A lot of you are writing useful projects in D, useful code snippets, insightful commentary, etc. Much of this stuff gets reimplemented over and over because few are aware of the existence of it. We can stand on each others shoulders a bit more if we do a little less wheel reinvention.

I've learned a lot about trying to get the word out on the internet with little to no marketing dollars, no marketing staff, no nothing. I suspect that most of you are in the same boat <g>, so I thought I'd share a bit about what I've learned.

1) Make a web page for it. A newsgroup posting here in digitalmars.D.announce is great for announcing the existence of the project, but then it scrolls away and gets forgotten. You need a web page for it to get it noticed in the future. Use dsource.org if you don't have your own, or the D wiki, etc.

2) Having your stuff findable by Google is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do. The overwhelming majority of traffic to the Digital Mars web site is coming from google search results pages. If it isn't findable by Google, it might as well not exist. I won't get much into google search engine optimization here, as there are plenty of web sites on that (findable via google, of course!), but there are a couple highlights I want to hit.

3) Think about what, if you were looking for your project, you'd type into the google search box. Then, make sure those keywords are on your project description web page.

4) Include the phrase "D programming language" somewhere on every D web page you do. Don't put it in a graphic, put it in text so google will find it. This phrase helps build "brand" on the internet, and your D page will show up in google searches on D. Just using "D" by itself won't work (try it!).

5) Ask me to put a link to your page on www.digitalmars.com/d/dlinks.html. Send me the exact text to cut & paste in. Try to get reciprocal links from other relevant D pages. This will help people find it.

6) Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help.

7) Post on the newsgroup comp.programming to reach a more general audience.

8) People coming across D source code on the internet may not recognize it for what it is. I think it's probably a good idea to add the comment:

    // written in the D programming language

at the top of every published D source code file. I'm going to start doing that with Phobos source.

9) Take a look at related Wikipedia articles for which a relevant discussion about or link to your project might be appropriate.

10) In doing the above, be sure you're not spamming. Any links you do should be of genuine and relevant interest to the readers.

11) Doing this isn't just good for D, it's good for your career. Recruiters are going to google your name, and if they find all those cool projects you've done, it can only help.

And, of course, I should follow my own advice and turn this posting into a web page!

Walter Bright wrote:

> 
> 6) Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help.

I'd also suggest www.reddit.com.

Walter Bright wrote:

> 1) Make a web page for it. A newsgroup posting here in digitalmars.D.announce is great for announcing the existence of the project, but then it scrolls away and gets forgotten. You need a web page for it to get it noticed in the future. Use dsource.org if you don't have your own, or the D wiki, etc.

If the links to the newsgroup archive was working, then every posting
would be turned into a web page automagically... Maybe there is a way
to use URL rewriting in order not just kill all of those old D links ?
(I mean the ones with "http://www.digitalmars.com/drn-bin/wwwnext?")

I don't think a web page is a bad idea, but Google finds lots of stuff.

--anders

Anders F Björklund wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
> 
>> 1) Make a web page for it. A newsgroup posting here in digitalmars.D.announce is great for announcing the existence of the project, but then it scrolls away and gets forgotten. You need a web page for it to get it noticed in the future. Use dsource.org if you don't have your own, or the D wiki, etc.
> 
> If the links to the newsgroup archive was working, then every posting
> would be turned into a web page automagically... Maybe there is a way
> to use URL rewriting in order not just kill all of those old D links ?
> (I mean the ones with "http://www.digitalmars.com/drn-bin/wwwnext?")
> 
> I don't think a web page is a bad idea, but Google finds lots of stuff.

The D news archives already turn everything into a web page, and it does url translation. But a real web page is going to do a lot better, not just a discussion turned into a web page.

Walter Bright wrote:
> And, of course, I should follow my own advice and turn this posting into a web page!

Just did: http://www.digitalmars.com/d/howto-promote.html

You forgot a important thing.

Remember to put links to other D websites on your D webpages this increase the D community's pagerank.

Walter Bright wrote:
> A lot of you are writing useful projects in D, useful code snippets, insightful commentary, etc. Much of this stuff gets reimplemented over and over because few are aware of the existence of it. We can stand on each others shoulders a bit more if we do a little less wheel reinvention.
> 
> I've learned a lot about trying to get the word out on the internet with little to no marketing dollars, no marketing staff, no nothing. I suspect that most of you are in the same boat <g>, so I thought I'd share a bit about what I've learned.
> 
> 1) Make a web page for it. A newsgroup posting here in digitalmars.D.announce is great for announcing the existence of the project, but then it scrolls away and gets forgotten. You need a web page for it to get it noticed in the future. Use dsource.org if you don't have your own, or the D wiki, etc.
> 
> 2) Having your stuff findable by Google is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do. The overwhelming majority of traffic to the Digital Mars web site is coming from google search results pages. If it isn't findable by Google, it might as well not exist. I won't get much into google search engine optimization here, as there are plenty of web sites on that (findable via google, of course!), but there are a couple highlights I want to hit.
> 
> 3) Think about what, if you were looking for your project, you'd type into the google search box. Then, make sure those keywords are on your project description web page.
> 
> 4) Include the phrase "D programming language" somewhere on every D web page you do. Don't put it in a graphic, put it in text so google will find it. This phrase helps build "brand" on the internet, and your D page will show up in google searches on D. Just using "D" by itself won't work (try it!).
> 
> 5) Ask me to put a link to your page on www.digitalmars.com/d/dlinks.html. Send me the exact text to cut & paste in. Try to get reciprocal links from other relevant D pages. This will help people find it.
> 
> 6) Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help.
> 
> 7) Post on the newsgroup comp.programming to reach a more general audience.
> 
> 8) People coming across D source code on the internet may not recognize it for what it is. I think it's probably a good idea to add the comment:
> 
>     // written in the D programming language
> 
> at the top of every published D source code file. I'm going to start doing that with Phobos source.
> 
> 9) Take a look at related Wikipedia articles for which a relevant discussion about or link to your project might be appropriate.
> 
> 10) In doing the above, be sure you're not spamming. Any links you do should be of genuine and relevant interest to the readers.
> 
> 11) Doing this isn't just good for D, it's good for your career. Recruiters are going to google your name, and if they find all those cool projects you've done, it can only help.
> 
> And, of course, I should follow my own advice and turn this posting into a web page!

