How to Get Free Traffic From Ad Swapping

One way you can get quality traffic for free without the assistance of search engines is via ad swapping. Of course the most effortless way to get traffic to your website is to pay for it via advertising but some of us can't afford to pay or simply don't want to. In that case, the solution is ad swapping, or putting someone else's ad on your site in exchange for them doing the same thing.

An ad swap is different from a link exchange because the goal is not to improve search engine rank. The goal of an ad swap is to give your website exposure and increase awareness of your brand. The success of an ad swap is measured by the amount of visitors it attracts to your website.

How to Do a Successful Ad Swap

For an ad swap to be successful and fair for both parties involved, each party must have a website that gets a steady flow of traffic each day. The best ad swaps are done between businesses with an equivalent amount of traffic. The ads must also be displayed in easily viewable areas in order to be successful. Both parties must use equivalent ad formats.

Ad swaps are most successful when the two websites involved are in the same niche. Both websites could take advantage of the trade in visitors since they already have an established interest in the same topic. For the best results, the ad must be relevant to the page where it is placed. If you run a business offering a product or service, you should not do an ad swap with a competitor in the same niche. You should also avoid doing an ad swap with a business that contradicts your brand image.

Most webmasters and bloggers are wary of answering requests for ad swaps since they get so many requests for link trades. Avoid asking people out of the blue if they are interested in swapping ads until you get to know them and they feel comfortable with you. In addition to waiting until you have an established website within your niche, try to network and build relationships with other webmasters/bloggers first before asking to swap ads.

Select Your Swap Partners Carefully

You only have so much ad space to swap with others so be sure to maximize your returns by choosing partners that will bring you quality traffic. If you are familiar with your niche, you can probably already name a few good potential swap partners off the top of your head. If not, search for your target keywords on Google to find them.

Types of Ads You Can Set up

The types of ad you can set up for an ad swap include banners, text links, RSS feed ads, and email newsletter opt-in forms. The success of ad swaps can be measured with tracking links and analytics. That way both parties can measure the amount of traffic they are receiving.

You should avoid sending traffic from an ad swap to a home page or to any other un-optimized page. Create a customized landing page for the swap. You can use the landing page to capture leads by offering a freebie and opt-in for a newsletter or RSS feed. You can also make it a welcome page that includes a brief introduction to your website and links to other relevant pages on your site.

While most bloggers and webmasters do not endorse ad swaps at this time, they can be a very effective traffic-building tactic if used correctly. Internet marketers have been using the ad swap technique for a while and you too can get some free traffic if you are willing to try it out. You have nothing to lose so why not give it a shot?