PaxLamprey's Nexus: PBeM Promo Guide

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Basic Guide to Promotion Resources
A very basic guide outlining ways to promote Star Trek sim games. This guide should be usable by any type of website.

Promotion Type	Upsides	Downsides	Links/ Examples
Webrings	Dedicated traffic in quality rings	Low traffic yield; navbars are sometimes large	WebRing.com Ring List
Link Exchanges	Stable with good quality traffic	Low traffic yield; banners take room	The Federation Exchange
Banner exchanges	Wide promotion	Smaller sites get buried; graphic host needed	Warp 9 Banner Exchange
Top Sites Lists	Quality traffic; small graphic or text link	Smaller sites get buried; graphic host needed	Central Core Top Trek Sites
Promote in Search Portals	Good traffic; smaller sites listed as well as larger	Some may require a link back	Planet Doom Site Submission Guide
Announce in Portals; BB's	Great exposure for all size sites	Articles quickly rotate away	The Universal RPG Recruiting Network
Dropdown Box	Small size, easy to navigate, equal traffic for small and large sites	Some people might not know what it is	Fantasy Herald's many-jars dropbox
Blog	Adds relevency, content. Can be syndicated.	Could be time intensive; there might be a slight learning curve.	tBlog, Blogger
Promotion Type	Upsides	Downsides	Links

Descriptions:

Webrings: Rings are a great way to drive dedicated surfers to you're site. Most rings have a low traffic yield. Choose a good quality ring (with few breaks), that is neither too general nor hyper-specialized. Join several of different sizes and specialization. top

Link Exchanges: You can ask webmasters if they would like to swap links. Usually, you'll exchange a standard banner. Many PBeM's have formalized programs, usually called "sister fleets" or "allied fleets," which will have rules of some sort. top

Banner Exchanges: Usually in the form of a simple JavaScript, you place a code on your site that will show the banners of other sites in the bannex. Each time you show the banner, you get "credit" which will show your banner on someone else's site.

Sometimes you will earn bonus credits if someone clicks on the banner on your site. Some bannex's give a sign-on incentive in the form of free impressions. Look for quality banner exchanges that give at least a 2:3 ratio (for every 3 banners displayed on your site, you'll get 2 showings of your banner) or 1:1 ratio.

The major drawback to bannex's is that smaller sites with less traffic will get buried by larger sites. Another problem is that you will need a host for your own banner.top

Top Sites Lists: By placing a "vote button" on your site, you climb a list of other sites when someone clicks on it (casting a vote). The process is simple, and joining is easy. However, larger sites or sites with a large membership can flood smaller sites. To avoid this, look for top sites that reset their list often. For a short while smaller sites can place towards the top of the list, and display their banner.

Most will allow webmasters to vote for themselves once a day, which will usually put any site in the top 50 if the list is reset monthly or weekly. You don't need a banner for most TS lists, but having one can get you better exposure. top

Promote in search engines: This is the easiest way to promote your RPG with little to do on your part except fill out a form. Although science fiction, Star Trek, and PBeM search engines are the best place to start, promoting in general SE's is certainly a good idea. Follow the search engine's rules very carefully, and make sure you plan ahead with your keywords and a good description. Some SE's might require a link back in the form of a button. top

Announce in Portals and Bulletin Boards: Be very, very clear that it's okay to advertise in the forums you're considering putting your announcements in. Do not try to sneak it in; if there's no spamming allowed- don't do it! Write a clear, concise article, check your grammar, and double check your links.

For a short while, you will get some great exposure. Your article will eventually be pushed down the list as others are added, then off the front page. top

Dropdown Box: A dropdown box is a small box that has a list of sites that is remotely hosted so it can be updated by the "dropmaster." The Registry knows of only one that will accept general science fiction sites, Fantasy Herald's many-jars dropbox. top

Blog: A blog, or weblog, is a powerful way to add content to your site while giving news and updates. Since blogs are simple to use, even new webmasters should be able to learn to use them. Pick a host that also has RSS or XML feeds, and you'll be able to syndicate your blog rather easily. Adding other blogs to your site that gives news can add content. top

Quick Tips

Don't confine yourself to PBeM resources; search out general scifi and rpg resources to stay diverse in your promoting.
Use many different types of promoting resources.
Don't overdo it; be cautious of slow page loads and distracting clutter.
Pay special attention to how promotion resources will act if your site has frames. You may want to have a frameless index page for webrings. Just don't forget to leave a link for ring surfers to get back to the navbar. Make sure that links target "_top" or "_blank," because a surfer who wants to move on will be annoyed by getting stuck in your frames.
If you think you will have time to maintain them, build your own resources. Websites that host banner exchanges, webrings, top sites, ect, will have an advantage over sites using the resources- that is your reward for the hard work you put into it.
If you don't have your own host for graphics, try a free graphic host like Photobucket. top