CornerScribe

More Tips about Entrecard

John Cow has an article on why he’s dropping out of Entrecard. In short, he argues that people are gaming the system by spending lots of time dropping cards on sights, encouraging people to drop on them, and sites are seeing their Entrecard prices artificially inflated.

First, I realize that the traffic from Entrecard is likely to be of pretty low quality. I might expect to get one reader from a few hundred who visit this way. I do think, however, that Entrecard can still be a good way to attract traffic.

• I think that those gaming the system are probably looking for a quick boost in traffic and/or quick money. Over time, they’ll get tired of it and move on to the latest big thing.
• Problogger’s article on Entrecard probably is doing a lot to drive users to Entrecard. I expect many of these users will stick around a little while and then dwindle away.
• If you’re buying ads on Entrecard, then check the quality of the site before you put out a lot of credits for a 24 hours spot. At least check the page rank and the Alexa rank before going ahead.
• Don’t trade recommendations, and don’t respond to people who ask that you do so. It’s against Entrecard’s policy, and the value of a recommendation system lies in honest recommendations, not traded ones.
• Don’t spend hours dropping cards on every site available. Yes, you’ll earn credits, but you could be doing something much more beneficial to your blogging (and money-making) than that.

I’m still taking a wait and see approach to Entrecard. My traffic is up from it, but I have no idea yet how that will translate to readers and RSS subscribers. I’ll keep you up to date.