Surfing for free traffic is a viable, although time consuming way of getting visitors to your web site. Basically, what you do is sign up for any number of free traffic exchange sites out there. Then, you sit down at your computer and click on sites that are registered through that service. As you click on (or view) these particular sites, you build up credits that can, in turn, be used to gather visitors to your personal or business site.

So, now that we have a basic understanding of the purpose of traffic exchange sites, here are a few tips for you to use.

Sign up for Hit Exchange News. This newsletter has been around since 2003 and gives some great info on traffic exchanges. It also has a top 10 list as well as a list of those exchanges that are not so popular these days. You don't want to spin your wheels surfing on an exchange that is not getting much traffic. You can find it at www.hitexchangenews.com .

Surf efficiently. Once you have set up a free account, the last thing you want to do is spend time reading and playing around on every site you see. The idea is to read the headlines and move on to the next site. This will allow you to build up credits faster and fulfill your primary goal for surfing. If you see something that looks interesting, keep a pad nearby and write it down for later review. If you start visiting these sites, you will have a hard time actually building up any credits.

Pay attention to your competition. In other words, take note of sites that catch your attention and write those down. Was the site funny? Was it easy to read? Did the headline make you stop and take notice? On the flip side, make sure to note those sites that turned you off. This will help you later to avoid making the same mistakes.

Choose 2-3 of these traffic exchanges to get started. There are people that literally surf dozens of sites at one sitting and that can be very confusing for anyone just learning this method. So, it is suggested that you do a little research, check out Hit Exchange News and begin with a couple that you like.

Set up or choose a page that loads fast. At some point, you will need to link to one of your pages that you would like others to surf. You don't want a page that takes forever to load or potential visitors will simply ignore it. A quick solution is to make an easy-to-read and fast loading splash page. You want a page that shows a powerful headline, limited graphics and links to your primary site. Again, splash pages should load fast and don't need to contain a ton of information.

Be wary of some of these systems that charge you money to surf or use auto-surf technology. Like anything else that you use online, you must be careful, do your own due diligence and never look for the easy way out because that can often cause you to lose valuable time, if not money.

There is no magic answer when it comes to generating free traffic but exchanges do have their benefits. If used consistently, you can generate new visitors to your website on a regular basis. The key is to have something to offer them once they get there. If you are getting visitors and none of them are buying or signing up for your list, take a look at your design, ad copy, or product and test again. Ultimately, you don't have to spend a fortune to get traffic but you do have to spend some time. Good luck.

Distributed by E. Kinton, Jr. http://www.NationalNetworkers.com Article may be freely distributed.