General FAQ's

This section provides general information about our site.

What is this site, and what does it do?

Surf For Local - New England is what is called a "traffic exchange".  A traffic exchange is a site that contains a list of other websites; our members view this list and look at the individual websites listed.

What does this Traffic Exchange do for me?

If you are trying to get the attention of webmasters or website promoters, you have definitely come to the right place.  Your site will be shown to all members who are surfing, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you are trying to boost your search engine rankings, you are also at exactly the right place.  You may have submitted your site, and tweaked your keywords, but you are still probably at best 1 of 5,000 or more similar sites.  You need to "stand out" to the search engines, and we can help with that.  Most search engines use the amount of traffic (or hits) to a site to determine it's importance compared to other similar sites.  A traffic exchange boosts your site's traffic, and gives an 'extra lift' to your listings.

What does it cost?

Surf For Local - New England is free to join.  When you join, you get 100 credits (that's our in-house "currency"), which entitle you to show a site 100 times, or a banner 500 times, or any combination.  You get an additional 100 credits every month for free, on the anniversary date of when you joined.

Why would those other webmasters look at my site?

100 credits is not a lot, and these webmasters want people to see THEIR site.  So, they use our surfing mechanism, which shows all members sites, 1 at a time, every 30 seconds or so.  For every site they view, they receive some credits (between 0.75 and 1.8, depending on their membership level).

So, I should expect to surf to get credits?

Surfing is one way to earn credits for free.  We also give credits for promoting our site, and for referring other members.  If you really need a big traffic boost, you can also purchase credits, which helps keep your site visible with less effort on your part.

Why should I refer other members?

Well, for more credits, of course.  If you refer someone to us, and they become a member, you get at least 100 credits (more if you are a professional member).  Once they become your referral, they're yours for the life of your account.  If that person then refers someone, they get at least 100 credits, and you get at least 50 credits.  As a free member, you get these sign up bonuses up to four 'levels' deep.  (Professional members get up to 6 levels of sign-ups, and more credits per sign-up.)

Also, if someone you refer surfs for credits, you get 3% of their credit earnings added to your account the following Sunday night.  (Professional members can get up to 5%.)

Sounds like there's work involved.

If you want something for 'free', it must be earned.  If you want credits without surfing, we sell them.  If you want referrals without advertising, we sell them, as well (we call it 'hiring downline members').  We also have professional memberships, which cost money, but provide you with better surf ratios, better referral earnings, and more credits per month. 

What's involved in becoming a professional member?

Just sign up as a free member, go to the credit shop, and purchase a membership.  We offer 4 levels of professional membership, so you can select the cost/performance mix that is best for you.

Well, how do I get started with all this?

We suggest reading or bookmarking the FAQ page called 'getting started'.  This page lays out the steps in detail if you're new to traffic exchanges.  If you're more familiar, just go to the 'sign up/join' page, and put in your information.