StumbleUpon VS DiggIf you have a blog or website, chances are you have heard of Digg and StumbleUpon. And, if you are one of the many people to have a post or web page featured on one or both of these sight, you know that they can do to and for your website.

But, which one does the most for your site? Should you concentrate your efforts on promoting your website on one of these sites more than the other? I decided to do some research and it was very interesting to see the results.

Digg Spikes, StumbleUpon Boosts

One of the very first things I noticed when I started to go through the data was that each site produces very different traffic patters as can be seen by the two graphs below.

The first graph represents all of the traffic that has come to Daily Cup of Tech between September 1, 2006 and July 31, 2007 from StumbleUpon.

StumbleUpon Chart

As you can see, there are occasional spikes in traffic as high as 2687. In contrast, the second graph represents the same data for the same time period but for referrals from Digg.

Digg Chart

There appear to be far fewer spikes in traffic but the spikes that do come are significant with one reaching 16386 referrals (more than 6x that of StumbleUpon).

When we analyze the average number of referrals per day, it immediately looks like Digg gives use the best average daily referral rates (161.45 vs 137.53). But, if we were to remove the spikes over 1100 daily referrals (which removes seven data points from each set of information), we suddenly see that StumbleUpon provides us with a far more consistent amount of referrals (45.03 vs 104.58).

Average Digg StumbleUpon
All Visits 161.45 137.53
Less Spikes Over 1100 45.03 104.58

Both are Addictive

If you have spent any time over at Digg or StumbleUpon, you will find that both services are highly addictive. You just want to know what is new on each of the sites. In fact, I have heard avid users of both services mention that when they are not on the respective websites, they often find themselves wondering, “What am I missing on Digg/StumbleUpon?”

One of the advantages in the addictive category that StumbleUpon has over Digg is the fact that there is an extra thrill when you click the StumbleUpon button that Digg does not provide. It’s almost like the feeling you get when you are watching the drawing for the multi-million dollar draw that you just bought a ticket for. You don’t know what is going to happen in the next few seconds but there is a chance that it could be something big!

This feeling is very addictive and I have spend many an hour saying to myself, “Just one more Stumble!”

StumbleUpon Gives A Website More of a Chance

The one down side of Digg that I have discovered is that you are limited to the description given by the Digger and the commenters. Many of these description actually turn me off the website but I always wonder whether or not I am missing something really good or interesting.

On the StumbleUpon website, you will find a very similar interaction with the user but with one big difference…the Stumble! button.

I have to admit, as a blogger and website owner, I love the Stumble! button. Instead of someone relying on the likes and opinions of others, they are simply presented with the actual website! Then, they can decide for themselves!

Digg Users are Generally More Negative than StubleUpon Users

This just may be me, but I get the general impression that Digg users are a lot more negative that StumbleUpon users. This might just be because of a lot of nasty things that were said by people who commented on the DCoT Helps Find Lost Child post and also on the Digg page which, at the time of this posting, had 1164 diggs. I’ve never seen this from StumbleUpon readers.

Digg Users Stay Longer, StumbleUpon Users Look More

When I look at the traffic that comes from each of these services, Digg users will stay on the website longer that StumbleUpon users. The average Digger will stay on the site for just over seven minutes (7:08) which is nearly 2.6 times as long as Stumblers (2:45). The website average is 7:15.

But, Stumblers tend to look around a bit when they are are the site. The average Stumbler will look at 2.29 pages per visit while Diggers check out 1.66 pages. (Website average: 2.13.) Also, Diggers have a bounce (when a reader only reads one page and then leaves) rate of 77.21% while Stumblers have a bounce rate of only 29.67%! The website’s bounce rate is 65.35%.

Both Services Bring in New Users

Both Digg and StumbleUpon are really good at bringing in users who are new to the website. Digg - 85.79%, StumbleUpon - 89.30%, Site Average - 68.69%.

Conclusions and Summary

So, which is better, Digg or StumbleUpon? To be completely honest, I welcome any traffic, regardless of its source. But, I have to admit that I think the traffic that comes from StumbleUpon appears to be of better quality and has a tendency to sustain itself over time.

Metric Digg
 StumbleUpon
 Website
Visits 53,923 45,936 748,091
Average Time on Site 7:08 2:45 7:15
Bounce Rate 77.21% 29.67% 65.35%
Pageviews/Visit 1.66 2.29 2.13
New Visits 85.79% 89.30% 68.69%

If you found this post useful, why don't you buy me a cup of coffee to show your gratitude?

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/08/06/stumbleupon-vs-digg/trackback/
Tim Fehlman