What are traffic exchanges?
Traffic exchanges are programs you can join, which will show your web page on other members web browsers after you have viewed one or more of their web pages on your web browser.
There are basically three basic types of traffic exchange:
- Auto exchanges.
- Manual exchanges without anti-cheat measures.
- Manual exchanges with anti-cheat measures.
How effective are traffic exchanges?
Of the three type of traffic exchanges, auto exchanges are the least effective and manual exchanges with anti-cheat measures are the most effective.
The problem with traffic exchanges is that they are used by webmasters who are surfing to earn traffic to their own web pages and they are not really interested in other peoples web pages.
Traffic exchanges with anti-cheat measures can be effective when used to get people to join an optin list, particularly if the optin list being advertised has a traffic generation theme.
How do traffic exchanges work?
All traffic exchanges are programs which you have to join in order to participate.
A special form is provided into which you enter the url of your web page. You are then given a URL to enter into your web browser in order to earn page views.
Once you have entered this url into your browser, a framed page will be displayed.
A small top or bottom frame will contain the controls for the traffic exchange and a larger frame will contain the page to be viewed.
Each traffic exchange will have different exchange rates. These rates are expressed as a ratio.
For example, a 1:1 ratio will mean that for every page displayed in your browser, one page view of your web page will be displayed on another participating members browser.
A 2:1 ratio will mean that to get your web page viewed once, you have to view two pages.
Auto exchanges
After a predetermined time, the main frame will automatically refresh and display a new web page. This will continue until you close your browser or pause the exchange.
Manual exchanges without anti-cheat measures
After a predetermined time, you will have to either refresh your browser or click on the relevant control to load a new page.
Because you can make the credit earning page the start page for your browser, this type of traffic exchange is known as a start page exchange.
Manual exchanges with anti-cheat measures
After a predetermined time, you will have to click on the relevant control to load a new page, you cannot refresh your browser.
The only way to load a new page is to click on the relevant control, and these controls change regularly.
What is cheating?
Broadly speaking, cheating is the act of accumulating credits or page views without you personally viewing the pages of other people.
This is why auto exchanges are the least effective traffic exchanges. You can enter your auto exchange url into your browser and go to sleep. The auto exchange will automatically refresh at the end of the time cycle, you do not have to do anything.
Programs are available which will automatically refresh pages loaded with your start page exchange url's. You enter your url's, the refresh time and start the program, which will then automatically refresh each manual exchange until you stop it.
These are the true "cheat" programs as people can accumulate thousands of credits (page views) without ever viewing the pages of other participating members.
What are anti-cheat measures?
These are measures programmed into the traffic exchange script which won't allow page refreshes.
After the required viewing time has elapsed, you will be required to click on a randomly displayed colored button, number, symbol or word. Examples of these are:
Some exchanges use different combinations of these measures. In addition, the small frame containing these measures will randomly change from the top to the bottom of the screen and the measures will move from the left to the right hand side of the frame.
A few exchanges will also use "skill cards". These are pages which appear randomly and contain either additional anti-cheat measures to be clicked or simple questions which have to be answered before any further pages will be loaded.
Why doesn't everybody use traffic exchanges with anti-cheat measures?
Because you have to work...
Not everybody is inclined to spend the hour or two every day using these exchanges to get the results they want.
While there is no help for people who don't want to work, there is a way of using more than one exchange at a time...
Actually there are two methods:
- Using multiple windows
- Using a tabbed browser
Using multiple windows
Open five or six browser windows and enter a different exchange url into each browser. Maximize all browser windows until they fill your monitor screen.
Close any additional pop up screens that may have opened and load your pop up killer.
Click on the first browser banner in your task bar and when the timer runs out, click on the colored button, number, symbol or word to load the next page and then click on the next browser banner and repeat the process.
Continue for an hour or so and then load another five or six exchange url's into your browser windows and surf for another hour or so.
Working this method for as little as 20 minutes a day can produce results.
Tip - Every day load different exchange url's into your browser windows.
Using a tabbed browser
One of the best tabbed browsers to use is POWERsurf. Download it and install it onto your computer.
Open POWERsurf and click on "Options" then "POWERsurf Startup Mode" then highlight and click on "Don't Open Any Window".
Choose an exchange url you wish to surf and copy it to your clipboard (highlight it and copy it), open POWERsurf and select "SurfSession", "New" and "From Clipboard".
This will enter the exchange url into a new tab (browser page). Do this for five or six url's.
