Around the TE world, I know that you have heard many, many reasons why a person joins a site and thought I’d share some of the things that I have heard on how people are judging a traffic exchange. Why did you click that join button?
Design
This is one that I hear from most that you have to have a fancy expensive design or people are not going to join – a fancy design will get them to join.
Owner/Admin
Well this is one that personally I feel that will make or break a site. If the owner is never around to keep the site running smoothly, approving sites, and answering support tickets – that makes me wonder why the site exists.
Traffic/Exposure
This one I have heard a lot about – quality vs quantity and I find this interesting as there are so many different points of view on this one. Personally, if you track what you are doing you will see where your results are coming from.
Referrals
Do you get any signups from this site – and do you if you are – you have to be tracking to know for sure. Some sites have a mod that will tell you where your referrals came from, do you know? When you win referrals, are you getting active referrals or just some number in the system just so they can say they gave you a free referral.
Cash/earning potential
This one of the most talked about and where you like it or not, personally I feel cash is here to stay. Now the key is how do you get that cash and what is the earning potential of the site. Does the site pay free members, do you have to be upgraded, is there a certain amount to reach to be paid AND does the owner pay
Activity of the Site
Thought this one was interesting when listening in some of the chat rooms – this could include timers. promos, team surfing, chat – sometimes you learn alot from just lurking and listen to what others are saying. What do you consider an active site.
Promotion/Advertising
Does the site give you plenty of options for promoting your referral url or just have the basics – main url, 1 splash, 1 banner? Do you see the site you just joined being promoted by others? Can you brand yourself with this site? What is this site doing to help me?
Themes/Ad Copy
Personally, I feel that your advertising on each site should be geared toward the viewers of a particular site and with a little imagination a great page that will convert could be made. AND how about the same generic ad copy on the main page – this is one of the most over-looked areas – with all the sites out there tell me WHY I need to click that join button.
Well I can see that I could go on and on here and please as you leave comments I’d like to hear from you on your thoughts on judging a traffic exchange.