A traffic exchange website receives
website submissions from webmasters that join traffic exchange
networks. The person who submitted the website then has to
browse 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 the number of visitors
to all the sites involved.
Exchanges enforce a certain credit ratio,
which illustrates the amount of websites the surfer must view in
order to receive one hit through the program for their promoted
website. Many sites offer the ability to upgrade one's
membership level for a more equal credit ratio.
As the viewers are all website owners or
affiliates, it is possible that some might find certain member sites
interesting and thus make note of them on their own sites, sending
more traffic their way. Most traffic programs also impose a time
limit when members are browsing, ranging from 10 seconds to 60
seconds. Some incorporate 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. Almost all traffic exchange programs
encourage users to build their own referral networks, which in turn
increases the referrers' amount of credits.
The traffic generated in a traffic exchange
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 low-budget
advertisement campaigns.
