Exit Entrecard, Stage Left
After just over one month of doing the “Entrecard thing” I have decided to pull the plug.
All right, let me rephrase my statement: After using Entrecard for the past five weeks on five different blogs, I removed the Big E’s widget from the sidebar of this blog and on my automotive blog. I’m still running Entrecard on three blogs, but I’m only accepting new ads on one of them.
My reasons for cutting back on Entrecard are many and include the following:
Entrecard takes up a lot of time. Yes, there were a few days where I hit the 300 limit for one site (600 total drops for all sites) and I realized two hours had gone by. Time carefully expended in exchange for a small amount of fleeting traffic — not good!
Quite a few sites were dead or rarely updated. I don’t mind visiting blogs but there has to be something new for me to read. I rather not drop and run, but if there isn’t anything else for me to do, why should I visit an aged or neglected blog in the first place?
Newer blogs benefit, but for older blogs it can be a drag. Don’t get me wrong if you found this blog via Entrecard and are now a regular reader — thank you and please stay! But, the quality of the blogs submitted for advertising here just hasn’t measured up.
Bait and switch. I know that I shouldn’t depend on power dropping sites for my supply of websites to visit, but they can be useful to find blogs to visit and drop cards on. Unfortunately, some sites are suddenly converted to porn or other senseless babble, sullying Entrecard in the process. What a shame.
Of course, there are some benefits to Entrecard including:
Newer sites. I launched Auto Trends last month and got more than 1100 visitors from Entrecard alone. Add in all of my digging, stumbling, and propelling and the site got off to a nice start. It remains the only site where I am still accepting ads to this day.
Networking. Some of the bloggers I have met have been friendly and helpful, the usual trolls notwithstanding. I’m sure many of the more active users are also active elsewhere and our paths will cross again and again.
Please don’t take this as a slam of Entrecard as it isn’t — Entrecard just isn’t working that well for me. After this month I may remove the widget from one or two other sites and I’m not planning to resume regular card dropping on a consistent basis.
My time is valuable to me and dropping cards doesn’t seem to add value to my time.
Further Reading
Matt | Linking Strategies, Personal Marketing, Social Networks
I like friendly and helpful people.I guess you are such a person.
fahrrads last blog post..Aufbau des Fahrrads
I’ve seen other bloggers come to the same conclusion and post their results. Thanks for sharing your findings - you have saved me a lot of trouble.
Laura Spencers last blog post..Are You A Writer Who Blogs, or a Blogger Who Writes?
I came to much the same conclusion, Matt, as I mentioned in a recent post on Mixed Market Arts. I think it would work well on my newer blogs, but on my established one it didn’t work as well.
Well i don’t have any good experience of Entrecard. For me its just the waste of Pixel
I took entrecard of my blog cause of the time it took in order to approve of ads …
I didn’t want to approve all ads automatically and thus decided to take the entrecard widget down …
Never even thought about it again …
Lex
Lex Gs last blog post..How Do You Make Money Online and How Long Did it Take ?
Seems like a good idea for bloggers just starting out to gain some traffic. But if you have a lot on your plate, I could see how having to monitor it all the time would get old very quickly.
Jacqui - Las Vegas, NVs last blog post..Henderson in top 100 places to live and launch 2008
My system works quite nicely as I use it primarily for discovery and networking. i drop here and there solely for “advertising’ credits when I have the time.
Jacqui, Entrecard is very good for new bloggers. I’m just not sure if it is sustainable beyond that.
I’ve seen many bloggers coming to the similar conclusion and posting their results. Thanks for sharing all the findings - you have saved many from the trouble.
Yea for new blogs it is great. But once you have a fair amount of readers you don’t need it. A lot of people are getting rid of it.
Matt,
I have been waiting for this update since you write about EntreCard a month ago and it confirm my belief that it don’t work well.
Asia’h Eppersons last blog post..Support Disaster Relief in Myanmar
You forgot to mention how creepy it is that a disembodied hand comes out of your computer and hands you stuff.
You got that right, Joe. And always at the most unexpected time too!
Surprisingly, I am using entrecard but I am not dropping cards daily. I accept ads but only if I like it..