Overview: StumbleUpon’s 6 million + users ensure that this social bookmarking tool allows you to discover and share websites that you otherwise might never find. Not only is StumbeUpon a great tool for creating extra traffic on your website, it also provides a means of finding other quality sites with benefits for both personal and business use.

Defined: StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking tool, an application that allows users to save and share selected websites with the use of certain keywords or tags, along with a personal review of the site if they so choose. As a result, these tagged websites can now be searched and more easily found by other internet users. In the case of StumbleUpon, users download the StumbleUpon toolbar to their taskbar, which allows them to indicate which websites they like or dislike by clicking the thumbs up or down button.

For every thumbs up, the website is automatically saved within the user’s StumbleUpon profile. Whenever a user clicks the “I like it!” button while on a particular webpage, a small window will open up where they can better define the reason they liked the page with a short description along with a few keywords to make the site easier for others to find.

Users can also surf the internet by hitting the Stumble! button on their taskbar, which brings up a webpage in whatever category you are searching. For instance, if you had indicated in your preferences that you had interest in websites related to travel, survival, and tea, then everytime you clicked the Stumble! button a website within those genres would open in your browser. And, because all websites on StumbleUpon are bookmarked by users according to relevant keywords, you will most often Stumble through very high quality websites that are germane to whatever you are searching. You can click Stumble! all day and browse through countless websites on whatever topic interests you, it’s addicting!

Business Applications: StumbleUpon is an excellent tool for driving traffic to your webpage. By bookmarking your particular site with a few keywords and a short description, you’ll have people from all over the world landing on your website as they Stumble! If you own a blog, new webpage, or you just want to increase your traffic, all you need to do is bookmark any page or article with certain keywords so that other Stumblers can find it. When other Stumblers also bookmark your page this increases the likelihood that someone searching for your keywords will be directed to your page in the future.

Recommendation: StumbleUpon remains one of my favorite social bookmarking tools, it’s easy to use, boosts site traffic, and provides a means of finding fascinating websites that you might have never found through a search engine. StumbleUpon requires no maintenance, it’s a tool you can use as you feel inclined, with value for both business and personal use.