How to Add ‘Bookmark this Site’ and ‘Refer-a-Friend’ Links to your Site

icon1 Posted by Rochelle in How To..., Site Building Strategies on 01 29th, 2008 | 4 responses

Want a great (and free) way to get more traffic to your web site? Then give people an easy way to share your sites and also encourage them to bookmark your sites.

There are many ‘Refer-a-Friend’ and bookmarking scripts. I’m sharing the ones that I use. I no longer remember where I got these so I am unable to credit their sources. If someone recognizes where they came from please let me know.

When you add this code to your sites you will add two links. One says, “Email This Site to Friends or Groups” (or whatever text you change it to). Seeing this will encourage people to share your site. The other tells people how to bookmark your site (instructions vary for Internet Explorer and Firefox).

The reason I like the bookmarking code I’m sharing here is because it includes instructions to readers using Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers. This means that visitors who use either of these browsers will be prompted to bookmark your site. These links are calls to action that will encourage people to share your site and help bring visitors back.

 

My instructions to add ‘Bookmark this Site’ and ‘Refer-a-Friend’ code to your site:

Step One
 Log in to your site’s Admin and click on ‘Template‘ tab and ‘header.php‘ link for the template you are using.
  
 Save a copy of the original code (click here for instructions on how to do this).
  
 Copy and paste the contents of refer-a-friend01.txt code to header.php ABOVE the </head> tag .
  
 Change the following bit of code before you save your changes:
 
  • Change “[ENTER DESCRIPTION OF YOUR SITE HERE]” to a description of your site
  
 Save changes and view site for errors.
Step Two
 Decide where you want your bookmark and refer-a-friend links to be seen on your site. Copy and paste the contents of bookmark-refer.txt code to your desired location.
  
 Change the following bits of code before you save your changes:
 
  • Change “www.ENTERYOURURLHERE.com” to your site’s URL
  • Change “TYPE OF STORE HERE i.e. Car Store” to your site’s type of store
  
 Save changes and view site for errors.
  

I have put the ‘Bookmark this Site’ and ‘Refer-a-Friend ‘ code into a table (you likely won’t see the table). Because of this you may find the best place to put this code is in the Ads in ‘Above Results.’

If you decide to put your code in Ads, as I do, be aware that the code will not show on your Home page. In order to have it show on the Home page you need to go to your Home page and add the code to the Content section. Make sure you add it by clicking on the < > button and pasting it in the window that opens.

Lastly, some people have had problems with this mod. I think it is because I put them together. If you have problems with this then try doing each separately. You can read instructions for adding the ‘Bookmark this Site’ here and instructions for ‘Refer-a-Friend’ here.

Rochelle

4 Responses to “How to Add ‘Bookmark this Site’ and ‘Refer-a-Friend’ Links to your Site”

  1. Rochelle says:
    February 9, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    Although these instructions are working perfectly for me a lot of people have stated that there are errors when they follow them. I think the problem may be because I’ve combined two mods together. When I get a chance I will split them apart and post them seperately.

    Rochelle

  2. Rochelle says:
    February 10, 2008 at 11:24 am

    I have now added seperate instructions for both of these codes. You can see them in the index or at http://www.nichestorestrategie.....your-site/ and http://www.nichestorestrategie.....your-site/

    Rochelle

  3. How I Create a New Niche Store | Niche Store Strategies says:
    February 25, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    [...] use the Bookmark this Site and Refer-a-Friend code combined but most people seem to have problems with this so you may find it better to add them [...]

  4. bookmarking demon software says:
    April 1, 2010 at 6:11 pm

    Everyone must use social bookmarks as a part of web marketing strategy because it is a great method to grow the visibility of your website. But having a automated bookmarking software is vital, because this way you can save an average of 3-4 hours a day, or perhaps an average of $200 per month in bookmarking expenses while you create the greatest results in terms of traffic and Page Rank boost.

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