If you’re a blogger, are you using social bookmarks to build traffic for your blog? Putting links to your blog posts on social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Zimbio, Ning, Mixx, Facebook, Twitter, and Propeller can bring lots more traffic to your site. They offer a great way to create more visibility for your products, services or talent — potentially turning online “friends” into customers.

Countless non-bloggers use these sites to find quality content all in one place. But those of us with small business blogs, affiliate marketing blogs and websites get this and more. Not only may people surfing these sites click-through to your site, many social networks also deliver you additional Google and Yahoo! search engine traffic, too.

Here’s a list of over 200 social bookmarking services a blogger can consider joining, but it’s best to focus on having a real presence at only a few. Join no more than 3 if you’re pressed for time. To get the most out of these communities, you’ll need to spend quality time social networking with other members.

From an SEO point, you can also gain inbound links through social media marketing. Building a profile at some of the social media sites count as an inbound link, helping boost your blog or website’s Google Page Rank. Not all sites give up “link juice,” though. Best to use Google and check those you’re considering if search engine optimization is important to you.

Note: If you don’t have a blog but want to attact traffic to your static website, the new microblogging sites such as Twitter might work for you. Microblogs allow you to set up a simple page, type a few friendly sentences or post your link, and keep truckin’. (Conversely, blogs need lots of content, photos, design and other attention.)

Check these links for tips on choosing and optimizing the best social marketing services (SMS) to meet your business or career goals:

~ Social Networks Can Have Real Business Benefits (@ Bizwomen)
~ An Addict’s Guide to StumbleUpon (@ Squidoo lens)
~ Use Twitter For Business Right (Darren Rowse @ TwiTips)
~ Broken Social Media – 5 Anti-Social Sites (@ SEO 2.0)
~ 10 Ways to Get Diggs on Digg (@ Video Blogging Tips)
~ How I Use Twitter to Promote My Blog (@ ProBlogger)
~ Use MySpace to Build Business Contacts (@ Associated Content)

For publicity, website copy, e-book creation and sales letters visit the Internet marketing store: PetLeopard.com.