Those of you that don’t come to my blog for blogging tips or blogging related posts this isn’t going to be something your going to want to stick around and read this, read this instead it might entertain you a little better than this Entrecard related blog post.
If you are a newbie blogger and new to blogging and want to know What is Entrecard and How does it work? I will explain it real quick. Basically Entrecard is something that you can join as a blogger that requires you to display an image on your blog along with the words “drop”, a user to your blog can click the “drop” and it gives you a credit. The credit is than added to your Entrecard account, at some point you can advertise your blog on other blogs that use Entrecard, than people can drop to your blog. Scroll down you will see it in the bottom right of my sidebar.
5 Reasons I Suck at Entrecard
- I don’t take it seriously so the traffic return sucks
- I never look for the button to do an Entrecard Drop
- I have credits I never use
- I take forever to approve advertisers
- I don’t have patience picking the right category for my blog
5 Things That Would Make Entrecard Better
- If I didn’t have to approve advertisers
- If there was a Firefox Add-on that alerted you to an Entrecard site
- If users had the ability to add favorite sites and setup auto advertising
- If it actually generated substantial traffic
- If I took it seriously
You get out of things exactly what you put into it and I honestly think that I am getting exactly out of Entrecard what I am putting into it, chances are I will leave Entrecard in place for a little while for the sake of this article making sense.
Leave a comment and let me know if you currently use Entrecard on any of your blogs and how you feel about Entrecard, do you use it to your best ability as a traffic tool or is it another space saver on your blog?
Cole Stan (2)
KyAus @ Those.Tips (2)
SafariDave (2)
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
1 reason I sucked(ed) at Entrecard: I never bothered finding out what it really was.
But now, thanks to your paragraph to really quick describe what it is, I know a little more about it.
I just don’t know yet if it’s something I want to look into or if I should just stick to trying to get my posts retweeted and stumbled.
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Twittley – A Digg-Like Twitter Community (Button Shuffle Colors)
@Klaus @ TechPatio, if your looking to increase your traffic I would certainly give it a shot, just remember you will get out of it what you put in to it.
Thanks for the tips! I have heard about Entrecard a few times but had no idea about it…Thanks for the explanation, now everything is much more clear!
Kate Kinderspiele´s last blog ..Sunny und Peter schreiben ihre erste Mathearbeit
I’m glad that it doesn’t automatically approve advertisers…there’s some blogs that I wouldn’t want seen advertised on my blog.
As far as the traffic, it is the type of thing where you get what you put into it. For a while I thought that the traffic was pretty crappy, but I’ve found a small group of fellow bloggers that make it worthwhile. Although, I’m a lot more passive about it then I used to be.
Mike´s last blog ..Mocha Coffee Cake Recipe
@Mike, everything in blogging is like that, actually life. You get out of it what you put in to it, so far it hasn’t fit into my grand scheme of things so I haven’t benefited.
I should follow your tips John, maybe I can get some trafic from Entrecard. By the way, your random pics on the right are distracting me from your articles
ZXT´s last blog ..Not so convincing spam comments
@ZXT, I might have to remove those
I was around when Entrecard first hit the scene. It was a fun little time waster, but it is just that. In the beginning everyone would run from blog to blog simply dropping cards but not reading any content. That frenzy led to everyone complaining about really high Bounce Rates, add that to the fact that all the “gurus” were credit priced out of the reach of every participant except for those that were already in their circle.
So clearly to me EntreCard is a big time waster and not worth the effort.
Ms. Freeman´s last blog ..Do you write for your readers?
@Ms. Freeman, I never even really got as far as paying attention to people’s ad rates and I rarely use my credits so there’s not chance Im going to really benefit from it.
Hey John I use GreaseMonkey and a script called EntreCardTop which moves the EntreCard widget to the top left of the screen, very handy, the only problem with EC is your bounce rate gets affected quite badly, as those that drop and run!
Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..Is Google PageRank Really That Important Anymore?
@Karen @ Blazing Minds, thank you Karen I had been looking for that script for a while but didn’t know the name of it. Have it installed now let’s see how it goes
I’ve dropped Entrecard few months ago after they announced that they need our help to grow Entrecard by asking us to give out free advertisement space in our blog.
I didn’t see any benefit joining Entrecard, so I quit it.
Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online´s last blog ..What Is Blogging And How Do People Make Money Online
@Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online, I remember hearing that a while back, but they haven’t implemented that concept as far as I know.
@Extreme John, They have. They gave everyone the option to pay to avoid the advertising or they would run one of two different ads [you can disable one but not both] using no more than 15% of your widget impressions. Here’s the blog post ~> http://entrecard.com/blog/?p=1370
EntreCard sounds like a free coupon for a buffet. I wouldn’t use it either but what do I know I sell pets & real estate for a living. I think you hit the nail on the head, you get out what you put in. If you were hard up for some cash I bet you would put more effort into it. You write and blog for yourself thats what makes you interesting. Yet your articles do benefit us all in the sense that we get another persons undistorted point of view. make it a Super Safari Day.
@SafariDave, hey Dave thanks for the kind words and taking the time to comment.
I use to use Entrecard and have the widget on my blog. In the beginning, the traffic was fine as I usually dropped the maximum. After a while, I came to the conclusion that I could spend the time I used for dropping to better use. I eventually left Entrecard and I’m still happy about that decision
With any program, you get out what you put in. In life and work, the same applies.
George Serradinho´s last blog ..Quick Tip: Make your Images stand out when Hovering over them
@George Serradinho, I would never go out of my way to do drops for Entrecard, if anything I see it on a site and click it so I can see where it could become a little time consuming looking to hit a drop total.
