Top Traffic Driver No One Has Heard Of – Benable

We all know that next to making blog posts, the number one priority is driving traffic to your blog. Pinterest is still the #1 powerhouse in generating traffic for a new blog. You know what #2 has been for Slowestuff, by a large margin, over all other social media sites?

Benable.

 

In this blog post we will explain what Benable is, how it works, and give our review on it so far.

Generating Traffic For A New Blog

We know that driving traffic to your blog posts is absolutely crucial in the world of digital marketing. Traffic is the lifeblood of your blog. It’s the audience that fuels your content’s purpose and justifies your efforts. Without traffic, your valuable insights and expertise remain hidden, leaving your blog in the shadows.

A robust flow of visitors also enhances your blog’s authority, making it a go-to resource in your niche. This, in turn, elevates your brand’s credibility and attracts more followers. Traffic can be a goldmine for lead generation and conversions, as the more eyes on your content, the higher the chances of turning visitors into loyal customers.

It is also essential for search engine optimization (SEO), boosting your blog’s ranking and visibility. Driving traffic is not just a goal but a strategic imperative for your blog’s success in the digital landscape.

That’s where Benable comes in. This powerful tool can help you increase your blog’s visibility, attract new readers, and ultimately grow your audience. Let’s talk about how Benable can drive traffic to your blog and help you achieve your blogging goals.

Who is Benable?

Benable describes itself as the following:

We’re a team of folks, headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with members sprinkled around the globe. We launched Benable about a year ago with the goal of making it easier for people to help one another by sharing recommendations. We are a registered Public Benefit Corporation, which means our mission is core to everything we do, and we are committed to driving a positive social impact.

What is Benable?

Benable defines itself like this:

Benable is a tool to create beautiful, shareable lists of things you recommend. Ever get asked for recommendations? Benable is the all-in-one tool to share your favorite: products, places, services, activities, videos, recipes, and more!

Save time, delight followers, and earn passive income. Prevent the things you’ve recommended from getting buried in your feed or disappearing in your story! With Benable, you automatically compile beautiful lists of things you recommend.

Passive Income

This is what we see as the main marketing technique – that Benable allows you to make passive income. Here is how it works, using Benable’s own description.

Benable makes it easy to earn money from the things you recommend! Benable has partnered with over 35,000+ sites that will pay you when someone makes a purchase from your list. When you join Benable you instantly get approved for all 35,000+ brand deals.

The brand partners include sites across products, apps, experiences, travel sites, subscriptions, and more. Including Etsy, Lululemon, West Elm, Nike, Sephora, Tripadvisor, Wayfair, Minted, VRBO, Anthropologie, Coursera, BestBuy, eBay, Ulta, etc. It even works with Amazon!

Slowestuff comment: They continue to add partners and update you when a new one is added. Recently, they added Pottery Barn and we got so excited that we made an exclusive Pottery Barn list, which was a bit of a no-no. More on that later.

Anytime you add anything from these sites to your Benable list, Benable will auto-add a custom affiliate link for you. And Benable doesn’t take a cut, you keep the whole commission! (If you already have a partnership with a brand, you’re welcome to use your own affiliate links.)

Slowestuff take:

First off, we can confirm that the passive affiliate income does work. More on that below.

Secondly, and more importantly in terms of driving traffic – you create and curate lists of things that interest you, taking time to create optimized lists (see below for more on that) – AND YOU CAN LINK DIRECTLY TO YOUR SHOP, YOUR BLOG, WEBSITE, ETC. Benable allows you to drive traffic not just to automatically generated links, but to your specific sites. Once it is on an optimized list, you are getting ranked on Google, which means your site or products are getting highlighted there as well.

How Does Benable Work?

Again, straight from the horse’s mouth:

Benable in 3 steps:

Step 1: Create a profile and start a new list (e.g. “Skincare Recs”, “Best Restaurants in LA”, “Baby Gear”, “Holiday Recipes” etc)

Step 2: Add keywords or paste a link to something you recommend. Benable will automatically scan the web to pull in all the info: photos, links, social, reviews, etc!

Step 3: Confirm or edit the info as you like. E.g., upload your own photos, include an optional note, etc.

That’s it! Tap to get a shareable link to your Benable profile or lists, which you can add in your Linktree, bio, or on your blog. Your friends and followers don’t need a Benable account to view your Benable lists!

Slowestuff take:

We have been very impressed with how easy and fun it is to use Benable! It is very user friendly, easy to navigate in terms of creating your lists and then adding to them. When we first started on it we were just typing words in and were amazed that it would automatically find links (Amazon and other retailers) and add them to the product you were putting on your list. So easy! It was actually quite fun to make lists for subjects that we loved. But this isn’t where the gold is buried! Keep reading to follow the process.

