Traffic
Exchange Sites
by: Bryan Quinn
Traffic Exchange Sites are websites where you get page views of your own site in
exchange for visiting others. Many such sites are available. However, choosing
the right one or a combination of them can be a very time consuming process.
Basically there are two types. Manual surfing and Auto surfing. Some Traffic
exchanges cater for Manual surfing only, some cater for Auto surfing only and
some cater for both.
Manual surfing - This requires your input by clicking a button after a
specified time period, generally 15, 20 or 30 seconds, although there are a few
other variations. With manual surfing, the surfer is expected to view each site.
However, with most exchange sites, it is possible to minimize or resize the
windows. This defeats the purpose because it allows multiple sessions to be run
simultaneously. On the better exchange sites, security measures are often used
to deter this. These are normally random prompts that require user input. For
example, after x number of page views, you may be required to enter a code,
select a color or image or perform some other variation of this.
Auto surfing - This requires no input. However in reality, your input may
be required because of popup or frame breakers. Some traffic exchange sites
require that the pages run are maximized and although you can minimize the page
yourself, it will automatically maximize at the next refresh. You will also find
that with some exchange sites, pages will run on top whereas with others, pages
will run quite happily underneath, allowing you to do what ever you like without
ever viewing the page content.
Both manual and auto surfing will bring traffic to your website, but there is a
much greater likelihood of your web pages being actually seen with manual
surfing.
Credits - As well as surfing, credits are usually acquired for
subscribing, for referrals and for any winnings associated with exchange site
lotteries, games or competitions. These credits can then be used to increase the
traffic to your site. Some exchange sites will also allow you to sell your
credits to other members.
Free or Paid - The majority of Traffic Exchanges offer a paid option. This
option may give you a better surf ratio, bonus credits, money for referrals or
other benefits. Before paying however, it is important that you test how
targeted the traffic is that you receive. There's no point in paying for extra
traffic if it doesn't generate any more income for you.
Click for Credits or Buy Credits - Is it worth buying credits?
This can depend on a number of reasons. The two main ones are time and money.
Let’s take an example
At the time of writing the cost of 2000 credits for free members of a well known
Traffic Exchange Site was $40. This works out at $0.02 a click. For pro members
the same $40 bought 2200 credits.
With the number of clicks limited to 250 per day and page views of 20 seconds
this means that in theory it will take you 250 X 20 = 5000 sec or 83 minutes 20
seconds to view the 250 pages. However in practice you must allow extra time for
clicking the next button, clicking the title of the page you will be viewing and
any sites worth looking at.
Since I am a firm believer in practical results, I viewed the 250 pages. It took
me 2 hours and 12 minutes to accomplish this. During that time, I accumulated
854 credits. To buy these credits would have cost $17.08 as a free member and
approximately $15.53 as a pro member. Allowing for rounding up, this equates to
almost 390 credits per hour or $7.80 per hour cash value.
Now ask yourself this. Would you work for $7.80 per hour?
I must emphasize that this is only one example and that other results will
differ because of the random allocation of credits. It is shown here only as an
example and to give you an idea of the cost implications for one particular
traffic exchange site. The cost of credits may differ dramatically for different
exchange sites. If you buy or intend to buy credits from a traffic exchange
site, you can apply what is shown in the example. There's no need to click on a
large number of websites to find out if your exchange site is giving you enough
credits for your money. A sample of around 20 sites should give you enough
information to produce a rough value-for-money guide.
If you enjoy this sort of thing or want a break from train spotting, you could
expand on this. Increase your sample size, increase the number of samples,
select a good representation of traffic exchanges and tabulate your results.
Choose enough sites and you will be able to create your own league table.
There’s a market for everything.
Whether you use traffic exchange sites or not in the quest for more visitors to
your site, you should at the very least know what they are and what they do. But
don't totally dismiss them. They are part of an expanding market. I recommend
that you try at least one traffic exchange site. You could read every book on
the subject, but without active participation, you will not be qualified to
comment on their worth or suitability. The time taken for a few mouse clicks is
a small price to pay. If it works for you, you have learned. If it doesn't work
for you, you have learned.