Entrecard used to be a great source of “bouce rates” for newbies and it skyrocketed alexa rankings quickly. After they were bought out, I think that all in all, it now sucks. I still have in other sites by I removed it completely from my main blog because it also slowed down the page loading time. Their script seems to hang once in a while
DiTesco´s last blog ..DiTesco’s Weekly Echo #9
@DiTesco, I notice that with the script hanging as well, thats usually one of the number one reasons for me to remove something. I hate extra load time.
Yeah, I’ve never really taken it into stride either John. Those points you mentioned to improve it would definitely work.
I think I have it on two of my blogs, but while it was working pretty well at the beginning, traffic has slowed right down, so perhaps we’re not the only dissatisfied customers.
Sire@WassupBlog´s last blog ..Giving Link Luv To Cool Blog Links Top 10 Members
@Sire@WassupBlog, I have looked around the web Sire and read a bunch of articles on Entrecard. It’s safe to say your right on point with that assessment.
Who designed your header? It’s really nice.
@saturn sioux falls, I appreciate that thank you. I have an in house designer that does my graphics for me.
I don’t have it on my main blog, but do have it on a few of my others. I don’t expect much other than maybe someone will happen across my site and actually like it.
Stranger things have happened. I have found a few sites through it and do drop, but mainly when I happen upon a site. In other words, I don’t drop and run.
Anne´s last blog ..Going Mad [Men] With Heather & Cindy The Bat Lady?
@Anne, I have never been big on the drop and run either, I either read the post and go through the motions I like to go through after reading something useful. Retweet, add it to my Sunday Smash and Drop if I see the logo.
I used to take it seriously, but I suck at Entrecard right now too. In fact the reason I stick with it still is so I can advertise on blogs like yours and karens and a handful of other cool bloggers that still have the widget.
Tycoon Blogger@Promote your blog´s last blog ..Promote your blog- what are your top 3 ways?
@Tycoon Blogger@Promote your blog, I remember reading your post about that, I commented on it if I remember correctly.
Maybe someone already told you but there’s a greasemonkey script you can install that will move the entrecard widget to the upper left hand corner of the browser so you can quickly drop and move along.
Steve´s last blog ..Netflix Free Trial Compared to the Blockbuster Free Trial
Totally agree with all the points here, Entrecard eats up my time and effort while it drives worst traffic to my site. Those ads also slow down pages I visit, so thanks Godness when my AdBlock add-on block it
Phaoloo´s last blog ..6 Effective Tools To Check Your Site For Broken Links
Personally.. I’m not much into entrecard, but widget is still there on my blog I don’t have the time to do drops, I use the Firefox Add-on and it’s helpful, but lately I have started to think I will remove it.
Nehh´s last blog ..Kristin Cavallari dating Audrina Patridge’s ex-boyfriend Tal Cooperman
Entrecard is actually a very affordable way of exposing/advertising your blog. In addition, its a great way to interact with other bloggers who share of the same interests in promoting your blog.
John, by now, you know that you can automatically approve Ad requests on Entrecard, don’t you?
We agree: “If users had the ability to add favorite sites and setup auto advertising”… that’s actually a great idea.
Gaining credits is simple. It’s spending them which is difficult. Only a few, select blogs receive “any legitimate traffic outside of Entrecard.” Do you know what we mean?
If I were you, I would reevaluate your connection to Entrecard. Your blog is a top 30k (per Alexa.com) site with a DoFollow PlugIn, and most likely a decent amount of subscribers. Assuming, from your comments that your interaction is minimal with Entrecard, a blogger can have their 125 Ad on your blog for 24 hours for basically nothing. ( A spot on ExtremeJohn is going for 16EC as of right now.) That means that once can receive the benefit of a lot of non-Entrecard, non-Adgitize, non-CMF traffic at a discount.
You can find good blogs like ExtremeJohn and Source Blogger under the Blogging Resources section in Entrecard.
John, check out Source Blogger (www.source-blogger.com)
Thanks!
Source Blogger ´s last blog ..Your Blog Sucks! What Other Bloggers Are Saying About You!
I hear you with the “can’t take it seriously” issue (I know, this is a common theme with me).
I think what bugs me is that over the years, there are very few things that have worked: Stumbleupon is by far the best source of traffic for me, and worth every minute invested. A lot of things fall far short in terms of the proportion of reward for time invested. That having been said, Entrecard works for some.
Oh, stumbling this post.
ashok´s last blog ..Tom Wayman, “Did I Miss Anything?”
Hi John! I try to stay out of the perpetual Entrecard arguments but it does work for me. I just wanted to answer a couple of your questions though…
1. If I didn’t have to approve advertisers You can set up advertisers to auto approve and can set it to approve all advertisers or just those you’ve approved before.
2. If there was a Firefox Add-on that alerted you to an Entrecard site There is! The Entrecard toolbar for Firefox does just that an lights up if a site is an EC site. It gives you the option to quick-advertise on them or add them as a favourite too.
3. If users had the ability to add favorite sites and setup auto advertising It doesn’t have auto setup yet unfortunately but you can add favourite sites and then open up a page with all of your favourites on and quick advertse on each one. This is precisely why I use Entrecard. I like that I can open up 10 or so of my favourite photography sites (for instance) and see what’s new with them and I find the other ad platforms don’t allow for such good categorization.
4. If it actually generated substantial traffic I find it better than the other platforms in that people stay longer on the site. I think this is down to me only targeting blogs similar to mine though. So it is “bloggy friends”. I don’t depend on it though and am slowly but surely building up my search engine traffic.
5. If I took it seriously The only thing I take seriously is enjoying blogging and finding interesting articles and blogs to read myself!
Emm´s last blog ..Music Monday # 13: Bohemian Like You
{ 1 trackback }