It is more important than ever to make use of all the different web 2.0 tools out there to help drive traffic to your blog. Some time back, I talked about how you can exploit Facebook to get more RSS subscribers, but by far the most common way to get an instant spike in traffic is getting Dugg. Or Stumbled. Or Reddit…ed.
There are two major hurdles that you’ll need to overcome when it comes to social bookmarking sites like Digg. First, it can be time consuming submitting your story to all of these different sources. Second, it can be difficult to get it voted up onto the front page for optimal exposure (especially if you get banned and then put on auto-bury). Thankfully, Web 2 Submitter addresses both of these issues. And I’m pretty sure they’re going to experience the John Chow Effect from ordering this ReviewMe review.
Web 2.0 Submission Made Easy
So, what is the Web 2.0 Submitter? In a nutshell, it helps to reduce all the copying and pasting you’re going to need to do in order to submit stories to places like Netscape, Plime, and Shoutwire. You’ll still need to visit each individual site in order to get past their spam measures, but this simple software streamlines the process by filling in most of the fields for you. You provide the basic information once and then it only takes a couple of clicks to submit to each of the bookmarking sites.
I could walk you through the entire process, but why would I re-invent the wheel when there’s a free video available that walks you through how to submit a post using Web 2 Submitter. Careful, the video is on auto-play.
The long sales letter turned me off a little. That page is the only one that visitors can view on the Web 2 Submitter website. The aforementioned video shows you what you’d get, though, if you were to buy the $47 software.
Save Your Time and Money
The system requirements for this program are very easy to satisfy. You’ll need Windows XP (there’s no mention of support for Vista), .NET Framework 2.0, and Internet Explorer 7. This is actually quite critical, because when I ran the software the first time around, I didn’t realize that I only had IE6 (I usually use Firefox). The automated login process didn’t work correctly for whatever reason, but after upgrading to IE7, things went swimmingly. Depending on your Internet settings, you will only need to log into each of the web 2.0 social bookmarking sites once.
This program is supposed to save you a minimum of seven hours per week. In my own test, I attempted to submit one of my posts manually to five different sites: Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Netscape, and Shoutwire. Not including the time it took to login, this took me a total of six minutes. The next day, I submitted a different story to the same five sites, except I used Web2Submitter and it took three minutes. Web2Submiiter offers 19 web 2.0 sites to submit your story to, with more on the way. Updates are free.
The user interface is very straight-forward and it also gives you the ability to archive stories, in case you want to submit it to other sites later. The pull-down menus for the different categories at each site are also quite useful.
I Digg You, You Digg Me
So, that portion satisfies the first hurdle that I mentioned in the introduction, but what about getting people to vote your story up? That’s where the “exclusive” Web 2.0 Buzz Group comes into play. When you buy this software, you also gain access to a group that basically trades Diggs, Stumbles, and so on. According to the sales page, “most customers have stated that access to the buzz group is worth more than the software.”
It Pays to Go Web 2.0
All in all, I’d say that despite the shady-looking long copy sales letter, Web 2.0 Submitter is a solid product that will shave precious seconds and minutes off your daily social bookmarking day. Be wary, though, because too much self promotion on these sites can oftentimes lead to getting banned. In this way, I’m not exactly sure how you can save seven hours a week, unless you own a bunch of sites, but it’ll save you a few minutes and the “Buzz Group” seems pretty handy.
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