Nice tips!

You don't seem to mention wikipedia on your web page, though.

Just thought of this too, submit an article to the D online journal at http://www.tdjonline.com/ , they need more articles :)

Can we can figure out a use for http://d-programming-language.org/ in the scheme of internet marketing as well? Maybe turn it into a community blog like slashdot where D programmers can register for an account, submit stories, and them comment on them?

clayasaurus wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> A lot of you are writing useful projects in D, useful code snippets, insightful commentary, etc. Much of this stuff gets reimplemented over and over because few are aware of the existence of it. We can stand on each others shoulders a bit more if we do a little less wheel reinvention.
>>
>> I've learned a lot about trying to get the word out on the internet with little to no marketing dollars, no marketing staff, no nothing. I suspect that most of you are in the same boat <g>, so I thought I'd share a bit about what I've learned.
>>
>> 1) Make a web page for it. A newsgroup posting here in digitalmars.D.announce is great for announcing the existence of the project, but then it scrolls away and gets forgotten. You need a web page for it to get it noticed in the future. Use dsource.org if you don't have your own, or the D wiki, etc.
>>
>> 2) Having your stuff findable by Google is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do. The overwhelming majority of traffic to the Digital Mars web site is coming from google search results pages. If it isn't findable by Google, it might as well not exist. I won't get much into google search engine optimization here, as there are plenty of web sites on that (findable via google, of course!), but there are a couple highlights I want to hit.
>>
>> 3) Think about what, if you were looking for your project, you'd type into the google search box. Then, make sure those keywords are on your project description web page.
>>
>> 4) Include the phrase "D programming language" somewhere on every D web page you do. Don't put it in a graphic, put it in text so google will find it. This phrase helps build "brand" on the internet, and your D page will show up in google searches on D. Just using "D" by itself won't work (try it!).
>>
>> 5) Ask me to put a link to your page on www.digitalmars.com/d/dlinks.html. Send me the exact text to cut & paste in. Try to get reciprocal links from other relevant D pages. This will help people find it.
>>
>> 6) Submit links to your project releases to www.betamarker.com. Submit articles, tutorials, anything of interest to www.dzone.com, gamedev.net, www.artima.com or even www.digg.com. Let us know so we can digg them! It doesn't matter if the reference doesn't make it to the front page, it will still help.
>>
>> 7) Post on the newsgroup comp.programming to reach a more general audience.
>>
>> 8) People coming across D source code on the internet may not recognize it for what it is. I think it's probably a good idea to add the comment:
>>
>>     // written in the D programming language
>>
>> at the top of every published D source code file. I'm going to start doing that with Phobos source.
>>
>> 9) Take a look at related Wikipedia articles for which a relevant discussion about or link to your project might be appropriate.
>>
>> 10) In doing the above, be sure you're not spamming. Any links you do should be of genuine and relevant interest to the readers.
>>
>> 11) Doing this isn't just good for D, it's good for your career. Recruiters are going to google your name, and if they find all those cool projects you've done, it can only help.
>>
>> And, of course, I should follow my own advice and turn this posting into a web page!
> 
> Nice tips!
> 
> You don't seem to mention wikipedia on your web page, though.
> 
> Just thought of this too, submit an article to the D online journal at http://www.tdjonline.com/ , they need more articles :)
> 
> Can we can figure out a use for http://d-programming-language.org/ in the scheme of internet marketing as well? Maybe turn it into a community blog like slashdot where D programmers can register for an account, submit stories, and them comment on them?

That would be nice.

Another thing I would improve (as a kind of marketing strategy) is the aesthetics of digitalmars.com. It's very useful but very very very ugly (sorry, just my honest opinion). I see it in almost every thing that has a lot of success. Having nice images, with all kind of colors and stuff sells to the sight. People get attracted to lights and mirrors every time. I know that this isn't a trivial task, but it could certainly be done.

Kind regards,
--
Tom;

Tom wrote:
> Another thing I would improve (as a kind of marketing strategy) is the aesthetics of digitalmars.com. It's very useful but very very very ugly (sorry, just my honest opinion). I see it in almost every thing that has a lot of success. Having nice images, with all kind of colors and stuff sells to the sight. People get attracted to lights and mirrors every time. I know that this isn't a trivial task, but it could certainly be done.

Do you have a url of a programming site that looks good? (I mean, it's easier to talk about if given examples of "lights and mirrors" to compare.)

Tom wrote:
> I know that this isn't a trivial task, but it could certainly be done.

Actually, in the last go-round on all this, the website is now driven by one style sheet and one big Ddoc template. So, within limits, it shouldn't be too hard to do major global changes.