Traffic Exchanges 101

You’re here because either:

a) You need traffic
b) You are on a limited budget
c) Both of the above.

Traffic exchanges can bring visitors to your website and the only cost to you is your time.

Lets start with an,

Overview

The basic principle behind Traffic Exchanges is that you a view a person’s website for X amount of time and, in exchange, other members view your site for X amount of time. The amount of traffic you can earn is only limited by the amount of time you have to spend viewing other people’s websites.

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 you must view 2 websites to have your website viewed once.

Usually your earnings will be displayed as credits. For example, if you view 100 websites, earning 100 credits, a 2:1 ratio would mean you are owed 50 visitors.

Setting up your account is simple to do and you will find instructions to do this HERE:
Set-Up Members Area

But before you get started there are a few rules and principles you should be aware of. These apply to ALL traffic exchanges.

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.

Etiquette

As you are probably aware, the Internet has generally accepted rules of etiquette that must be followed if you want to be accepted as part of the online community. Traffic exchanges are no exception.

While you are viewing websites (known as “surfing”), keep the following principles in mind.

- Take the time to examine each website you view carefully. Spend as much effort in viewing the website as you would want other viewers to spend on yours. You would be surprised how seriously many traffic exchange users take this principle.

- You may hear of programs or software that can view websites automatically. These should never be used with traffic exchanges. This is considered “cheating” and will nearly always result in your account being deleted.

- You will be given a special web address to use when viewing other people’s websites. Keep this web address secret and do not pass it on to anyone else. If your “Surfing” web address is used on someone else’s computer, this will usually be a breach of the terms & conditions.

- Do not open your surfing web address in more than one internet browser at a time. This is also unacceptable behaviour.

- You can report sites that are definitely breaking the terms and conditions of the traffic exchange. Be sure that the website is breaking a rule before hitting the “report” button. Don’t concern yourself with websites that don’t load properly or appear to have errors. If in doubt, take the tolerant approach.

- Before questioning the traffic exchange owner about a problem you are having, be sure to check the terms & conditions, the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page and the forum if these are available. If your questions can be answered without taking up the time of the owner, this is always preferable.

And finally, here are some…

Tips

- If you recommend a traffic exchange to someone else and they become a member, you may receive extra credits to your account. Make sure you only recommend a traffic exchange to someone you know. Anything else could be considered “spamming” and result in deletion of your account.

In your Members’ area you should find a “Referral” link. This is the web address you can send to your friends if you want to recommend it.

- If you set your “Surfing” web address as your homepage, every time you open your internet browser, you will earn one credit.

If you are using Internet Explorer, click on the “Tools” menu and select “Internet Options...”. Your current homepage will be highlighted. Replace this with your “Surfing” web address and click “Apply”.

- If you decide to sign up for more than one Traffic Exchange, you would do well to gain a greater education in to how to combine these programs. MPAM offers a free education program into some of the more useful web marketing techniques.

Don’t Panic

This may sound a lot to take in, but it is far easier than you imagine. Print out this article and refer to it the first few times you surf. You will quickly get the hang of it.

If you unintentionally break a rule and have your account paused or deleted, contact the owner and explain the situation honestly. If it is considered to be a genuine mistake then you may be able to return to the exchange (although you may have to open a new account).

In truth, this situation is rare. As long as you follow the instructions carefully and exercise a little common sense, you will soon be on your way to receiving new traffic to your website. While surfing, you may also come across some websites that you will find genuinely useful.

Now we’ll take you through setting up your account…http://www.mysticalmaze.com/member.php

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