Tuesday, December 14, 2010

An Online Marketing Campaign for Free Traffic Exchanges

When Starting an online marketing campaign,cost is always a factor.
A free traffic exchange is a type of website which provides a service for webmasters in exchange for traffic and for many is an effective online marketing strategy.

Traffic exchanges are similar to the autosurf  concept with the exception that traffic exchanges usually use a manual rotation.

 Traffic exchanges  receive website submissions from webmasters that join traffic exchange networks. The individual who submitted the site then has to view other member sites on the exchange program to earn credits, which enable their sites to be viewed by other members through the surf system.

This increases website traffic to all of the websites involved

Free Traffic exchanges implement a certain credit ratio , which illustrates the quantity of websites the surfer must view in order to receive one hit through the program for their promoted website.

Many sites offer the option to upgrade one's membership level for a more equal credit ratio and more effective online marketing results.

Normally the audience of this type of online marketing campaign are primarily website owners or affiliates, it is probable that many  find certain member sites interesting and subscribe to offers using them on their own websites

Most free online marketing programs also impose a time limit when members are browsing, ranging from 10 seconds to 60 seconds. Some integrate the use of captcha to ensure user interaction.

Almost all traffic exchange programs are free , although many of them offer special features to paid members and offer credits for purchase.

As well most traffic exchange programs encourage users to build their own referral networks, which in turn increases the referrers' amount of credits.

The traffic generated in this type of online marketing campaign can be leveraged by using a downline builder to assist the user in building a referral network in the many different traffic exchanges.

In practice, traffic exchange programs are generally used by small business owners or marketers who either want free advertising  or use the exchange programs for a low-budget online marketing campaign.

Free traffic exchanges date back to the beginning of the web and were primarily used by organizations or companies to share sites between employees.

In those times when interesting websites were difficult to find, free traffic exchanges for those new to the web proved to be an invaluable online marketing campaign tool.

Traffic Exchange vs. Bounce Rate

Most people use Traffic Exchange programs to increase website traffic.

Free Traffic Exchanges offer both the Auto and Manual Surf options with a timing of 10 to 60 seconds. An 'autosurf' program requires no human intervention to rotate the sites in the database, and is used primarily to increase the overall number of website hits.

This practice is rather contentious as it may distort the results of actual website popularity.

The main reason behind joining a Traffic Exchange program is to use this type of online marketing campaign to promote products and services to like minded marketers.

A factor which may negatively manipulate the ranking is the Bounce Rate. If a website or blog has a high bounce rate then it may be interpreted by the search engines that visitors are not interested in the content.

The Bounce Rate is calculated by the average time a guest stayed on the site.
So whereas the Traffic Exchange sites do increase website traffic, alternatively they can also increase the bounce rate.

Using Free Traffic Exchanges Effectively

The simple explanation to using traffic exchanges is recognizing that the individual will usually only be viewing your site for 10-20 seconds. Therefore rather than directing the individual to your website, you should be sending them to a specific ad designed for traffic exchanges.

The most effective for this type of online marketing campaign are squeeze pages or splash pages, which have a simple headline, description, and opt-in form for an autoresponder. Then the surfer can easily type their email address in and receive more information about your product or services at a later time. This method is excellent for newbies who are building their lists.

A great free resource for list building is “Build Your List With Ease ” and through “Listwire” you can receive a free autoresponder.

Adsense on Traffic Exchanges

Note: Google disallows using Adsense on Traffic Exchanges. Users who desire to advertise their websites on a traffic exchange but also have Adsense ads should definitely create separate pages for advertising in traffic exchanges that do not contain Adsense ads.

Personally I have great ratios and conversions with the the
Free Traffic Bar  and I find it is easy and convenient to use.

The TEToolbox is a very good Free resource for building and hosting splash pages

To learn more about internet marketing and how to build an effective online marketing campaign I always recommend Carbon Copy Pro to my clients.
Carbon Copy Pro is an incubator for entrepreneurs and teaches the student highly effective marketing skills using free and paid services










Building