Frequently Asked Questions about "The Best On the Web For Teachers"

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We encourage all webmasters and site owners to read this document thoroughly in order to completely understand "The Best on the Web For Teachers" program.

Q: Why is TeAch-nology.com creating a ranking system?

A: As we are sure that you are aware, there are tons of wonderful web sites available to teachers. In fact, we created our site to help teachers find those sites. We have reviewed many wonderful sites and finally realized that our users never see most of these sites. No matter how wonderful our directory or system is organized, there are just too many sites!

Most of the people creating web sites for teachers are in fact teachers themselves. We are super busy people, we don't have the time to promote our web site. Because we don't promote our sites, no one can find it. Due to this, many teachers miss a great number of quality sites.

We designed the ranking system so that it just does not benefit sites that are already getting a great deal of traffic. It actually gives an equal chance to small sites for recognition in our weekly newsletter that is received by 170,000+ subscribers.

Q: How does this ranking system work?

A: We actually have two ranking systems: an hourly ranking and a weekly ranking. The hourly rating is based on the number of votes cast for a particular site. The more votes cast for you, the higher your hourly rating will be. This is the usual method for ranking sites; the rank is determined simply by counting the number of hits a site receives.

Sites that have 35 or more votes weekly will be in the running for a voting approval check. In our 170,000+ subscriber based weekly newsletter we share 2 of our best sites every week. Any site thought to be inflating rankings or playing games on order to manipulate the rankings is removed permanently.

Q: How do I allow my users to vote by simply clicking on a text link?

A: Use this linking text: http://teachers.teach-nology.com/cgi-bin/bestof/topsites.cgi?X

Note: X must be changed to your ID Name.

The HTML code would look like this:

Q: How do I allow my users to vote by simply clicking on an image?

A: Using this HTML:

Note: X must be changed to your ID Name. In the case of an image "URL To Image" must be changed the absolute URL path to your image.

Q: Do I have to use a nofollow tag? Why?

A: Yes, this tag must be added to all links to our site: rel="nofollow"

The purpose of this program is not in anyway meant (directly or indirectly) to affect search engine rankings. The nofollow tag insures that search engines will not look at your participation in our program as a means to inflate your search engine rankings. Our editors will verify that you have properly used the nofollow tag after your account is active.

Q: How do I get my site listed?

A: Click here and follow the directions. Accounts are activated manually by our staff to insure the site you are submitting is directly related to the education field and provides actual value for teachers. Once you setup the HTML on your page and submit a vote, you will be up and running when the site updates again (usually within 30 minutes).

Q: How much does it cost?

A: It's totally FREE!

Q: What's in it for the ranked sites?

A: A clean and easy way for you to get a great deal more exposure as well as real-time feedback about your site from classroom teachers. It's a great branding opportunity for any site.

Q: I just signed up; why can't I see my listing?

A: It may take up to one hour for new sites to be added to our database. When the next site update occurs, you will begin to see votes tabulated.

Q: How often is voting tabulated?

A: Votes are tabulated every hour. The vote counter is reset (back to zero) on all sites once per week for the weekly ranking to allow new sites and sites that have added new voting booths to catch up.

Q: Rules: What are acceptable ways to link?

A: All links must include the nofollow tag. This is preserve the intergrity of the program. We do not use this program to affect search engine rankings. As long as voters come from your base URL, you are O.K.. Please do not submit blind links, hit bots, or forced pop-ups. No tricks!!! Do not try to trick our IP log. You can vote from one IP address per day. The penalty for violation of this position is permanent removal from the program.Unlike other top sites programs, we heavily monitor and remove members who break the rules often.

Q:Are there any ideas for implementing the code on my site?

A: If you would like some pre-made graphics, feel free to visit this page for some basic HTML and graphics that you can use. Make sure to save the images on your server! Also, make sure that you do not use our bandwidth.

Q: Who do I contact if I have a problem?

A: Please use our feedback form. We have a support team who answers all questions across our site. Please be patient, the support team receives over 700 emails on busy days.