELP? I have no idea how to work stumbleupon. I had the account for awhile, too. Please, can anyone convo me, and tell me where, or how, to get started? Thank you, in advance.