CrankyRants.com

As the search engine algorithms evolve, what was once… no longer is. All of the tried-and-true methods of pounding the importance of your page to the top now lie at the bottom of the webmaster’s tackle box like a half-barfed up Red Wiggler. (”The Cadillac of Worms!”)

Now more than ever, the quest for backlinks and 3-way links is tantamount. And what better way to get them than by offering up a service that doubles as a link to your site. File hosting sites do it. So do make-your-own emoticon and MySpace Sign Generator sites like TextOnImage.com. You’ve seen them: Pick a pic. Type your text. Copy and paste the code to your site or forum post or myspace account.

So let me get it straight. I get to walk around the net pimping YOUR site with a backlink… plus I get a novelty image with “CrankyRants Rules” or something on it? And this costs me nothing?

Sign me up, brother. Mind if I put your adsense code on my sites while I’m at it?

www.textonimage.com

There are volumes of information available online about digital marketing and website promotion. Hundreds of posts on hundreds of boards will give advice on which directory to post what request for a link exchange with which site relevant to what content without which no site will succeed.

“What?”

Exactly. Lost in the alpha-net soup of the hows and whatfors of internet marketing is the virtually forgotten realm of traditional marketing for websites. Obviously you don’t want to ignore the digital marketing aspect, because truth be known that is where most of your traffic will come from. But there is a certain satisfaction that goes along with the idea of “Wearing Your Site” to events and public gatherings.

If you travel or attend events that offer up a lot of eyes, five them something to look at by wearing something with your web address on it. I know plenty of people who make their own t-shirts, or use a button maker to create their own wearable artwork. In fact, the button machine comes in handy if you would like to advertise multiple sites. Just print a bunch of buttons and add plenty of web “flare” to your shirt, jacket, or in some cases, your giant over-sized novelty cat-in-the-hat poofy hat.

Here’s the key, though. Don’t go nuts with it. I don’t mind seeing someone’s product or site on their shirt or hat, as long as it’s tasteful. Which I guess the poofy hat is not. But I can’t stand people who wear crap that just screams “I’m desperate. Visit My Pathetic Site”. God knows we’re all desperate to get traffic. But you don’t have to whine about it in t-shirt form. Show a little dignity and tone it down somewhat. The last thing you want to do is drive people away from your site just because you had to be obnoxious and use giant unicorns dancing around your URL in bright neon green. Does not make me want to go. 

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