What is a Traffic Exchange?

[chane]

What Is A Traffic Exchange?
By Chane Steiner

Overview

A traffic exchange is a clever way to get hundreds or thousands of visitors to your website for free. The concept is very simple and the exchange process is easy to put into action. First, you join a traffic exchange program that includes individuals with websites to promote. Next, you set up the website(s) you want to promote. Finally, you visit the websites of the other members and they visit your website in exchange.

The amount of traffic you can earn is only limited by the amount of time you have to spend viewing other people’s websites. You can also earn more visitors to your site by referring new members.

Types

There are two different types of traffic exchanges: manual and auto surf. In the manual surf mode, you have to visit a website for a minimum period of time and then click on a button to visit the next website in the rotation. In the auto surf mode, the websites are visited automatically for a specific period of time before the next website is displayed.

Traffic exchanges can expose your website to Internet users on a worldwide basis. As a result, the exchange can give your website a lot of hits.

Credit Ratio

The basic traffic exchange program works on the "credit" principle. You earn a full or partial "credit" every time you visit another member's website. In turn, you lose a full credit whenever another member visits your website. The ratio of a traffic exchange refers to how many websites you must view before your site is viewed by someone else.

A 2:1 ratio (the most common) means for every 2 websites you visit your website is viewed once. For example, if you view 100 websites, earning 100 credits, a 2:1 ratio would mean you are owed 50 visitors. The average time you must stay at a page for it to be counted as a visit is 15 - 30 seconds.

Earning Credits

Credits can be obtained on a traffic exchange by:

Viewing other member's websites

Referring new members to join the exchange

Purchasing credits from the exchange

Most exchanges offer a sign-up bonus (free earned credits) to encourage you to join their traffic exchange. This enables you to start getting visitors to your website immediately.

Most exchanges also have a referral program where you can earn credits for the people that you refer to the traffic exchange. You usually earn a percentage of your referral's earned credits and quite often you even earn credits from your referral's referrals.

Rules

Every traffic exchange has its own set of terms & conditions. These will usually include the rules you must abide by as a member. Although these rules are fairly consistent, each exchange has its own personal preferences.

Make sure you read these carefully before getting started. Failure to abide by the terms & conditions can result in your account being deleted. If in doubt, email the owner of the exchange. Any respectable traffic exchange owner will welcome genuine questions.

Most traffic exchanges have restrictions associated with your use of the exchange. For example, exchanges generally specify whether you can or cannot have: (1) popup windows, (2) message boxes, (3) inappropriate content or adult material, (4) break out of frames, (5) site rotation, (6) URL or domain forwarding and (7) more than one account.

Furthermore, the traffic exchange may be able to delete your account if: (1) your account is inactive for a given period of time or (2) your website is causing problems for the exchange system. This is something you will want to avoid; especially if you have built a nice size downline that is earning credits for you.

Conclusion

Traffic exchanges are one of the best methods of getting exposure to your site on a limited or zero budget. The more quality exchanges you sign up for the more viewers of your website you will have. Some exchanges have hundreds of thousands and soon to be millions of members.

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About The Author
Copyright (c) Chane Steiner All Rights Reserved. Chane is the owner of the traffic exchange NineMileHits.com where you can get a free account & 100 free credits just for joining He also offers a free course that teaches you the secrets of getting over 10,000 Hits A Day to your website for FREE!

[South]

In the end, what will the credits do for you? I understand the traffic this builds, but what do the credits you earn do?

[Mojojo]

ok, now I'm under the right name, but still the same question? What do the credits do?

[awall19]

get automated bots or other new webmasters to surf your site. the main goal of most traffic exchange networks is to promote the traffic exchange network.

search is powerful because it provides targeted leads. traffic exchange may be powerful if you are targeting new webmasters or find a niche specific one that caters to your industry.

[chane]

Originally Posted by southnow

In the end, what will the credits do for you? I understand the traffic this builds, but what do the credits you earn do?

Every 2 credits earns you 1 visitor to your site. So, everytime a member visits your site, 2 credits are taken from your Credit Balance.

If you visit 300 sites, your site will be seen 150 times. Does that make it more clear?

[chane]

Originally Posted by awall19

get automated bots or other new webmasters to surf your site. the main goal of most traffic exchange networks is to promote the traffic exchange network.

search is powerful because it provides targeted leads. traffic exchange may be powerful if you are targeting new webmasters or find a niche specific one that caters to your industry.

Most traffic exchanges have cheat prevention. If a member uses an automated bot or tries to cheat the exchange and therefore the other members in any other way their account will be terminated he/she will lose all credits.

The goal of a traffic exchange is to build a membership base as large and as active as possible.

If it is a 2 to 1 ratio and the member surfs 500 sites, he will get 250 views and the traffic exchange owner gets the other 250 view.

The owner can then either sell the views (or visitors) to his members, or he can give them as rewards for surfing or joining other programs.

Most traffic exchanges are free to use. It's a great way to improve your Alexa rating and your Google Page Rank.

The best way to find out if any marketing campaigh is working is to use link trackers. So, instead of taking my word for it & wondering which methods are most effective...set up an ad tracker and track your results.

I know of a few free ones, if you're interested in giving it a try.

[Mojojo]

Thank you Chane, it is clear.