For example, this story is the first that I’m submitting.  You can see my Buzz button in the upper left.  In fact, I think I hear it calling, “Click me…click me”.

For those of you who don’t know about Yahoo Buzz: It’s a special section of Yahoo! that allows users to vote on news topics.  It’s very similar to other social news sites like Digg and Reddit in that the users have the control on what appears on the main pages.  In Yahoo’s own words, Buzz is: “The Web’s most remarkable stories, determined by people like you. Stories are ranked based on your votes, emails, and searches.”

The “Buzz Effect”

What is also similar to Digg is the possibility of enormous increases in website traffic over a very short time. Digg is famous for the “Digg Effect” where small website owners get their servers overloaded and have their sites go offline from the sudden surge in website traffic.

So the question is: Can you handle getting “buzzed”?  I for one would like to find out.  Would you like to help? I certainly would not mind if you clicked the Buzz button above and “Buzzed me up!”.

Yahoo Is A Traffic Powerhouse

Yahoo Buzz will be a way for webmasters to tap into Yahoo’s millions of users for free.  In fact, Yahoo has this to say: “The best content may be featured on the Yahoo! homepage, potentially driving millions of clicks to your site.” I’m sure you like the sound of that!  How would you like to have your website featured on Yahoo’s home page?  Could you imagine how much traffic that would bring? The best part is that right now there is very little competition for your stories.  As webmasters find out how powerful this tactic is for getting traffic I’m sure that will change.

Submitting A Story Is Easy

Submitting a story to buzz is very simple.  One way is to just put a Yahoo Buzz button on your site.  It will look like the button you see above on this story.  I suggest using the advanced features that they explain further down the page at: http://buzz.yahoo.com/buttons  You can also directly submit your stories here: http://buzz.yahoo.com/submit/

If my readers would like, I might get one of my developers to build a WordPress plugin that can automate putting Yahoo Buzz buttons on your blog.  Just sign up at http://www.BillMcIntosh.com using the sign up box on the top right and then comment on this story to let me know if you’re interested.  If I get enough response I’ll build the plugin and give it to you free.

Tags

Social Marketing