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Locate and click on this button and select "Save Windows As Group...", enter a file name of your choice and select "Save". |
Every time you open POWERsurf, click on this button and then the surf group you wish to surf.
TIP - you should not need to open a pop up killer with a tabbed browser as most of them have their own pop up killer built in to the browser.
Are the any tips for using traffic exchanges effectively?
To use traffic exchanges effectively, you need to know which traffic exchanges are the most responsive.
There is a very useful resource known as TrafficHoopla which continuously tests and publishes a list of the most effective traffic exchanges.
The web page at TrafficHoopla has a list which contains the top five traffic exchanges plus a few more slightly less effective traffic exchanges (near the bottom of the page).
If you want to find more effective traffic exchanges you will have to take out a paid monthly membership.
A list of some of the better traffic exchanges can be found here.
Aside from using ineffective traffic exchanges, the biggest mistake people make is to advertise complex web pages with lots of fancy graphics and even sound.
Why is that a mistake?
Because you only have ten to thirty seconds to catch the attention of the person using a traffic exchange.
If the person is surfing for credits using multiple windows or a tabbed browser, they will probably never see a complex web page!
You have to bear in mind that not everybody has a good connection to the internet. A lot of people don't even have a 56k connection, never mind broad band.
This means that a tabbed browser trying to download six complex web pages at once, will show blank screens. The surfer will simply click for the next page without ever seeing your web page.
And this happens regularly...
People who have good connections to the internet will browse more pages at one time, so large or complex web pages will still not be seen.
And as for web pages that use sound or flash...
You figure it out.
So if you can't use the url for the fancy web page you want to promote, what can you use?
Simple quick loading pages that are designed for one thing only...
To get people to join your optin list. These are known as splash pages or lead capture pages.
Every reputable online opportunity will have one or more of these pages for you to use, but they are getting the leads, not you.
If your opportunity does not have any splash pages and you are determined to advertise the opportunity...
Open five or six browser windows or tabs and enter your referral url (for the opportunity) into each. The entire web page must be completely downloaded in each browser window or tab in fifteen to twenty seconds.
If they do not completely download in that time, it is highly unlikely that anybody else using traffic exchanges will see them.
And if that is the case...
Don't bother advertising that web page on a traffic exchange.
Are the any tips for designing splash pages?
Here are a few tips for designing your own splash pages:
- Use a heading/headline, in a larger font and of a different color to the rest of the text, which includes a major benefit. In other words, in as few words as possible, explain how your reader will benefit from subscribing to your optin list.
- In as few words as possible explain one or two additional benefits (in bulleted form) and how your reader will benefit from subscribing to your optin list.
- Your primary objective is to get your reader to join your optin list, so ask them to subscribe and use a different color font (e.g.blue).
- Keep your form simple and quick to fill in by only asking for the surfers name and email address.
- If you want to use a graphic, use one that is small in size, simple and does not detract from the rest of the form.
A note on unique hits
You will often see traffic exchanges boasting that they deliver unique hits.
What are unique hits?
Each time somebody visits your web page, the visit is called a hit. If that person only visits once, the hit is said to be unique.
Traffic exchanges generally count unique hits over a twenty four hour period. This means if a person visits your web page once every day for seven days, you will have received seven unique hits.
By the same token, if seven different people visit your web page in one day, you will have received seven unique hits.
You might decide that if somebody doesn't react to your web page, what is the point of showing it to them again...
Studies have shown that it takes on average seven to ten views of an advert before a person will react enough to take notice of the advert.
So if a traffic exchange has one thousand members, it will take seven to ten thousand views of your page to get everybody interested enough to read your page.
Bear in mind that is interested enough to read your page, not sign up or join up.
Your sign up rate depends on your ad copy.
There is another point to bear in mind, not everybody surfs the same exchange every day. So if a surfer notices your page but is impatient and clicks for the next page too quickly, you want that person to have the opportunity to see your page again and soon.
This will not happen with an exchange with a high unique hit rate.
The opposite is also true, you don't want all your hard earned credits used up by showing your page to the same person repeatedly.
There is no "golden rule" but any exchange (with anti-cheat measures) with a unique hit rate less than 25% is probably not worth wasting your time on.
Auto exchanges and manual exchanges without anti-cheat measures have very low unique hit rates and that is why people cheat. Who wants to sit surfing for hours earning credits when there is little chance of people seeing your page, or if they do see your page, they're going to see it repeatedly.
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