Things NOT allowed:
- Blind Linking
- Gallery Skimming
- Chained pop ups
- Multiple pop ups

Things ALLOWED:
- Text links (both permanent & dynamically created by trade scripts)
- Thumb links (MUST have site title above and/or below thumb image!!)
- 1 pop up to a site that accepts being popped (toplists)
- Text links followed by or accompanied with descriptions.

Now that you know the rules for traffic trading in the NN niche you need to know what scripts are being used the most and why.

 

Hardlinking/Manual trading:

Some people have been known to manually adjust all their link trades and not use any sort of automated link exchange script, but most people over the years have found that it is very difficult to compete with sites running scripts simply because manually watching and adjusting trades can be very time consuming while a script can do it all automatically if setup correctly.  The benefits of manually adjusting your link trades is it forces you to very closely monitor all your trades and if you are smart you will quickly learn the most efficient sites to trade with and how to arrange your trades on your site.  The general trend though to be able to compete is to buy the most advanced script to provide you with the most statistics possible.

The original link exchange script used in the NN scene, back in the day this script ruled as the only real option.  Autolinks simply automated the link exchange process by allowing site owners to signup for trades and you could approve or deny them.  In its current version it does record some basic statistics and allows ranking by a few basic options but in general this script hasn’t been updated enough to really compete with the newer more option loaded scripts out today.  However Autolinks low price and ability to use it on multiple domains makes it somewhat useful for someone looking for the basic automation on a large network of sites.

This script uses CGI in the backend and was set to become the dominant script used in the NN scene but then competition from Raptor has left Balls sweating in the dust.  I use BALLS on a few of my sites and it is more robust than Autolinks but because it is no longer updated or supported it is not used by many people anymore.

The premiere link exchange script currently used in the NN niche.  One of the benefits of Raptor is that it is currently upgraded and updated as well if you run another script and want to switch when you buy Raptor it can import all the trades from your old script saving you time.  Raptor has the most stats of any script I have ever seen and the flexibility that you can use to make any type of site you want.  Also Raptor comes with plugins such as a ‘rate me’ script and a tgp plugin so it really is a one stop script for fully automating your site. Raptor even comes with a built-in database of sites you can trade with by just pushing one button to save you even more time.