3 Ways of Generating Free Traffic to Your Website

Safelists

A safelist is an email list which focuses on advertising web sites, online promotions, business opportunities and more. They are essentially advertising cooperatives, as all members agree to receive advertising emails from other members. This arrangement benefits advertisers by allowing them to forward ads to a large number of potential customers (safelist members) without having to resort to spam. It benefits safelist members because they are rewarded with credits for viewing the ads. The readers’ credits can then be used for sending their email ads as well.

There are two types of safelists, regular and credit based. A regular safelist is an email exchange where members have no genuine incentive to read email ads. Therefore the subject line and ad copy are very important. A credit based safelist encourages members to view ads through a reward system of receiving advertising credits. You may not have the best subject line or ad content, but generally people are going to open your email and click over to your promotion because they will earn traffic credits. It is recommended that you only use credit based safelists.

This is a simplistic presentation of how a credit based safelist works:

> You join a safelist and become an active member.
> You receive email ads from other members.
> You view an ad and receive credits (the more ads the more credits).
> Accumulate a large number of credits for your own ad campaign.
> Use the number of credits in your account to send your ad to an equal number of members.

Many safelists offer additional methods of earning credits, primarily through the enlistment of referrals. Safelist members are often rewarded with bonus credits upon enlisting a referral and in many cases, if that referral upgrades to a paid membership the referring member receives a monthly residual income.

Traffic Exchanges

Like a safelist, traffic exchanges are websites that serve as advertising cooperatives. The concept is quite simple. An advertiser earns traffic credits by viewing the promotions of other advertisers and then uses those earned credits to submit ads. Traffic exchanges are generally free to join and offer various paid membership upgrades to help you generate more traffic as your business grows.

There are two general types of traffic exchanges, auto-surf and manual. An auto-surf traffic exchange automatically advances the ad without human involvement. A manual traffic exchange requires some action by a human to advance the ad. It is advised that you stay away from auto-surf exchanges. Manual exchanges are far more effective in bringing you traffic. Auto-surf users that leave their computer running all night so they can surf while they sleep are probably not going to purchase your product.

This is a simple breakdown of how a traffic exchange works:

> You join a traffic exchange and become an active member.
> You submit a new web page or promotion for the administrator’s approval.
> Access the surfing bar and view other promotions.
> You must view each promotion for a designated time to earn traffic credits.
> You then apply your earned traffic credits to your promotion for viewing.

Most traffic exchanges offer bonuses for surfing and games to earn extra credits. You may also earn traffic credits by referring new members. As your referred members surf you earn a residual of traffic credits based on various percentages. Gaining a good downline can benefit you tremendously with the infusion of extra credits. Also, if one of these referred members should upgrade to a paid membership, generally you receive a monthly residual income.

Text Ad Exchange Primer

Like safelists and traffic exchanges, text ad exchanges are websites that serve as advertising cooperatives. Members generate web traffic to their websites by first viewing the promotions of other advertisers while earning credits. These credits are then used to post text links that will direct other members to their websites or promotions.

Of the three, the text ad exchange concept is the newest. Though new, memberships are growing and it appears that it will become a main stay in the free advertising market. As with all relatively new platforms, it will gradually evolve and it might look a bit different in the near future.

This is a simple breakdown of how a text ad exchange works:

> You join a text ad exchange and become an active member.
> You submit a text link which describes your promotion or website. Some sites now offer HTML ads as well.
> When someone clicks on your link to view your site a predetermined number of points (traffic credits) are deducted from your account.
> Points are only deducted if someone views your website.
> To earn points you view other member ads and read solo ads.
> You must view each promotion for a designated time to earn points.