What Is A Traffic
Exchange?
By: Stephanie
Davies
If you have surfed the internet for very long, you have
probably ran 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 members 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, 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 sign up 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 elses 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 30-15 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 focuses 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 10-30 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 is it a good idea to make a
seperate 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 popups. 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.
So where can you find a good traffic exchange? I am about to give
you several links to the ones that I have found to be the best of
the best. I am personally a member of over 150 exchanges, and have
a good idea of which ones are worth surfing. All I ask is that you
please use my referral link given below.
With this information you can make the most of traffic exchanges,
and get visitors and customers to your website. Happy surfing!
About
the Author: Stephanie Davies is a 26 year old Missourian with
10 years of internet experience. She currently owns and operates 6
high profile websites as well as her own handmade incense company,
Mystickal Incense & More at http://www.mystickalincense.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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