Originally Posted by friporr

Toplists rank your site by the number of surfers you send to the toplist.
The more surfers you send the higher up on the toplist your site is put and usually means more surfers click your link at the toplist.

Most toplists don't show links unless they send one or a few surfers. In order to get any use out of a toplist you generally need to put a link up and send some visitors.

You need to decide for yourself which ones work and which ones don't. In my experience, I usually get more back than I send.