If you have surfed the internet for very long, you have probably run into
what is referred to as a “traffic exchange”. These programs can be designed
in many ways, with many different functions. In this article we are going to
cover what they are, where to find them, and how to use them to actually
receive quality traffic as opposed to just plain “hits”.
A traffic exchange is, simply put, an exchange of traffic. The basic idea is
to view other member’s websites or ads, and in exchange, different
members will view yours. There are 2 basic types of traffic exchanges
available today:
The manual surf exchange. In this type of exchange, you manually click
through the other member’s websites or ads. Usually there is an anti-cheat
method of some variety being used to insure that the system is not being
cheated. I can assure you that any exchange that does not have an anti-cheat
system is being cheated by several people.
The auto-surf exchange. This system is easier to use, but far less
effective. In essence, it runs automatically with no effort on your part,
changing websites or ads every so many seconds. Obviously, if you don’t
even need to look at it to have it work, chances are, and people aren’t
viewing your ads either.
Most, if not all exchanges of both types will offer new members free
“credits” or visitors just for signing up. This amount can vary between 50
free visitors all the way up to 10,000 free visitors or more. However, in
regards to the exchanges offering an extremely high signup bonus, if
everyone is given 10,000 free credits upon signing up…who is left to surf
the exchange?
In addition to signup bonuses, other things to pay attention to when signing
up for an exchange are surfing ratios, timer rate, referral bonuses, and
extra features.
All exchanges have surfing ratios. These can vary from 1:1 to 5:1 and up.
What this means is that for every X amount of times you view someone
else’s site, your site will be viewed in return Y amount of times. So if there
is a 3:1 surf ratio, for every 3 sites you view, your site will be shown to
someone else one time.
All exchanges also have varied timer rates. This is the amount of time that
a website is shown to you before you can move to the next site. Average
timer rates are about 8-15 seconds per site. On auto-surf exchanges, this is
the amount of time before it automatically switches to the next ad. On
manual exchanges, this is how long you must wait before you see the next
site or else you will not receive credit for viewing the site.
Most exchanges also offer referral bonuses, by giving you extra credits for
referring other people to the exchange (referred to as a “downline”). Often,
exchanges will give you part of a credit for every page your referrals surf.
Some exchanges offer nifty “extra” features, such as lotteries, games, trivia
for points, ways to bet your points, and many other things to keep you from
being bored as you click away.
So now that you know what one is, how can you use it to actually get
traffic?
Obviously people will view your site if they see it in an exchange, right?
Sadly, the truth is that this is not the case. 95% of all traffic exchange
surfers pay no attention to the sites they are viewing, no matter how
attractive their design and content.
They are focusing on the clicking to get credits, or in the case of many
traffic exchange “pros” they have 20+ browser windows open and are
clicking “next, next, next” one after the other with little regard to what is
on the page before them.
But before you get discouraged, I do have good news for you! There are
ways to get people to actually look at your site and pay attention to it! A
few tips and tricks to use are:
Don’t make the page long and filled with text. In fact, a great thing to do
is to make a splash page that catches their attention, with a “bookmark me”
and “enter here” link. With only a 8-15 second window to catch someone’s
eye, you have to be loud, bold, and fast! Use obnoxiously bright colors, get
straight to the point, and offer a fast easy way for them to bookmark you or
open your site in a new window so it doesn’t interrupt their surfing. That is
why it is a good idea to make a separate page that you use only for
exchanges.
Offer something that they want that they will see and stay for. Free
samples, free eBooks, and especially free advertising. Anything that you can
give them that will give them an incentive to take a second look at your
site.
Get rid of the popup. Most exchanges won’t allow more than one popup
window, if any. And when surfers hit a popup window, or anything else that
interrupts their quest for credits, it merely annoys them and makes them
want to leave your site faster.
It is possible to get visitors to your site, and signups for programs using
traffic exchanges. However you have to think like a surfer in order to do so.
You also have to be active in the exchange. Obviously, the more people
surfing, the more the exchange works.
Traffic Exchanges have evolved through the years and this evolution has
created more excitement and more powerful features than ever. This
includes traffic exchanges with a Co-op (cooperative) addition. Where you
can literally surf one TE and get traffic to hundreds even thousands of other
traffic sources. These co-op traffic exchanges have become very popular,
saving their members time and money.
Here are three I recommend. All have very innovative owners who program
and code their sites to make them highly user friendly and very effective
for advertising.
