Free Genealogy DNA Kit Promotion.
To encourage new participation in the Rutledge/Routledge project from outside the existing membership and, to provide ancillary “meta” services for anyone interested in Rutledge genealogy. This site is intended to assist Rutledge genealogists and enthusiasts by publishing their material online, in a persistent, central location and without an associated cost. Though our primary focus is supporting the members of the Rutledge/Routledge project at FTDNA, our intentions are not to limit material to existing project members. We aim to provide a permanently free platform for publishing and linking genealogy and genealogy related sites for anyone with an interest. To keep the material relevant, posting members are asked to validate a posting account with a verifiable email prior to posting. We recognize there are many Rutledge significant research sites across the internet and we welcome members from all of them to publish their histories and trees here.
This does not mean we make private information public. We don’t, we post only the Rutledge specific histories, stories and trees that you decide are suitable for anyone to read. Consequently, for submissions that have been posted elsewhere, they will receive the added benefit of improving their search engine ranking once posted here. Specifically, anyone interested in improving the SEO on their own material at other public sites may publish their material here as crosslinking material is the one method of search engine optimization that is always factored into the search engine ranking algorithms.
Beyond search engines, If you are familiar with the Rutledge/Routledge project at FTDNA you might know we have spent considerable time and resources the last few years to advance the project to where it stands today. We have been successful in growing the project and have provided dozens of DNA kits to members who could otherwise not afford them. Yet, the activity feed is not always recent which brings us to the issue we hope to solve with this site: The FTDNA activity feed is only accessible to “FTDNA Project Members” while this site is accessible to all Rutledge researchers around the world. Regardless of whether they have DNA results on file with a testing company or not.
There are no costs to being a member here. In fact, you can read all about Rutledge history without ever logging in as a member, though if you decide to be a member for the benefit of posting your material, you will never see an associated fee. What’s more, we will gladly assist anyone in getting their material online. Post it yourself, or send it in and we will post it for you. Obviously, posting yourself allows you the ability to come back and manage revisions but for those without the time to do it, we will get it done.
So, take a few minutes to sign up, become familiar with the WordPress interface and join in. There is no big push for participation here. Come and go as you please and don’t expect to see hundred of thousands of views on your posts anytime soon.
For those of you opting to get involved right away, we do have a promotional DNA kit giveaway. Beginning in April, at the end of each month, for the next 12 months, all newly substantive and published posts consisting of some aspect of Rutledge history or genealogy will qualify the author to be included in the list of potential awardees of a free DNA kit from one of the major DNA genealogy providers. Every month, one random selectee from the list will *receive the award. Currently, the major providers are FamilyTree DNA (FTdna), 23andMe and Ancestry. The choice of kit will be determined by the site operators based on current sales and promotions. We will update this list as the promotion continues.
April: FamilyFinder Kit: FTDNA
May: Genetic Ethnicity Kit: Ancestry
We are open to all manner of recommendation and request. From creating posts to discussing other pertinent Rutledge sites and resources to adding links to those resources into our menu system.
Thank you
-Sean
*awardees must have a valid mailing address on their posting account and live within an area where mailing genetic genealogy kits is permitted and accessible. All other applicable domestic and international laws governing giveaways continue to apply.