 

Creating Optimized Lists

Benable wants you to create “Optimized Lists.” In Benable’s own words:

When you see the “Optimized” badge on your list, it means the Benable algorithm thinks it’s really high quality and optimized to be discovered by others. Benable will rank it higher, send more traffic to it, and index it on Google.

 

How To Make Optimized Lists

Our experience has shown that Benable is really good at communicating. They provide a lot of information, tips and recommendations on how to use it and how to maximize its effectiveness. Of paramount importance will be your lists. List quality really matters on Benable. Having a few really great lists makes a big difference in getting traffic. Benable will let you know immediately when you have created a list they consider to be of high quality by putting the Optimized badge on it and sending you an email stating that you have achieved that status.

Here are the tips they give for creating a list that will earn the Optimized badge.

Make Lists of Things You Actually Like

Interestingly, Benable seems to reward creativity. Unlike Pinterest or Google, where it is very keyword-driven, creativity is often sidelined for key search terms. Benable encourages originality or hooks. According to Benable, their algorithm rewards that.

A list won’t do well if it is seen as “salesy” or just contains a bunch of recommendations for a major brand (like we did with Pottery Barn, whoops). Benable recognizes and acknowledges that you can earn affiliate commissions by linking products to their authorized partners. But, to create a high-quality list, Benable wants you to share curated recommendations of specific things you love.

So a great list will include products, but it will also include links to “how-to” videos, locations, or even products that Benable isn’t partnered with. Curating a well-rounded list like this, even if you can’t earn commissions on every recommendation, will boost your overall profile and list quality. This will drive traffic, and that is what the overall goal is. The more curated and genuine the list, the better it will do.

Remember, you get extra points for creativity, so they encourage you to flex your creative muscle. According to Benable, the more interesting, unique lists always get clicked the most.

Write Notes on Your Lists

When we first started making lists, we didn’t even notice that there was a spot to put notes. Same for the list descriptions (see below). Once we realized that these were a thing, we went back in and started filling them out. It makes a difference!

These are the short comments on each item on your list. According to Benable, notes are the most engaged with part of Benable. This process can be time-consuming, but the note doesn’t have to be long. Something like “this restaurant has amazing pasta” is a good note. The Benable algorithm really factors in the extent to which you have quality notes on your lists. Since the overall goal is to generate traffic, make sure your recommendations have great notes.

Slowestuff TIP – do this as you go! It is time-consuming to go back and fill these in. It is worth the little bit of extra time as you are putting your recommendation in.

A Catchy Title

No surprise here – a great title is vital on every platform. Benable is no exception, lists with great titles and descriptions rank much higher than others. Think of it like a hook for a news article that makes you want to read it. Great list titles are specific, descriptive, sometimes even fun. Some examples of great titles from Benable:

• What you will find in my low-tox bathroom
• Mexico City musts – do, eat, stay, pack
• First job resources for new college grads
• Essential coffee products for coffee lovers

Add a Great List Description

It wasn’t until we received an email from Benable (we really mean it when we say Benable has great communication!) suggesting that we put descriptions on our lists that we even realized that there was a spot to do this.

The description will be seen along with the title and images to entice people to click on your list. Great descriptions include what is on the list, what makes you a great curator and passionate about the topic. Benable gives this as an example of a great description: “As a personal trainer, my clients are always asking me for recommendations for at-home workouts when they can’t make it to the gym. Here are some favorite products and YouTube videos I love for getting your workouts in both at home and on the go.”

Have Enough Recommendations On Your List

No hard and fast rules here, but generally speaking Benable says they want at least 15-20 high-quality things on a list. We can’t really predict what will be the tipping point for getting the Optimized badge. Some of our lists got it very quickly, while others took longer, even when we felt we had a fairly long, really well-rounded list. Some of our lists still don’t have the Optimized badge in spite of our best efforts, but we keep working on it! You can keep adding things to the list and building it up over time.

Great Images

Another obvious tip is to make sure you have high quality images on your recommendations. Each list has image cards that go along with it. When you type in the keyword or link, several images will automatically pop up and you can choose the ones you want to use. Honestly, this is such a great feature, and it is all we have used. However, you can upload your own images. Benable has instructions on how to do that. (Because again, great communication!)

Organize Longer Lists Into Sections

Lastly, if your list is getting really long, Benable recommends that you split it up into Sections. You then put a description for each Section. This makes it easier to navigate, both for you and visitors. For example, we have just started a main list entitled “Christmas” and then within that list we have sections “Christmas Cards” and “Gifts for her.” We will likely be adding more sections to this list in the near future. Building your list over time is very easy to do. Here is a picture of what it looks like with the main list title, list description, and sections.

Now you know how to start a list and build it to get the Optimized Badge. So what happens next?

