Online Bookmark and Link Management Sites
How can you save links to Web sites and blogs so you can find your way back to them easily?
Aliza Sherman
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Online Bookmark and Link Management Sites
Hi there, The Digital Marketer here, ready to help you put the power of the Internet and technology to work for your business.
Are the bookmarks in your browser driving you crazy? Are you having trouble remembering where you saved the link to that site or blog you want to revisit? Why not try an online bookmark or link management site?
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Features of Online Bookmarking Sites
Features of Online Bookmarking SitesAs a business owner, you should be using bookmarks to access sites and blogs:
- for industry news and trends;
- to keep track of your competitors;
- for research sites;
- for useful information to help increase your business savvy; and
- for Web applications and tools that you can use to work more efficiently.
Popular Online Bookmarking Sites
I’ve tried a number of bookmark and link management sites including delicious at del.icio.us; magnolia at ma.gnolia.com; furl at furl.net – F-U-R-L; blogmarks.net, and blinklist.com.
These types of sites can help you create links to the many sites and blogs you visit and organize those links so you can access them with ease. Many of these sites let you share your bookmarks with others. One of the best things about all of these sites is that they are free. Another good thing is that most of them do not require you to download any special software.
A handy thing about bookmark management sites is that all of your links are not trapped in your Web browser on your computer. You can get to your links from any computer that has Web access.
Quickly Add Your Bookmarks
A quick and dirty tip for getting the most out of any of these bookmark management sites is to install their bookmarklet if they offer one. A bookmarklet is a tiny piece of code that you drag and drop onto your Web browser to create a permanent button. When you land on a Web page or blog post that you’d like to save, just click the bookmarklet, and it will automatically lead you through the process of saving the link to your bookmark management site account.
Managing and Sharing Bookmarks
Each bookmark management site has its own way of organizing links. Some, like Yahoo Bookmarks, use folders. Others, like delicious, use tags or keywords. Some of these sites, including furl, are considered social bookmarking sites because they not only help you capture, organize and manage your links but also allow you to share your bookmarks with others and build community around common interests defined by your bookmarks.
If you’ve listened to my show about Sharing Content you’ll know that content sharing applications like Share This and Add This can also automatically add a link to your content that you want to bookmark. Both tools connect to many of the bookmark management sites I’ve mentioned in this podcast.
Bookmarking Made Really Simple
For those of you who are looking for a really quick and dirty solution without any of the bells and whistles, check out Instapaper at instapaper.com. The site allows you to create a page of links to articles or blog posts that you don’t have time to read at the moment but would like to read later. It doesn’t let you move the links around or drop them into folders or even tag them or search them by keyword. You simply scroll down your Instapaper list of links, click on one to read, and that link drops to a Recently Read list at the bottom of the page. If you are looking to save links with no fanfare, Instapaper is worth a try.
Bottom Line: There are a lot of free sites out there that can help you manage your bookmarks so go out there and try one of them!
Contact Me
That’s all we have time for today. Visit the show’s website at digitalmarketer.quickanddirtytips.com for links to all of the sites mentioned in the show. If you’d like to ask a question or request a topic for The Digital Marketer, email me at digitalmarketer@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email or leave a message by calling .
If you would like more information about keynote speeches, workshops, or other appearances by me, Aliza Sherman, host of Small Biz Tech Girl, visit www.mediaegg.com for details.
If you haven’t heard, July 8th is the launch of the first Quick and Dirty Tips book: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
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Resources
del.icio.us
Blinklist
ma.gnolia
furl
blogmarks
Yahoo Bookmarks
Google Bookmarks
Instapaper