I couldn't have won today if it weren't for the #32 Bob's Burgers, Mountain Dew, Famous Fries and Mama's Apple Pie Chevrolet Team. They really kept my Best Buy, Target, Old Navy racing suit on fire out there.
Ever listen to a Nascar driver talk to an announcer? It is like he is up there reading a phone book. And I have to give him credit. After 3.5 hours of non-stop traffic I just want to get to my hotel room and not talk to anybody, but these guys remember their lines so for that I salute them.
What does this have to do with web sites?
Right, you probably aren't reading my mind yet. I will tie all together in the end, I promise.
So what is the point of this article?
Hold your horses. Half of you have already commented on my article and we haven't even gotten to the good stuff. It all started with LIKE. No this isn't a school crush, but the advent of the LIKE button. Okay it wasn't the first, but it is the one that really started this.
Now we have:
- Facebook Like
- Twitter Follow
- Linked In - In Share (they need to work on the name)
- Digg
- Stumble Upon
- and as of today Google +1
That is right. As of today, you can add the Google +1 to your web site. What is Google +1? It is the same as the others though to be honest, you have to have a public Google profile to +1 something and most people don't have that, even if they have a Gmail account. But it is Google so you know they will throw the kitchen sink at it and give hidden bumps to sites with +1's installed, which of course they never boost rankings for companies using their products.
Okay Google +1 got it, but I still don't understand the racing connection
A few years back, I coined the term Nascaring. Essentially this is when web sites suddenly start getting all kinds of accessories to the bottom of the page so it starts to look like a Nascar racing suit or car. You have seen them. Heck, look at my signature and you will see mini-Nascaring in effect.
So before you start thanking the LIKE, Follow, Link, Digg, Stumbled, +1 team for getting you across to that number 1 ranking, make sure you aren't Nascaring your web site. Keep it clean, organized and understandable. Just because 1 works doesn't mean that 1,000 will work better.
But you're the expert, which ones should I use?
I will rank them in order of importance. Your site and taste will determine what is right for you.
- LIKE
- Follow
- In Share (I still hate that name)
- Digg (for articles, products or houses)
- Stumble Upon
- +1 (though this will rise higher as more people adopt it.
Wouldn't it be great if there were some kind of directory where I could find out how to get the code for each of these?
Yes it would so here you go:
- Facebook - http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/send/
- Twitter - http://twitter.com/about/resources/followbutton
- Linked In - http://developer.linkedin.com/docs/DOC-1283
- Digg - http://about.digg.com/downloads/button/simple
- Stumble Upon - http://www.stumbleupon.com/badges/
- Google - http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/index.html
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