I have been using traffic exchanges for the last month, trying a basically free way to increase awareness of my blog and other websites that I have. The problem being, just about everyone else using this system is only trying to promote "work at home" or "invest now" pages, you see the same ones over and over again, some with different sponsors, some that actually come up with MY name on them asking me to join. I DO NOT like that at all. The ability of software these days is scary. How do they get my name?
So, if all we do is surf other members sites, are we not all really participating on a huge merry-go-round with no one new getting on board? Feels that way, and even if someone does join, it is not to help the others to make a profit but to promote their own site by mindlessly clicking the next icon or button or whatever to "view" the next site.
I have had many hits, but not one sale, I keep track of every site, and am becoming discouraged over this type of "advertising", there are millions of sites advertising the same things as myself.
I have read lots and lots on increasing page rank, but most sites that I would like to link to require a page rank of 3 or higher, which according to the experts you need good sites linking to yours to improve your rank, and how to do that when the good sites won't link without a higher ranking, what a mess!
So, back to traffic exchanges, most of them offer free to join, but then bother the hell out of you to buy some kind of monthly or yearly package, promote the referral programs, promise to pay out on your referrals, almost like the old pyramid schemes. then they show the same ads over and over 'cause so few members[?], though some promise "at least 100,000 or more members", the most hits I've had in day was 125....not bad ? Hah. hits mean nothing with sales, or feedback of some kind.
I shouldn't say all show the same ads, one had many different ads, some I had never seen. But, that site has too many requirements to earn credits and you can't equalize the credits between sites automatically, which I like, you do not recieve a good ratio and has a contest to earn more credits which would require surfing their ads for at least 8 hrs a day....no thanks.
another one has good ideas, but you are pretty much required to click on ads in members sites, the ratio is small and today all I could get the site rotator to do was show me the site urging me to buy more credits, buy more!! No thanks again. If I am not getting sales, why keep on using the system?
I did see two other blogs, took the time to read and comment on them, just because.
Yes, I do want to make money from home, but this method is not working. Not for me anyway, need hits, but need sales, too, not just lookie-loo's, and I'm sure everyone else says the same.
So, no more for me, I'm going to pursue other advertising venues, work on making my sites attractive and appealing, useful and interesting.
Research, research, research. How to be on top of a million trillion others, that is the question.