There’s an interesting discussion over at Webmaster World about the value of a link from StumbleUpon, the community-driven service that helps web surfers discover websites they otherwise may not find using regular search engines.

How it works

StumbleUpon is similar to Digg in that the community ranks web pages that they have, well, “stumbled upon.” It lets users see only the pages recommended by their friends or other users with interests similar to theirs. The aim of the company is to prevent information overload by filtering through the vast amount of web info to direct “Stumblers” (fancy name for StumbleUpon users) to top quality web sites relevant to their personal interests.

To use it, simply download its free toolbar (which automatically integrates with your browser). Just click on the “Stumble” button on the toolbar if you want to be taken to web sites recommended by like-minded users who share your interests. You can also contribute to the community. As you surf the internet, click “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” Using both your opinion and “machine learning,” StumbleUpon then delivers relevant content to you and to other Stumblers.

Our verdict

For small, obscure websites with virtually no search engine optimization efforts, high ratings from several Stumblers can mean thousands of new visitors very quickly. If you intend to fish for traffic, just make sure you have interesting content, whether it be a story or image. Stumblers can be picky.

As for link development, StumbleUpon won’t help much, though. Webmasters who think that putting an inbound link from StumbleUpon into their website is as good as getting a link from a reputable directory will surely be disappointed. Why? Because links from StumbleUpon are no-follow links, so they don’t contribute to Page Rank. Also, if a webmaster forces in a web site that isn’t worthy of being “stumbled,” that web site may get banned.

StumbleUpon is a great platform to start a viral campaign, sure, but not to start a link development campaign. Our Link Management System is a far better alternative, especially because it’s free. Check out the rankings of websites that signed up.