When advertising in traffic exchanges, you have to remember that most surfers won't be interested in your site. All they want is that traffic credit they will get by waiting a short amount of time (15 to 30 seconds usually). You can, however, try and get them out of that "clicking zombie" state by using splash pages.

A splash page is used to capture the surfer's attention before they move on to the next site. Here are some guidelines to creating an effective splash page for traffic exchanges:

1) Write an attention-grabbing headline. It should clearly define what your site/product you want people to see is about. I advice against using clich? headlines like "Discover How You Can Fire Your Boss in 7 Days With This Guaranteed Money Making System?" - most people know already that it's usually an ad for yet another useless e-book. It's better to keep it short and simple.

2) Keep it short. Tell them what makes you different. A bulleted list might work well to outline the most important information that surfers will find interesting. If they will want to find more, they will have to take action.

3) Keep graphics to the minimum. A lot of traffic exchange users actually surf with graphics off - if they see nothing where a big image should be (a chart with text, for example), they will leave. Not to mention that a splash page must load quickly (remember, you only have 15 to 30 seconds - site load time included). If you absolutely have to add a big image, don't forget to write alternate text for it.

4) Keep it silent. Sure, an auto-playing video telling how awesome this product is, will get surfers? attention, but it almost always triggers a negative reaction. Traffic exchange users hate sites with sound! If you absolutely have to add a video or a record to your splash page, let the visitors decide whether they want to hear it or not. Consider the loading time as well. It won't be affected if video will be streamed only when visitor clicks the "play" button.

5) Add a "call to action". That's what visitors do after they read through your splash page: join your mailing list, visit your main site, join the program you promote through your affiliate link, and so on.

6) Track your splash page performance. Create several copies of the splash pages, with different headlines, colours and promotional text. Find out which combination generates most clicks on your links and concentrate on promoting that particular page.

Remember that there is no "best way" to design a splash page. Your best bet is creating something original and different from those advertisements we see every day.