In an earlier article, I explained a number of techniques for successfully using Traffic Exchanges (TEs) to promote your product and service websites. Among the most important of those techniques was the use of Splash Pages in the Traffic Exchange surf rotation rather than the actual site. The reason is simple, but requires an understanding of the how Traffic Exchanges function.

In most cases, your main sales site contains a great deal of information. This would include the products/services you offer, information about you and/or your company, contact information, and so on. For your promotion efforts outside of Traffic Exchanges, you do of course want to present as much information as possible. However, using your main site in a traffic exchange doesn't often result in a high conversion rate. The reason: the typical traffic exchange only shows the site for 10-20 seconds in the surf frame (rotator) before the TE user is allowed to "click" an icon to go to the next page. Since most people are surfing the TE in order to obtain credits for displaying their own site(s), they will very rarely take the time to read all the information that is contained on a primary sales site. That's just the nature of surfing a traffic exchange. If you currently surf traffic exchanges, ask yourself this question: do YOU read all that stuff that comes up in rotation? No one does.

To utilize a traffic exchange to it's full extent, you want to get your message out quickly. Your goal should be to catch their attention about your particular product or service without overwhelming them with details. That may sound counterintuitive, but think about a billboard along a highway or those 15-second TV spots. That's where splash pages come in.

As with billboard ads or short TV/Radio ads, the object is threefold: 1) get your potential customers attention, 2) provide a branding mechanism for your product/service, and 3) reinforce the message through repetition. A well-designed splash page, along with their proper use in a TE, will accomplish those objectives. That will result in higher conversion rates.

But, not all splash pages are created equally. The key is to understand how to design them effectively.

GET THEIR ATTENTION An effective splash page will get a potential customers attention, and do it quickly. Consequently, your splash page should be attractive and pleasing to the eye. The best way to do this is by using graphics or images. You want something that will stand out from the rest of the crowd as your page enters the surf rotation. You have most likely seen such pages with nice homes, fancy cars, and images of money. While you may think these are overdone, or even tacky in some cases, the reality is they do work. Adding a short audio clip will also aid in drawing attention to your ad.

BRAND YOURSELF Whether or not you use graphics or images as described above, the one thing you absolutely MUST include is your branding. If you have a company logo, USE IT. If you don't have a graphics logo, then come up with a text version using an easily readable font. And don't be afraid to make it large. Just as important to branding as your logo is having slogan that you use on all your ads. Think about Nike with their "Just Do It" slogan. When you hear that slogan you immediately know the company and their product. Those Nike ads don't beat you over the head with information about all the different shoes they offer. Rather, they present an image to convey their brand. That is what effective marketing is all about.

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