Passive Income from Benable

This is what I have seen a lot as a selling point – the links that Benable automatically generates, or that you manually insert, for items that you put on your lists can earn you passive income. This is true! I actually earned my first small commission within a week or two of creating a list. So it definitely works. We have small ticket items but someone who had lists of large ticket items could do some serious earning! This is a screenshot I took showing some of the small commissions we have earned so far—nothing earth-shattering, but it shows that the links do generate traffic.

Linking Your Blog, Website or Shop

What we did not realize initially—even though Benable told us this right from the beginning, see the “how it works” section—was that we could link our own stuff. We were having so much fun just typing in items and having an automatic link pop up that we didn’t think much beyond the small commissions we might get if something sold on Amazon, for example.

Etsy Link

Lightbulb moment! We have a digital product shop on Etsy called Slowprose. We realized we could make a Digital Product list, and then link all of our Etsy products to that list. Surprisingly, the Optimized List check mark popped up really quickly for that list. The only things we have listed there are digital products, but we have organized it really well and have a lot of descriptors (as discussed above) so we figure that must be why it was Optimized.

We regularly get notifications that people are looking at that list. Etsy traffic has increased. We have made sales. Even if someone doesn’t buy our product on Etsy but buys from someone else using the link we directed, we get a small commission. If they buy from us, we get rewarded in two ways. In the screenshot above of the small commissions we have received, five of the items listed are from our Etsy shop.

Note that someone does not have to be a member of Benable (its invite only right now but consider yourself invited, click any of the Slowestuff Benable links to sign up – its free!) to view your lists. Benable makes things really so easy to share. You can share your lists easily. They even have a way to prepare an email list to send your lists out. Very user friendly and they really have it set up to allow for business building activities.

Blog Link

Onto the blog. Slowestuff is a new blog, so our main goals right now are focused on creating blog posts and driving traffic to the blog. The first big objective is to generate enough consistent traffic to qualify for an ad agency.

We have, of course, been told to focus on Pinterest. And we have! It is still the powerhouse in terms of driving traffic and is our #1 traffic generator. What I didn’t expect was how much traffic Benable generates. It is #2 in terms of driving traffic, and by quite a large margin next to #3 and beyond.

Branding Everywhere!

You can put your link in so many different places on your Benable profile. Add it to your profile page so it is visible all the time. You can also incorporate it into your lists. Once you have completed a blog post, create a list that relates to that post in some way. Then add either your blog images or your related Pinterest pins to that list and link them to your blog.

Here is an example of something we have done. We have a journaling section in the Slowestuff blog called The Monsters of Mayhem Crafters so we have included a section showcasing finished layouts in our list of junk journal supplies. Our list has links to some of our products in our Etsy shop, links to other shops, links to Amazon, all kinds of stuff.

Worldwide Exposure

As we mentioned above, a fun thing that Benable does is that it will notify you if one of your lists is being looked at. In that notification (if you enable it, you don’t have to), it tells you where the person is located. Not in a weird way, lol, but in a broad, geographical way, depending on what they put as their general location. So its pretty cool to get notifications that someone from Levubu, Limpopo or Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire is looking at one of your lists.

But it also goes to show that people from all over the world are looking at your lists—meaning your shop, blog, or website. Driving traffic!!

Work Effort

The traffic generated by Benable is also relatively low effort. We have been told that Pinterest values consistency, and wants to see you pinning on a daily basis. For Benable, our experience so far is that the work is in the front end in building the list. Once we get a list optimized, Benable kind of does its own thing. We do continue to add things to our existing lists as we think of them or generate new lists when we have a new idea. But generally speaking, it is passively working for you once you get the list set up and Optimized.

Speaking to the quality of effort and communication over there at Benable, we have received periodic emails letting us know of contests they are running or tips and suggestions they have with regard to some of our lists. They really work to keep you engaged and curating good lists. Here is an example – I mean, it’s so good, right!

COST

I know you are thinking – but how much does this cost?

FREE! Free is my favorite.

Benable is free, and, according to Benable, always will be! It states that eventually, Benable will monetize through paid ads in search results similar to Google, Pinterest, etc. However, they also clarify that there will never be ads on your lists or profile.

But FREEEEE!

Invitation Only

Benable is available by invite only for now, so if you are interested in joining, consider yourself invited! Here is the Slowestuff Benable link. It does require the invitation link to join. Benable originally rewarded sign ups with increase in percentages when items were sold from one of your lists, but that is ending November 1, 2023. We are unaware of any type of benefits that someone may get if people use their invite links to sign up. So we are just recommending it because we like it and think it can be really beneficial, especially to new bloggers like us! No gatekeeping here, join us over at Benable! We would love to look at your curated lists!

 

Slowestuff