What is a Traffic Exchange?
A traffic exchange is defined as: a website that allows you to view websites, and in return, other people view your site. It’s exchanging traffic in the simplest form. Almost all traffic exchange programs are free to join and usually have an "upgrade" option with increased benefits.
Manual traffic exchanges require you to click a link to view the next website. They usually have a 2:1 or 3:1 credit ratio, meaning members earn 0.5 or 0.33 in credit for visiting one member site, and each credit equals one page view for them.
There are a few exchanges that have a 1:1 ratio for free members, but they are few and far between. Most exchanges require the member to "upgrade" to a paid position before they get the 1:1 ratio (which equals one visit in exchange for one page view).
Recently, most traffic exchanges have added anti-cheat features to the surf page that require you to click either a graphic or word to proceed so that those using the exchange know a person is actually viewing the website. This process became necessary when cheaters found a way to artificially increase click rates using illegal programs, scripts, or software.
Traffic exchanges are a form of advertising. As such, the main purpose of advertising is to get a desired response as a result of it. Since most traffic exchanges have a very short required time that members must remain on the page during surfing (ranging from 5 seconds to 30 seconds) before they can collect credit, and proceed to the next site, the page you advertise must grab their attention immediately to be effective. For this reason, trying to use a standard affiliate link that thousands of others are using, is not an effective way to achieve your goal, whether to sell something, or get someone to subscribe to something.
Why? You have to remember who you are advertising to. Other surfers have most likely seen that same affiliate page you are advertising thousands of times before while surfing, because others are promoting the same program. How many times have you ever bought anything online within 30 seconds or less? Why would you expect anyone else to?
Two conclusions should be obvious here:
1. Do not try to sell products in traffic exchanges.
2. Do not use a standard affiliate page thousands of others are using.
The key to successful advertising on a Traffic Exchange is to make your page stand out! Advertise a page specifically designed to catch the surfer's attention. These are usually referred to as opt-in, squeeze pages, or splash pages. These pages will, by nature, have less "junk" on them and, as a result, will load faster as long as you don't add lots of animated graphics, etc. This is an important factor because the faster the page loads, the longer they will actually see what you have to offer before they can move on to the next page.
It stands to reason that your page must have these characteristics:
1. It Must Load Fast - Remember, you only have about 5-30 seconds before the surfer moves on to the next site. Keep in mind that a large percentage of surfers are still using Dial-up Internet service. If your pages do not load fast enough, you have wasted your hard earned credits.
2. It Must Stand out from the rest - You can not just put up a standard affiliate page and and claim to be a network marketer. You must brand yourself. Most people prefer to buy from or join a program under someone they feel comfortable with, and trust, rather than from a total stranger.
Here is your chance to "Brand" yourself. Put your picture and name on the page along with a short "bio" to personalize it.
3. Give key information about your offering (whether product, subscr i ption, and/or free bonus), but keep it short, pointing out how it will benefit the surfer. Leave no doubt about what you are selling or offering them.
4. Include an opt-in form to capture their name, email address, and any other information you wish. Here, I advise you to only "require" the first name and email address (you can include more options for them to fill in if they are willing). Once you have their information, you can send emails to them at a later date, through either your autoresponder or a newsletter.
5. Ask them to Act NOW - This is the one important thing many marketers are shy about. They figure the viewer knows they are supposed to buy, subscribe, or click a link to get what you are offering.
Statistics gathered from testing multiple squeeze pages has proven that, without a doubt, the pages asking the viewer to take action results in more conversions. So...Go ahead and ask them to "Click Here", "Fill in your name and email", "Get this today", etc. It is just the little 'nudge' that makes them sign up.
This is not only a good piece of advice for promoting on Traffic Exchanges, it is aimed at helping you build that "List" you keep hearing about over and over again. Like they say in the TV advertisement for a certain steak sauce, "Yeah, It's that important!"
Contact me if you would like to know where to find totally Free online marketing tools that I use to promote my programs. I save over $360 per year on autoresponder services alone. There are many other free marketing tools as well.
I can also supply information on where you can build "squeeze pages" for free! They load fast and are "spidered" within hours - not days, weeks, or even months!
I firmly believe in helping others to succeed in online business. This is a must if you want to grow your downline, as well as your income.
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