Ringmaster Ethics

Believe it or not, being a ringmaster is a very demanding, time consuming task (when done properly). Many ringmasters just create their rings and put them on autopilot, thinking (incorrectly) that their main or only purpose is to generate traffic. Most put in a little time, just enough to make sure the ring is functional, while a large minority actively manages their ring, creating special navigational systems through the wilds of the internet. A tiny but very visible minority actually spend more time on their ring than they do developing their site!

Our site is a member of over two hundred webrings and we actively manage over a dozen. We have spent many hours pouring over web server statistics to determine where the traffic to our site comes from. Does it come from search engines, webrings, ezine advertisements, FFA pages or link exchanges? The answer to this question is used to determine where promotional efforts are best directed.

Our analysis has led us to an inescapable conclusion: webrings are not a significant source of traffic to a site. In fact, excluding the very large rings (such as the many ones run by Random Acts Of Kindness), the traffic a site gains from being a member of a webring is minor.

So why create a webring if the benefit is not gaining traffic to your site? The answer is simple. You are not creating a "guaranteed traffic engine for only $19.95!". No indeed. When you are doing is building a small path through the wilds of the internet, guiding your visitors through your own personal pick of sites which reinforce your theme. You are creating a communications method between sites, all of which directly and indirectly improve your visitors overall impression of your own site and your own talents.

Following this line of reasoning directly implies that a ringmaster must have a set of standards which he or she follows in order to be sure that the ring supports his website. If a ring is in bad shape, then it follows that the ringmasters website is also in bad shape. Conversely, a well designed and well managed ring makes the ringmaster's site look professional and polished.

Thus, the first rule of ringmaster ethics is to write up a good set of criteria which is in turn used to judge which sites can be added to the ring. Once that is done, it is imperative that only sites which match those criteria are added. Of course, exceptions can be made here and there, but in general it is wise to stick to the master criteria.

Let's suppose the criteria simple says, "quality Star Trek sites". Okay, then make sure that all of the sites which get added to the ring are Star Trek sites, and please by all means ensure they are of high quality. If you start allowing in other sites, or your sites are not of reasonable quality, then your visitors may not only get a lower opinion of your site, they may never make it to your site at all.

So be very judgmental about what sites you allow into your ring. It's your ring after all! You don't have to explain to anyone why you have rejected their site, and personally, I would not do so. Just reject them saying, "does not match criteria" or some such thing, and move on.

Another strong ethical point - don't criticize sites. At best you will needlessly discourage a webmaster and at worst you will make an enemy. There is no need to do any of that.

You need to work hard to keep your ring intact. A broken webring makes it very difficult for surfers to navigate, and makes you, as ringmaster, look bad. Your first chore is to ensure that new sites add the proper ring fragment to the proper page on their site. You must then occasionally check those pages (either using automatic ring-checking functions or by hand) to ensure that the fragment remains. It is also a good idea to check content occasionally - more than once I've allowed a good site into a ring only to find, a month later, it has become a hardcore pornographic piece of junk.

Promoting a webring is important but all ringmasters must be sure they use ethical means to advertise. Some ethical promotional activities include:

It is generally acceptable to send a single email to a webmaster asking if they want to join. You should ensure that the web site matches your criteria and the email is well written. In other words, don't find the email address of 10,000 webmasters and send them all the same email asking them to join your ring - that's spam.

You should include the URL of your webring join page in all of your autoresponder messages from guestbooks, forms and so on.

You might want to include the URL of the join page in your email signature line.

Of course, you should advertise your webring in your own ezine.

It is also not a good idea to surf someone else's ring just for the purpose of recruiting members for your own ring. That's considered unethical behavior. Find your own set of sites and recruit them yourself.

Ringmasters need to remember that they are judged, just as are webmasters and other creative people, by their creations. A webring is a creation made up of many different sites. Maintain a quality webring and you will attract quality traffic, maintain a poor quality ring, and you will not attract any traffic at all (in fact, you may turn it away).

About the Author

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. internet-tips.net
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Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com

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