Shop With a Mom
Top Site Tutorial
Useful information on signing up and using a top list to advertise your site.
The following information is based on the top site lists provided by Go Top 100,
but most of it will apply to just about any top site list you join.
Getting Started
Choose a top site list that you
want to join. If you are unsure how to find them, you can visit the Directory
provided by Go Top 100. They have literally hundreds of lists to choose from.
Once you have chosen a list,
click on the "Add Your Site" link near the top of the list. Fill out all of the
information making sure that you put your link, etc. in correctly. If you are
going to be using a banner that you have saved in your own website files, then
be sure you put that in correctly as well. If you are unsure, use the "Upload"
option and upload the banner from your hard drive onto the top list server.
After you sign up you will get
an email with an activation link in it. Click on the link in that email to
activate your membership.
Getting
Your Voting Links
Once you activate your account,
you will get another email telling you that your account is ready to go. In that
email is your voting link (if you look at the link you will see that it has your
member ID in it) and you can use that on your site if you want. Simply type the
name of the top site list on your site and link to it with the voting link found
in that email.
If you would rather use a button
or banner to link to the top site there are a couple of ways you can do that.
Go back to the top site and log
in where it says "Member Login". Once you are logged in, you will see a page
that has all of your settings and information you provided when you signed up.
Look on the left hand side of the page. There is a box that says "Your Account"
(with a list of links in red) where you can manage your account.
In that list choose "Get Your
Link Code". This will take you to the "Link Syntax" page and you will see all of
linking options there that the top list provides. You will see a text link and
the button/banner links (if the top site provides them) that have been set up.
You will choose whichever option you want to show on your site. To choose the
one you want, you need to tick the little circle next to it. By default the
text linking option is already chosen. If you want to choose a button or banner,
then tick the circle out beside the button or banner that you want and click the
"Generate" button.
On the next page you will see a
code in a box. (Ignore the part that says "Be sure to change the IMG SRC to the
location of the image on your server" I don't know why that is even there,
because it isn't correct). Highlight the entire code in the box starting at < !
-- data banner code begin -- > and ending with < ! -- data banner code end
-- > . Once you have it highlighted, use your Ctrl and "C" keys to copy it.
NOTE: If you are not going to be
able to put this code on your site right away, OR if you joined several lists at
once and you want to put them on your site all at the same time, then open
up WordPad on your computer and paste it into a blank page. You can save it
there or you can go into all of the top lists that you just joined and get
the codes for those lists and paste them there too. That way you will have them
all in once place when you get ready to paste them into your page.
Placing the Link on Your Site
You have two options for placing
the voting link on your site.
1) After you have highlighted
and copied the code you wish to use, open your website builder, and paste
the code into your page's html where you want the link to appear. Save your page
and look at it to make sure the button/banner is showing. Click it to make sure
that it is working correctly; this will also give you your first "vote".
2) If you are unsure how to
place html on your site, but you know how to place any regular image and link it
in your WYSIWYG site builder, then you can also place the button on your site
and link it manually.
Remember that email that you got
when you signed up that has your voting link in it? You can use that link to
link text or an image to get votes. If you want to use one of the buttons
or banners provided by the top list, then log in to your account and again go to
the link on the right that says "Get Your Link Code". Instead of going and
generating code, however, simply right click on the button/banner that you want
to use and save it to your own hard drive. Then go back to your site and upload
it the way you normally do with any other image you place on your site.
(All site builders are different, you will have to know how to add an image to
your site in YOUR particular builder.) Once you have the image added to your
page, simply use the link from your acceptance email to link the image back to
the top site. Click on it to make sure it is working correctly.
NOTE: When you place the image
or text link on your site, be sure to put it in a prominent place so you will
get votes when someone clicks on it. You are allowed by most top sites to vote
for yourself once every 24 hours and I highly recommend that you do so. The more
votes you get the higher your site will climb on the top list and the more
exposure you will get.
And there you have it!
Click Here to Return to
the
Top Home Business Women Top Site
Click Here to Return to
the
Top Biz Women Bloggers Top Site
For a list of other great Top Sites you can
join visit our
Voting Page! |
