Some of you will know I’m beta testing BlogMad, which is a traffic exchange especially for blogs which is still in a private beta. The site is basically aiming to be a way for bloggers to get more hits. The site won’t be selling hits or selling better ratios - it is not one of those types of traffic exchange. Best of all, it will have a surf ratio higher than 1:1 (so for each blog you visit, you get more than one hit back). BlogMad is already, pre-release, in the top 100k on Alexa with around 2750 members.

BlogMad is not the first blog traffic exchange. The currently largest blog traffic exchange is BlogExplosion, however, it would appear that BlogMad (BM) is going to create some serious competition for them. Other traffic exchanges for blogs include BlogXchange, BlogAdvance, BlogAZoo, BlogClicker and BlogSoldiers.

BlogMad has some features that other traffic exchanges have, such as web counters and text links (which BlogMad actually had in the beta, and announced on their blog, before BlogExplosion launched their service).

Anyhow, I shall now go into detail covering the site. When you log-in, the first thing you notice is your action bar. This is a bar located at the top of every page, and you can edit it so it links to your favourite parts of the website (like Games or Surf). This is quite a useful little tool, as it gives you quick access to important parts of the site.

The surf script itself is pretty flawless. It’s a case of waiting and selecting the correct colour. Like most surf scripts, it’s frame based. It allows voting on blogs (thumbs up or down) and the del.icio.us bookmarking of them.

When you add a blog for people to visit (with the credits you’ve earned), you have to activate it to prove it’s yours. You can activate it by logging in to it through Blogger, WordPress or MovableType RPC; uploading a txt file; or adding HTML to your blog. If you are using a system which does netiher of these, you can have it manually activated.

One way BlogMad is planning to maintain it’s better than 1:1 surf ratio is through a site called VARB. This stands for View A Random Blog. Anyone will be able to surf through VARB, and blogs will be weighed depending on their rating. So good blogs get visited more than bad ones. Bloggers will be able to link to their site on VARB in order to get their VARBrank up. Another way this will be achieved is through the use of external sites.

BlogMad is also a new way for bloggers to communicate wih one another. This is private messaging, like what you see in various forums. This feature is actually built into the site though. You receive an email each time you get a PM.

BlogMad has 4 games: Cage Fight, a text-only RPG, a lottery, and puzzles. You can win credits on all of these games. In Cage Fight, you can choose weapons and armour, and then you fight other users. The puzzles are really clever; you can upload images and specify a jackpot, and then other members have to put the images together. These images are going to be screenshots of blogs. The idea is that people will actually read your articles.

Referrals in BlogMad earn you 20 credits each and 1 point per member you referrals refer (downline). BlogMad have provided banners and buttons, however, they allowing users to sumbit their own creations to be shared, so other users can use them.

BlogMad is also integrated with, as said above, del.icio.us and Flickr. As I’ve said, the del.icio.usness allows you to bookmark sites in del.icio.us while surfing, without taking you off site. The Flickrness allows your photostream to be displayed on your profile. These two features make BlogMad even more Web 2.0ish.

This feature filled site is fairly easy to navigate, and I can’t wait for it to go public! Check them out! BlogMad! If you have any questions, just drop them below, and I’ll answer.