We could write a whole month’s worth of posts exploring the possibilities and the potential problems in social bookmarking.

However, in this post, our goal is only to provide an overview of why this new concept is hot, and to inspire you to investigate further.

Here are four simple ways you can integrate social bookmarking features into your website now.

#1 – Use social bookmarking sites as content sources.
Social bookmarking sites are equipped with all the latest syndication tools, be it RSS feeds or HTML or Flash widgets you can grab that dynamically display the latest links on a given subject. Use these tools to enhance your site with a continuously updated stream of links, that are highly relevant to your product or service offering.

Remember, place these links carefully as helpful additions that strengthen your site as an authority on the subject. This will avoid creating a “link leak” which drives visitors away from your site onto non-monetized links.

#2 – Implement tagging on your site and take advantage of tag aggregators.
There are tagging plug-ins for almost all content management and blogging systems, which you can use to tag your pages and content. You can submit these pages to tag aggregators that display content tagged with the same labels from many sources.

If you have a blog, ping Technorati, which will pick up your posts and tags. Keep your tags relevant to your content. Both social software sites and users do not like spam!

#3 – Use social software sites in keyword research.
Because tags are chosen entirely by the users, tag-based sites are also free market research goldmines. You can tap into the minds of your target audience by studying what labels they use to tag products, pages, and sites on your chosen subject. Browse the many social bookmarking sites and pick up unusual tag (keyword) combinations or new product angles you haven’t thought about.

#4 – Add a social bookmarking tool to your pages.
There are plug-ins for most blog platforms and content management systems that display an “Add to ….” link on each page of your site. This enables users to quickly save your link as a bookmark on their chosen online bookmark manager. By using this tactic, every page will encourage users to save and share your site, hopefully resulting in free viral traffic from these increasingly popular services.