Craft PlugBoard Resource Center

If you are new to plugs and plugboards, the information presented below will help you to understand the program, and how to use it to increase your own craft web site visitor traffic.

What is a plug board?
A plug board is a short HTML script which, when placed on a web page, creates a grid of small advertising banners. Visitors to the plugboard can submit their own plug which instantly appears on the board. By setting a limit to the number of buttons displays (30-50-100 or whatever), older plugs are automatically deleted from view as new ones are added. 

What is a plug button?
A plug button is a small banner advertisement (88 X 31 pixels). Because of their small size, many can be displayed on a board. Smaller images also mean faster page viewing (load time). Plug buttons can be animated so as to more "attention grabbing".

How do I go about getting a plug board for my site?
Plugboard scripts are available from several sources, but the most popular in the arts and craft circles seems to be from  http://www.plugme.net. And it is FREE! You just register for an account, do a quick "setup", and you will have the script ready to copy and paste onto your web page. The "setup" allows you to specify the size of the grid, as well as spam prevention options.

What's so great about a plugboard?
When people exchange plugs, they basically are exchanging links - but in a fraction of the time. You do not need to get permissions, you do not need to copy and paste additional text, your have no files to upload, etc. Plugboard advertising is becoming VERY popular, and is a great way to quickly improve your "link popularity" - a key factor in search engine visibility - especially to Google.

Are there any negatives?
Plug buttons are images, and too many on a page will increase the amount of time it takes for your page to appear to visitors- especially if they are on dial-up. Ideally, you should have your plugboard on a separate page, not on your home page. You also should limit the number of buttons displays (setup) to a reasonable level. Also, some plugboard owners require a reciprocal plug link, so you may need to add their plug to your board.

And one more thing ... "spammers" are now using automated programs to submit junk plugs. Fortunately, the PlugMe system allows you to delete any plug AND to permanently block any future submissions. You should receive an email confirmation every time someone posts a plug. You absolutely need to check each submissions and either allow it, or permanently delete & ban it. It is very important to maintain the integrity of your plug board.

How do I get a plug button? How much?
If you have a bit of graphics design experience, you can create your own. For those of us who are "graphically challenged", many designers will create them for you. Price average a few dollars ($3-10) per image. They send you the image, you save it to your server or web site. 

Here are a few plug button designers we know of:

Heartland Graphics

The Plug Market

Crafty Plug Place

Country Plug Board

Heartland Vintage Graphics

How do I find plugboards to submit to?
If you find one plugboard, it generally will already have many plug buttons displayed. A good number of those sites also have plugboards. You do not have to submit your plug to craft only locations, but non-related markets will probably do little for your business. Also, some search engines, such as Google, look for related links when determining link popularity.   

The Crafty PlugBoard and Craft PlugBoard Resource Center are sponsored by Craft Site Medic, the Internet leader in Arts and Crafts website promotion, advertising, and marketing services.