StumbleUpon opens pages in the same window, whereas Digg opens links in a new window.

I would bet that if Digg links opened in the same window that pageviews/visit time would increase. I believe most web browsers get pretty ancy to close a new window.

The effect is that when coming to a new SU page, that page has all the attention, and a Digg link is getting less.

Something to consider anyways. Personally I wish Digg would open their links in the same window.

I think that the readers here at ProBlogger truly value networking with others and share information to raise the bar on quality online.

Thank you for doing so. . .

Thank you very much for your feedback. I was focusing on the negatives but you pointed out some very good positives. So, if I ever have a post on the front page of Digg, I know what to expect and I will also think about the longer term benefits rather than getting down about any negative comments.

Thanks very much Darren. :)

One of the issues when you are trying to monetize is the ranking mechanisms tend to privilege certain, easily quantifiable things like traffic to the site, or inbound links. Advertisers seem to use this as short hand: We love your content, you are getting visitors who are our target audience, but what is your page rank, alexa etc.?

When I first started blogging on my MilSpouse blog a few years ago, my main goal was to put information out there for those who might need it and to also have a semi-anonymous outlet for thoughts about a specific aspect of my life. I was not really focused on traffic or inbound links.

Now, however, there are so many blogs out there, that even if you are only trying to get quality over quantity (ie, get readers who are genuinely interested in your content), you need to get that traffic and that ranking to show up in the searches.

There is also something to be said for quantity…sometimes. If 1 of 10 visitors is genuinely interested and you have 100 visit, that is ultimately equal to having 10 visitors visit who are all interested; plus you get that traffic boost.

Ultimately, I agree I would prefer the quality over quantity, though…and it is great to see that the ProBlogger audience is genuinely interested in the blogs they visit.

- Firstly, it does help the ego, give you a boost of energy and a little inspiration to keep on blogging to see 20,000 people an hour hit your blog
- Secondly, while most diggers won’t hang around, even if just 2% do it can be significant when you’re talking those kinds of numbers
- Thirdly, it does have a secondary effect. For starters when you get dugg you often also appear on other social media sites. You also generally get links from other blogs/sites also because many digg users are webmasters/bloggers. This is great for secondary waves of traffic and SEO.

I personally don’t mind digg traffic – although it is all about balance.

Barbra

This really seemed to be the case 2-4 months ago – top 10 lists abounded, everyone was throwing their two cents in on apple and linux (two digg favorites), and it seemed every post title included the word “AMAZING!”.

Lately though, it seems there has been a bit of a backlash – the formula for a frontpage digg became overused and tired, and diggers started recognizing attempts to so obviously cater to them.

In the last month or so, it seems like stories making it to the front page of digg follow this abused formula less and less, which is a great thing for everyone. If bloggers can focus on simply providing great content that is relevant to their niche and truly useful (or at least truly interesting), they’ve still got a chance for a digg front page story.

I just wanted to expand on what Ken said.

It’s much easier to find and retain good readers if they’re already interested in your subject matter. Wendy’s blog seems to have a topic that is at least related to ProBlogger. So people who go there from here will have a greater likelihood of being interested in her posts. Digg folks are just looking for an interesting headline. They’re basically bored and looking for entertainment or something to read. So there’s a far smaller likelihood that they’ll be interested in a marketing tip for bloggers or some such topic.

Personally, I run a fitness and health blog called “60 in 3″. I could advertise it here and get exposure to tens of thousands of readers, or I could advertise it on a small fitness blog and get exposure to a few hundred readers. Sounds like Problogger would make a better choice, but I disagree. This isn’t a dig (sorry for the unintentional pun) at Problogger readers, but there’s simply a lower likelihood that they’ll be interested in my subject matter. I might find some readers here who are but I know for a fact that all of the small fitness blog’s readers are interested in what I write.

It’s not just about number of eyeballs, it’s also about target demographics and audiences. I’ll pick a small audience who I know is interested in my topic over a large random one any day.

Gal

I run a fitness blog called 60 in 3. I can advertise it here or I can advertise it on a small fitness blog. I may get a lot more traffic here but I’m guessing that the traffic won’t be the quality I want. That’s not a dig (argh! Unintentional bad pun alert) at Problogger readers. It just means that many of them may not be interested in fitness or health. Where as the small fitness blogs readers are there because they are in fact interested in the very topic I discuss.

I guess the lesson learned for me is to not try the shotgun version of a marketing strategy. Instead, find where your audience is and talk to them there.

Gal

When you say it like this: “While Digg can send you a heap of visitors in a short period of time they rarely stay long, rarely go deeper within your blog and rarely comment.” —- why do I even care about getting on Digg then, except for my own personal (ego perhaps?) goals?

It doesn’t sound like the traffic is quality anyway, and if most of the people are of a negative frame of mind, do I really want to deal with that?

I would prefer quality over quantity because the quality visitors who stick around will tell others about my site. I’m not doing anything to purposely attract digging right now and if it ever happens it will be an interesting experience based on what I’ve read here.

To the person relating it to crack, I would have to agree (even though I’ve never had crack, I hear it’s pretty addictive!) I haven’t even experienced a Digg effect yet, but I seem to crave one so bad!

Just once! That’s all I ask….

Digg is a site devoted mainly to user voted news posts whereas ProBlogger is devoted to those who are interested in learning how to become better and eventually, Pro Bloggers.

You generally won’t find the smarmy, once off kind of web user on Problogger whereas you will find plenty of those on Slashdot and Digg.

Problogger readers are the more serious type because they are interested in learning how to start a business whereas Digg and other sites like it are for those who want to mouth off.

I’ve never been to digg, but I’m a member of Fark and if they’re anything similar it really wouldn’t be a pleasant experience to be dugg. The culture of Fark right now is a contest to see who can say the snarkiest thing and I’m sure there’s a bleedover to digg. Luckily, that culture seems to be swinging back the other way so we should be seeing a change within a few months.

I still enjoy being on Digg even if it doesn’t result in such quality traffic. I guess it’s a bit like writing for magazines or newspapers – it’s such a high being on the front page, even once.