What is a TopSite List?

TopSite lists rank sites according to votes earned from a banner you place on your site that links to the TopSite. TopSite lists often focus on one line of products (such as Country Crafts or Candles) and send traffic to your website when you are listed there. They rank well on search engines in addition to getting traffic from the 100's of sites that show their voting banners. 

When we sign you up to a TopSite list we do several things - We type a detailed description of your site, list your banner and your website address on the TopSite list. We place a special voting banner code on your website's link page so you can earn votes and move up the list to be seen and get more traffic to your site. 

You earn a "vote" when someone (or you) clicks on that voting banner on your site and visit the TopSite list. That is what the "IN" votes on the list show. If the list also shows "OUT" votes.. that is how many people have visited your site FROM the TopSite list.

Most sites reset member votes every 7 to 10 days or so back to 0. So this means different sites will rank and show at different spots on the list on any given day. Just because you are at the top of the list one day, does not mean you will stay there... this will rotate and change when the list resets.

A typical TopSite list gets 100's of visitors a day. We have researched and found MANY available to list your site on for you.

Signing up to TopSite's and putting voting banners on your site requires knowledge of html and is time consuming. This is why we have started offering this great service to you!

YOU CAN ALSO DO YOUR OWN TOPSITE SIGN UPS!
A list of great ones can be found on our Link Exchange page!

Why exchange links with other websites?

Exchanging links is the FASTEST way to increase your website traffic. More website traffic (visitors) increases your chance of making a sale.

Typically one link on another site will bring in 2 to 10 extra hits to your site a week. Multiply that by 50 to 100 links or more and you will see what a difference over time that little link exchange can make to your business!

Links from other sites to you increase your ranking on the search engines. Especially links to sites that share your keywords, such as Crafts, or Country Decor, or Candles. When you sign up for link exchanges with us we search out sites that will help increase your search engine rankings by sharing keywords you have listed on your site or finding sites to list you on that have the visitor medium most likely to buy your products (such as Mom or Work at Home Mom sites if you sell products that would appeal to Mom's or people with children) when possible.

Here are the reasons behind linking to other websites -

1. Link Relevancy - Search engines look at the sites linking to you to determine if they increase the value of your site (and therefore increase your rankings on the search engines) What this means - you should link to sites that share your theme, keywords, and product bases to make those relevant links to you.

The second meaning of link relevancy means what percentage of links you are on that site. Meaning a link from a site with only 10 links on it is worth a 10% score where as a link on a site with 100 or more links on it would only be a 1% score. We link you on sites with fewer links for this reason. that link is worth MORE to you in a search engines eyes.

2. Shared Customer Base = CONVERSION ( a customer who is looking to buy what you are selling)
Linking from sites who have customers looking for the same products as you or similar will always benefit you more than a link from a site with customers who are not looking to buy your products.

3. Google PR tool bar MYTH - The google tool bar ranking is based on 2 things - the content of your site and the number of sites linking to you. It has nothing to do with where you actually rank on a Google.com search for a keyword. Linking to a site with a lower rank than you has absolutely no effect on your PR rank on the toolbar and even if it did it does not effect where you are on an actual search engine keyword search page.

Google.com has even issued statements about the google toolbar PR is for entertainment only and to show a shopper the relevancy of THAT PAGE'S CONTENT ONLY compared to their keyword terms. It might make a website feel good to see a 5 of 10 on their PR toolbar but that means nothing as to where they would rank on a search engine for a certain term. Many SEO firms SELLING Google PR toolbar ranking improvements have simply honed in on a website owners mistaken assumption that this is all important when it means little.

Here are a few quotes from SEO articles published in the last month about Google rankings and what DOES matter instead of looking at a PR toolbar rank-

The added benefit of this is that the more outbound links you have pointing to you, the higher your ranking gets on many of the search engines. Another benefit is that even if you can't get listed on search engines directly for all your keywords, some of the partner sites will or on terms similar that you do not directly use and so due to their own visibility, so more paths flow to you. This is a far more effective strategy than SEO/SEM alone.

Search engines look not just at your site but at other sites that link to yours. The search engines count those linked sites toward your site's ranking according to that site's content and keywords.

All other factors aside, if one site has 10 sites linking to it and another has 500, the one with 500 does better in search engine rankings. But that's not all that counts.. the CONTENT makes that count tenfold.

Method to the Madness
For instance, according to its methodology explanation, Google "interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important for the same keywords' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important for a keyword'"

This means sites that link to yours should be relevant so they actually help you in your search engine rankings and a customer base that is looking to buy your product.

How many sites are linking TO you? Use this great Link Popularity Tool to check!

