RWT Webmaster Tools Blog

Using a Traffic Exchange is like trading bad Christmas gifts

At Christmas time, do you feel the compulsion to give a gift (something, anything!) to everyone of your family, friends, co-workers, aquaintances, mailman, garbageman, etc? It then happens that these very same people feel compelled to give a gift back to you. The gifts exchanged are usually trinket kind of gifts. The smiley face coffee mug, cheap pink “ice” earrings, a bargain dollar book, a Garfield tie or a box of chocolates from some no-name chocolate company. Nothing of value is really exchanged. These kinds of gifts are really a waste of everyone’s time and energy. Traffic Exchanges are very similar to exchanging these kinds of gifts. Nothing of any real value is ever exchanged, and it is a waste of time and energy to participate.

A Traffic Exchange is the web’s “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.” Typically, exchanges work in the following manner:

After registering with the traffic exchange (and there are many), users have the opportunity to view other websites in order to build “credits.” These credits are used by the traffic exchange to show the user’s website to others. The more credits one has, the more a site is seen. Sounds simple enough. The traffic exchange keeps track of credits by having users either install some sort of toolbar or having users view websites within some sort of frame website.

Here is the catch though: is it quality traffic? My answer to that question is no. Traffic exchanges are not worth anyone’s time.

Take a closer look at the process. After registering, a user spends time viewing other sites in order to build up credits. Is the user truly interested in the other sites? Are they reading the content? Are they clicking through to another page on the site? The answer is no to all of these. The user is soley interested in building up credits so his/her site can now be viewed by others.

And what have they been building up credits for? So others can take an interest in their site? So others can read the content? So others can click through? NO! The “other” users are there not to get interested in other’s sites, but to generate credits so they can get traffic,etc. And so the cycle continues on and on.

I joined a few traffic exchanges. As I earned credits, I sat back and watched as my own traffic rolled in. I evaluated the stats at the end of the day. Not a single visitor from the traffic exchange even clicked once to view another page on my site. It was traffic yes. But not quality traffic.

The mistake advocates of traffic exchanges make is equating mere traffic to quality traffic. There is a large difference.

There is so much involved in the development of a website. Design, content, marketing, etc. In the end, the desired affect is to have a decent amount of traffic headed to a site. In desperate moments, it is tempting to use a traffic exchange. While using a traffic exchange is in no way unethical, it is a waste of time and energy.

In the end, instead of browsing hundreds of websites for traffic, allocate the time in other ways:

1) Write content
2) Write content
3) Write content
4) Design and development maintenance on your site
5) Write content
6) Write content
7) Write content
Find other ways to promote your site
9) Write content
10) Write content

Simply put, if you have the talent to get a website up on the web, then don’t squander that talent by wasting it pursuing unqualified traffic.

[tags]traffic exchange, traffic[/tags]