If you are just starting out with traffic exchanges and don’t have much money to invest in upgrades, you will want to surf TEs which give free members the most credits per click. I mean, take Blue-Surf for example – it’s one of the best sites on my list, but I’m speaking from my experience as a lifetime Gold member. Free members will only get 3:1 surf ratio there (plus the bonuses, which, admittedly, are pretty good).

So what are the best traffic exchanges to surf as a free member? Here’s my top 5:

1. EasyHits4U: the king of traffic exchanges, it gives free members a 1:1 ratio with a 20 second timer, plus $0.30 bonus for every 1,000 sites surfed. With 1,000 to 2,500+ members surfing EasyHits4U at any given time, your credits will be used very fast!
2. HitLink: 1:1 surf ratio, 15 second timer, geotargeting, and weekly jackpot with cash and credit prizes.
3. TrafficG: another reliable TE with 1:1 (and even higher) ratio, 20 second timer, and 48-hour unique hits.
4. VastHits: free members earn 0.75 credits per view (3:4 ratio), plus $0.02 per every 100 sites. It’s a relatively new exchange, but their membership size (20k+) is nothing to scoff at.
5. WebmasterQuest: from the same owners as TrafficG, this site also features a 1:1 ratio (plus bonuses), 20 second timer, and geotargeting. However, their credit usage compared to the TEs listed above is slow.

Surfing these traffic exchanges as a free member is indeed more effective than the ones which give you just a third of a credit per click. However, upgraded members at those “low surf ratio” sites like StartXChange (another one of my long-time favorites) end up getting more than 1 credit per click – plus a much lower timer – so that’s something to think about if you have money to spare.

EasyHits4U is the #1 manual traffic exchange, and I’m not just talking about my list. They have over 2,000 people surfing the site at all times, advanced features like geotargeting, great splash building and rotator tools, and so on. The Premium upgrade at EasyHits4U is also well worth it, mainly for the random referrals that it keeps providing.

As much as I love this TE, the point of this post isn’t to praise it. Rather, I want to share a tip in regards to the aforementioned Premium upgrade. EasyHits4U gives you an option to convert your cash balance to an according number of days of upgraded membership. Thing is, you end up paying significantly more for a single day of Premium than you would if you just purchased the 12-month upgrade ($79.95, which comes down to about 22 cents a day).

My point? Withdraw your cash from EasyHits4U and save up for a 12-month upgrade. This will give you the best value for your money.

Most traffic exchanges online are based on the same model, which involves members surfing for credits and assigning them to their sites. The guys over at TechDime (the makers of BriskSurf) decided to change that, and released SurfDuel: a refreshingly simple traffic exchange with no credits and no surf timers.

Like its name suggests, this TE is based on the concept of surf duels. However, the one dueling isn’t you, but rather your site. As you surf the exchange, you are shown two webpages side-by-side: click the one you like better, and it is displayed full-screen. Sites most preferred by the members show up in the rotation more often; top 5 websites get showcased to all surfers the next day before all others (this part does have a 5 seconds timer).

Free members have to surf a reasonable 150 sites a day in order to get their site into the rotation. Upgraded members can add more sites and have to surf less (indeed, Platinum upgrade gives you traffic without surfing at all).

Time will show whether this odd TE will become popular, but it’s a good idea to join early and start growing your downline before anyone else. If you do decide to join SurfDuel, I have just two tips for you. First of all, grab the discount Platinum upgrade, as it delivers very nice traffic for the price. Second, make sure you use eye-catching splash pages that surfers will be more likely to select. My best page received 4 times more traffic than my worst one, so the difference can be huge!

You might have heard about it by now – the entire TE industry is abuzz about this crazy lifetime upgrade sale at TimTech TEs. And for a good reason: it’s not everyday that you can purchase such an upgrade at a top-rated exchange for just $47. If you hadn’t heard, the traffic exchanges in question are ILoveHits, ThumbVu, Sweeva, and StartXChange. ListNerds safelist is apparently also getting the same treatment.

I’ve personally used this chance to upgrade for life in all TEs where I hadn’t yet, and collect all of those awesome red snail badges at CTP. Now, this might seem like a pretty expensive deal compared to a monthly subscription, but I like to think about it as an investment which is going to benefit me for years to come. In exchanges which offer random referrals and monthly credits with the upgrade, it probably is going to pay for itself in under a year!

The bottom line is, if you’re serious about traffic exchange marketing, don’t miss this deal. You still have time until after the Labor Day, when it’s Tuesday morning in the US.