Join online Communities, Message Boards, Craft Malls, and Directories

Message Boards -These websites usually have already established traffic and customer bases. You can utilize these by getting your links on or posting messages with your website address in your signature line. All communities and boards have their own rules so make sure you check the rules or guidelines out to see if they allow you to list your site in your posts or advertise your business on their forum. Alot do but a few do not so just make sure to check what is ok and what is not.

A great source to find some networking boards is www.ryze.com, www.ivillage.com, and  www.yahoo.com (yahoo Groups)

Craft Malls - A great way to advertise for a very low fee... the ones we recommend are:

Banner Chic's Craft Market - www.bannerchicscraftmarket.com - Come browse our category listings to find crafts, home decor, primitives, candles, bath and body, patterns, children's boutique items, fabric, and so much more! CRAFTERS! Come Join Us! We love to cluck about your crafts! http://www.bannerchicscraftmarket.com 

Craft Y Search - www.craftysearch.com - Not just a craft mall! Craft Y Search uses it's search engine rankings to help you get found on the major search engines... especially Google.com the number one search used. With pages ranked in the top 10 for popular terms such as Primitive Decor, Country Decor, Wholesale Soy Candles and 100's more your listing there is worth it's weight in gold! They also offer text listings, banner listings and banner rotations too. http://www.craftysearch.com 

Gone Country Crafters  - www.gonecountrycrafters.com -  With category specific listings that show your product picture of choice, description and banner the listings at gonecountrycrafters.com give you more for your ad dollar!  This site is advertised in the national magazine Country Marketplace and online at countrysampler.com on a regular basis... which brings constant traffic and shoppers to the site where they then find YOUR link! http://www.gonecountrycrafters.com 

The Country Sampler Market  - www.countrysamplermarket.com - Online craft mall with established traffic base. Professionally promoted and offering affordable ad rates and links in many categories of your choice. Our crafters have filled their coops with anything and everything country! Whether you are looking for that special, one-of-a-kind handmade item for your home or something for yourself, you are sure to find what you're looking for!

Primitive Olde Crow - www.theprimitiveoldecrow.com - Online craft mall with established traffic base. Professionally promoted and offering affordable ad rates and links in many categories of your choice. The Primitive Olde Crow is a marketplace for crafters from all sides of the craft spectrum.

Directories - A Free one we recommend is:

- If your arts and crafts website needs more traffic, in addition to getting listed here, visit Craft Site Medic. With many years of experience, Craft Site Medic can help market and promote your arts and crafts related website throughout the Internet. They provide craft banner advertising, link exchanges, search engine submission, free webmaster resources, and more! http://www.artcraftmarketing.com 

Search Engines - How do I get ranked?

If you are wanting to get placed on the major search engines for a highly popular term it is going to be tough to do that alone. You will need to investigate pay per click and adsense placements in most cases.

 If you are investing money for keywords the best way to do it is directly to the large search engines:

google.com has around 55% of the search market 
Yahoo.com and MSN 25%
AOL Search 10%
The others split the remaining 10%

https://adwords.google.com/select/ - to purchase direct click from google.com for the keyword terms you want 

http://www.content.overture.com/d/ - to purchase direct spot placing from Yahoo.com 

With these programs you can set a budget and you only pay for HITS from the engine.. not just a placement for a keyword.

http://www.craftysearch.com - We already have top 10 listings for MANY of our pages on www.google.com.. so check with us to see if we can get you ranked for your keywords of choice too!

Giving up too soon.....

It can take up to a year to see your website take off and start seeing consistent sales. STICK WITH IT!

Expecting traffic to come to you.....

You are going to have to go out and GET traffic. We tell you lots of ways to do that on this page.

Trying only one way of promotion.....

On our site we help you focus on link exchanges and TopSite Banner exchanges. This is only ONE way of getting your site out there. You will need to diversify and try lots of ways to become a true success. A few we recommend:

TopSite Lists
Link Exchanges with other websites
Search Engines ( number one used is www.google.com)
Online Craft Malls (click for our favorite list of these!)
Print ads in popular magazines such as Country Marketplace, Country Sampler, local newspapers, trade magazines etc.
Partnering with other sites that share your customer base but do not compete with you directly. For example... we are a partner site to www.gonecountrygraphics.com, www.craftysearch.com, and Craft Site Medic - www.artcraftmarketing.com.  What this means... we give them lots of exposure and toot their horn on our site and they do the same for us on theirs so we can share our website traffic with each other!
Networking - searching out online communities, message boards, and networking groups. Always make sure to let people know your website address and make it a CLICKABLE link in your signature or post by including the http://www part in front.. such as:
Stop By My Website -  http://www.bannerchic.com 
Affordable Banner Exchanges and Free Website Promotion Tips!