Just a suggestion. Consider making the Mojeek Link to Us or Easy search box page easier to find in your navigation menus. Reason: after I mentioned Mojeek today on Micro.blog a member asked me about availability of Mojeek search boxes. So sure I went looking and looking and looking and finally found the page (nice page BTW). He’s now going to put your search boxes on a couple of his web pages. So a little free advertising.
Second, a kind of a grass roots viral marketing approach: there is a growing “Web Revival” movement going on and how can Mojeek market itself to them? Particularly the retro 1990’s style HTML portion of this movement. I say this because these are the webmasters that are willing to link out to, support and recommend things they like on their static HTML sites. If you can connect somehow, offer them some 88 x 31 buttons on your Link to Us page they use those just like 1990’s websites did.
I dunno, if this is a doable idea or not or even a good idea but I’m posting it before I forget. Ask questions if I’m not being clear.
Gold, thanks a lot for that @Brad and point taken on the search box page. On Web Revival, I think this is a great idea; I am also a massive fan of:
Guestbook - This is a page where people can leave public notes on your site, its a great way to get feedback and to feel good when people like your site. All good sites have one!
I can have a think about the best way to approach this. I guess the big question I have is where, if anywhere, people are talking about this. If there’s a blogring type path to follow or some kind of forum? No worries if the answer is I haven’t a clue!
The retro web movement may be a bit neutral when it comes to search engines. These are people who advocate surfing the web or using directories and really exploring a website. Search engines are more about helicoptering in to a single page. BUT, they, we, all use search engines daily. I think DDG is currently very popular.
So look for common ground:
Mojeek often surfaces lessor known sites that get buried under corporate sites in other engines. This should be a plus for the retro web fans.
You have an interest in encouraging the continued building of websites because, after all, this is your bread and butter.
The retro webmasters are continuing, what I call, “the never ending street fair of the Web”. This is the fun recreational stuff of the web. Google purposely cut the Geocities sites out of the SERP’s because they were never going to advertise on Google. There was no money in listing free server personal websites in the first 10 pages of the serps so they buried them 20 pages back. (I was there on Webmasterworld when it was announced.)
Up until Neocities started up, this part of the web was dying. These new webmasters are stubborn though and seem to be willing to work together to fight against the odds. Much like Mojeek. I admire that.
Point is, I think both you and they have some large overlapping goals and interests and you can maybe help each other.
More in my next reply, I need a break from typing.
I guess if you can make contact with the leaders of these movements you can just ask them for ideas how Mojeek can help.
Suggested Viral Actionables:
Make a retro Mojeek 88 x 31 button and make it available on that link to us page.
Create a website award program. Award a graphic, etc.
Think about devoting part of your crawl time to specifically indexing these type of sites because frankly they don’t get that much link love outside of their own group so they get overlooked. I’m not suggesting they get any favoritism in the algo.
I’m wondering though: Mojeek has an Emotional search, could you have a Retro search? Would that be a feature that would help distinguish Mojeek from GBY and all the Bing retreads?
Start a Mojeek user webring. Various scripts are available I’m not sure which is the best. Put the minimalist ring code right on the Mojeek index page. Establish that you are not corporate suits and Mojeek knows how to have web fun.
Cheers for all of this @Brad, I’ve set up some tasks for the week with your suggestions and also to look back at the searchbox page positioning.
We also had the idea of a ways you can support us type page, for which the content was written but other stuff took precedent. Perhaps this, framed properly (not forgetting people maintaining websites) could also help us out.
Spotted in the wild: an 81x33 button for Startpage on a Neocities site. It was grey and next to a Netscape Navigator button and about 40 other buttons and might have been homemade since I don’t think Sp gives out buttons.
In order to read these buttons I have to take off my glasses and move my face real close to the laptop screen, but those 40 year old whipper-snappers can read them and they take note of this stuff.
So what about SP inspires enough enthusiasm in a user that he makes an SP button puts it on his site with link?
Update:
Forget what I wrote above. Investigated further and that button has been around since the olden days when SP was some sort of directory type thing and not the Google retread it is now.
Still, you need to spend $20 and have a few buttons made.
I’ve been traipsing around webrings since you brought it up in my spare time. It’s truly fascinating, especially so because, as you say, they’re predominantly quite young people!
Forget what I wrote above. Investigated further and that button has been around since the olden days when SP was some sort of directory type thing and not the Google retread it is now.
Ahhhh, this makes sense; kind of a historical artefact of sorts. If nothing else I am going to make sure we have some buttons made.