by Stephanie Davies

If you have surfed internet for very long, you have probably ran into what is referred to as a "traffic exchange". These programs can be designed in many ways, with many different functions. In this article we are going to cover what they are, where to find them, and how to use them to actually receive quality traffic as opposed to just plain "hits".

A traffic exchange is, simply put, an exchange of traffic. The basic idea is to view other member's websites or ads, and in exchange, different members will view yours. There are 2 basic types of traffic exchanges available today:

1. The manual surf exchange. In this type of exchange, you manually click through other members websites or ads. Usually there is an anti-cheat method of some variety being used to insure that system is not being cheated. I can assure you that any exchange that does not have an anti-cheat system is being cheated by several people.

2. The auto-surf exchange. This system is easier to use, but far less effective. In essence, it runs automatically with no effort on your part, changing websites or ads every so many seconds. Obviously, if you don't even need to look at it to have it work, chances are, people aren't viewing your ads either.

Most, if not all exchanges of both types will offer new members free "credits" or visitors just for signing up. This amount can vary between 50 free visitors all way up to 10,000 free visitors or more. However, in regards to exchanges offering an extremely high signup bonus, if everyone is given 10,000 free credits upon signing up...who is left to surf exchange?

In addition to sign up bonuses, other things to pay attention to when signing up for an exchange are surfing ratios, timer rate, referral bonuses, and extra features.

All exchanges have surfing ratios. These can vary from 1:1 to 5:1 and up. What this means is that for every X amount of times you view someone elses site, your site will be viewed in return Y amount of times. So if there is a 3:1 surf ratio, for every 3 sites you view, your site will be shown to someone else one time.

All exchanges also have varied timer rates. This is amount of time that a website is shown to you before you can move to next site. Average timer rates are about 30-15 seconds per site. On auto-surf exchanges, this is amount of time before it automatically switches to next ad. On manual exchanges, this is how long you must wait before you see next site or else you will not receive credit for viewing site.

Most exchanges also offer referral bonuses, by giving you extra credits for referring other people to exchange (referred to as a "downline"). Often, exchanges will give you part of a credit for every page your referrals surf.

Some exchanges offer nifty "extra" features, such as lotteries, games, trivia for points, ways to bet your points, and many other things to keep you from being bored as you click away.

Research on web usability shows that you only have a few seconds to catch attention of your website visitors. One of most important ways to do this is through your opening headline.

Your headline’s main purpose is to attract attention and generate enough interest so that your visitors keep reading. It’s a first step in a process where your goal is to eventually convince them to take action on your offer.

Here are a few tips for creating powerful headlines

Let your readers know that your site is for them. People want to know immediately when they arrive at your site if they are going to get what they are looking for. Your headline should give someone indication that they are in right place.

Make sure your headline focuses very specifically on core problem of your target market or key benefit that you are offering.