Are top web sites good for everybody?

Top web sites are site lists focused around a common topic, for example clip art, pets, music etc.

Sites on these lists are ranked in order of "votes" - the site that gets voted most gets the top place, the site that gets the 2nd biggest amount of votes gets the second place and so on. The voting system is simple; each top web site member places a link back to the top web site on his site and for each visitor that clicks the link, the site gets one vote.

WHAT ARE TOP WEB SITES?

It's a links site, that ranks member's sites by the amount of traffic they send in. They usually rank a list of the top 10 - 100 sites focused around a common topic, for example health, business, music etc.

The sites on these lists are ranked in order of "votes" - or referrers. The top referrers get one banner of theirs listed free of charge, in the top web sites section.

The top web sites have three common areas:

* The Index: that's the actual list of sites ordered by hits in * The Sign up and Login page, where webmasters add their sites, modify setting and view stats * The Enter page. Some top web sites have gateway pages in order to protect themselves from cheating.

In order to generate votes, each top web site's member places a link back to the top web site on his web site, and every time one of his visitors clicks over that link, he gets one vote. The more votes he gets, the better his position will be on the top web sites list.

The site that gets voted most gets the top place, the site that gets the 2nd biggest amount of votes gets the second place and so on.

Obviously, most of the traffic that goes to the top web sites pages, go to the high ranking sites, although some of the lower-ranking ones can also get a reasonable share. And the top web sites pages get traffic through the voting system, so everybody gets more traffic.

Top web site lists are then very similar to the reciprocal links exchanges; but with an important difference, at the top web sites lists, there is a "middleman" and you can't really tell with which sites you're exchanging traffic with.

The main system utilized for requesting the "votes" to the top web site is usually a picture, and this could be a real problem. If the link picture is too big or you put in a too prominent place, your site might look unprofessional. If you use a small link picture, then you might not get the votes you need to rise on the list because people might miss it.

Top web site lists allow you to automate the link exchange and distribute traffic between participating sites according to the traffic they send in. And they increase the traffic to your web site for free.

But as always the big question is: Do top web sites work?

Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't, it all depends on the quality of the top web site in question.

HOW SHOULD YOU CHOSE A TOP WEB SITE?

* Look for one that doesn't have any pop-up windows * It must have a lot of sites closely related to the subject of your site * It must have it's own domain * Monitor the traffic you're sending to the list and the traffic you're getting from it. If you send more than you receive, resign and find another topsite or other promotion method. On "How to Sell on The Web" you can find dozens of ways to get traffic to your web site. HOW TO FIND YOUR TOP WEB SITE

Look for sites dealing with the same subject as you. They might even already be a member of a related top site Look for "top site" "top web site" or "topsite" at the Search engines

Browse the topsite list directory: www dot topsitelists dot com/directory/

Once you chose the top web site that you like, just fill out the form and your site will be ready to be visited. Then you will have to ad to your place the HTML script that the top web site will give you. This script is the one that will allow your visitors to vote from your site. ARE TOP WEB SITES GOOD FOR EVERYBODY?

No, they aren't...

If you have a content web site, who's objective is to provide resources to your visitors, then including your site in a a top web site's list could be a good idea.

If you have created an awesome site to sell products or services, and give the people the opportunity to vote for your site; they might get so enthusiastic with the good content of your site, that they decide to vote for you, so they click on the voting button and...! They jump to the top web sites page, and your sale is lost! WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM A TOP WEB SITE?

To have a high ranking in a very visited top web site list can be very good for you, because it will increase your site's traffic, and traffic means sales, and the opportunity to sell advertising space.

If you chose well your top web site's lists, picking up the ones with good traffic, and create a professionally designed site like "How to Sell on The Web" teaches you to build, you will get thousands of visitors to your site, and that will give you many sales.

Written by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi