Bad traffic quality from entrecard
*Update*
Thanks for all the comments! Many interesting views have appeared. Read trough the comments if you are interested in entrecard. Anyway, the winner is: Mark Fulton. Congratulations! He will receive 1050 entrecard credits!
The other contenders was:
- Black Zedd
- Steve Robbo
- Blargumentor
- Jayne D’Arcy
- Simon
- Kevin
- Sammy Ashouri
- Webduck
- Shonzilla
- Louie
- 21stCentyrman
- Gian Paulo
- Justin (Pushapixel)
- Mike Huang
- Mc2w
- Mikko
Thanks to all.
The conclusion: I will still continue to use entrecard 
You may have noticed the entrecard.com-widget on this site at the bottom om the sidebar. The widget is a space for other sites to advertise in. To advertise they use entrecard-credits that they earn by dropping their entrecard on other sites etc.
Ok, to be clear: Entrecard do increase your traffic, but is that all you really want? Because in my perspective the traffic is of such bad quality that it is just numbers. Have anyone noticed any increase in AdSense earnings? I guess not. The users that comes from entrecard is about 95% focused on finding your widget and dropping their card, to earn 1 credit so that they increase their fortune. Therefore I’m not going to update my entrecard anymore, as quality traffic is much more important than just unique site visitors. It is worth noticing that you can advertise on other sited with the 125×125 image, but my experience tells me that even that isn’t worth it.
I’m giving away 1,000 entrecard credits + the credits earned in the following 10 days!
To be one of the “lucky” people to get this credits, just comment this post. In the comment I just want you to be honest about your opinion about the quality of the traffic that is generated from entrecard. The giving away will be closed in 10 days. More precisely December 21, 2007! Now, wouldn’t that be a fine Christmas gift?
Hi there.
I’d love to do a review on Entrecard, but it doesn’t suite the concept of my blog, so I don’t. Since you’re encouraging honest review, why don’t I do some writeup here (not for the free credits
)
I agree with the quality of the traffic. RELATIVELY absurd. I did get some huge jump in figures, but the same is also true with my bounce rate. But hey, almost 20 percent of them read my postings, and some even comment. I’d say that is even better than nothing. My blog is 1 month old, and exposures are what I need most.
The best thing about Entrecard is it encourages bloggers to reciprocally visit. You dropped by my blog just now, and I’m here. I would never find your blog if it’s not for Entrecard. I found some great bloggers who exchange quality visits (even comments) through this. I found blogs that interest me. And best of all, we support each other since we actually gain some tangible benefit from it. And to tell you the truth, I read all Entrecard blogs that I dropped in and commented on most..(I must have a particular interest at)
Regarding your blog, your lackluster traffic quality might be related to the subject you’re blogging. I think most bloggers find web programming a bit too technical, so they skipped the reading part.
But don’t give up just yet. Over the time some interested members will hook you up. but until then keep exposing your cards in others. You just did. And although I’m not a programmer, I think I will learn something from you. (I’m currently perusing a project using Joomla platform, but I’m sooo newbie).
Sorry for the long comment. Again, not for those credits (per se). Keep going!
Perhaps Entrecard suits me as a blogger with an online diary.
The quality of traffic may be no poorer than people who get to my blog after Googling something, and getting my random thoughts by accident. I’m not expecting to make money from my site, but the odd comment via Entrecard would have been nice.
For a final thought, I have found your blog via Entrecard. I’ve added your feed to my Bloglines. Hopefully I qualify as quality(ish) traffic;-)
Black Zedd:
You have some good points. What I really ment was that although you get unique visitors, the percentage of those that bounce is very high, about 87%. I have compared my traffic to the one generated by AdWords (daily budget about 6$) and the differences ain’t that big, so you might have right.
I must disagree the part about being to technical. This blog is part of the web-development directory, and this content I think is related to that theme. Anyway, the new article about galleries should fit into every bloggers interest!
Thanks for the comment. Even though it wasn’t for the credits, you are still qualified.
Steve Robbo:
Yes. This being a very specific blog about something technical, it is harder for me to filter out the right audience. Though, people googling for something like “jquery blabla” and end up here, are more likely to be interested in the content. I’m not blogging for the money itself, even though it serves as great motivation. I blog for learning and spreading knowledge!
Anyway, wherever people come from, it is always nice to have a comment in your inbox waiting for approval!
Thanks for leaving a comment, and you sure are qualified.
From what I’ve found the general quality of readers is much worse than those from other sources. That said, if I get 100 visitors from entrecard and 20% of them read, thats better than if I get 20 users from blogcatalog and 100% read. While that 80% of traffic is worthless to my blog (and may even cost $ in bandwidth), Alexa doesn’t see it that way.
While I am unsure about the exact numbers and percentages, in my opinion the flux of bad traffic is offset by the sheer amount of people.
Also– I am one of the guilty entrecard members who just scrolls down to drop my card. But often I find myself stopping to read or look at something that caught my eye. So its up to the blogger to make content that would attract people to it. The hardest part–getting people to your page–is accomplished, now suck them in with some bells and whistles.
I approached the concept of EntreCard from a different perspective: outgoing traffic. Specially, I use it to visit other people’s blogs. I quickly skim over the internet “make-money-fast” sites. I like to go to personal, technical, and fun blogs that I can comment in. I want to belong to a like-mind community, not get more credits or click-dollars.
So hopefully you will stop by and tell me what you think!
-RA
I have gotten traffic with Entrecard, but very few of those people stay to read and for me, it’s more important that my visitors want to read. My blog is for my fiction short stories and my photos. Most traffic I get just drop their card and go.
The thing I find most annoying about Entrecard is there is no easy way to surf other members blogs. You can start with one member and then click through the cards you drop, but for me at least, I’m hitting more blogs I’m NOT interested in, than I’m hitting blogs that do interest me.
A lot of people will have installed the Entrecard widget for the purpose of increasing their Alexa traffic rank. This helps increase the value of their paid blogs (sorry - “sponsored posts”). That is certainly why I put the Entrecard widget on my site.
Having said that, I have found some interesting blogs while looking for the widgets. Sure, there some lousy blogs out there, but it is worth putting up with them to find the good ones.
Blargumentor:
Well that is true. Does Alexa really count that much?
Generally I try to be a “good” visitor and read/comment, though I must admit it is usually only when I find something interesting.
Rudy:
It would have been nice if everyone had that view!
That was a new perspective.. Since entrecard builds on a credit-system it is hard to find people with that perspective. Earn, earn & earn
Jayne:
True. Though my blog is in the “Web Development” directory and the widget-image implies my content. It is still hard to get users stay on the site.
Simon:
Another comment about Alexa! Do you mean those “services” that pay (ex.) 100$ per post etc?
I didn’t expect that much activity, really. If this trend continues, my impression of entrecard may change
Hello, I will gladly take your credits. Nice of you to do this contest. I think you are right about quality of traffic.. because I personally scan for the widget, click and leave. But looky here.. I’m commenting on your blog. I think a few people have found my site from Entrecard and will return visit.
Cheers,
Mark Fulton
http://DotSauce.com Magazine
I think that a majority of the traffic generated from entrecard so far, is just spam traffic - only people who quickly scan for your entrecard widget, drop their card, and move on. I doubt anyone even glances at the posts. The way that the card dropping is currently set up, this is the most time-economical way to do things.
Traffic generated from placed ads on entrecard widgets on the other hand, might be a little better, even if a majority of it is probably “targeted” traffic.
I didn’t think much of EntreCard in the beginning, but decided to add them in since I redesigned my blog. Might as well conform. I’m hoping they aren’t another BlogRush.com since they haven’t sent any traffic my way considering all the impressions they got.
Wondering what happened with EntreCard… this is my first 2-3 hours with em ;).
To the last comments: Thanks for commenting.
Summary:
entrecard = much traffic
quality of traffic = bad
quality of traffic from ads = good/ok
alexa = good, because of much traffic
outgoing traffic = bad
My bounce rate is roughly 90% from entrecard but since my blog is fairly youn the more exposure the better. At least it is better that the traffic I was getting from blogrush, though lately I have been getting some traffic from them on another blog.
Bottom line I will keep it for a while.
OK, if you are not happy with the quality of traffic, and they are not clicking on anything on your site, let’s ALL do more when we visit any blog and Stumble it, click a link, or do something to help that doesn’t take much time or effort. It’s something to consider. I have already been doing those things, so maybe I am helping in my own little way.
In my short blogging experience during which I’ve discovered Entrecard rather early (during the first week), I’ve noticed the staggering page/visit ratio. In my view, this is caused by two reasons.
For the first one I am to blame - the nature of my blog.
It is really a tumbleblog really which aggregates my thoughs streamed from Twitter and Jaku, whereas I am posting approximately one longer blog post per week and they are not focused yet. Having all this in mind, there is probably not enough people interested in reading what I write. I do not care however, I’m venting myself write improving my blogging skill and trying to figure out the social underpinnings of Web 2.0.
The other reason lies in the viral nature of Entrecard. Older Entrecard users were “true to the cause” but as the ad “prices” have risen they’re starting to behave as the new ones which are chasing the Entrecard on other people’s blogs to drop their own Entrecard. All with the goal to remain in the game by accumulating enough credits to be able to advertise on more popular blogs to close the loop. As with other affiliate strategies - using Entrecard effectively probably requires time. Currently, the most of Entrecard users are (aspiring) online money makers and casual bloggers with underdeveloped focus (like me ;-)) so the population is not yet sufficiently diverse.
I guess, it is all about focusing and persisting in the main thing (i.e. blogging) and giving Entrecard some time along the way.
I’d say that online money makers are using Entrecard as yet another tool to boost traffic. Unfortunately, it creates a trigger-happy environment where attention span gets shorter.
I hope that online money makers will not be the ones to dominate Entrecard community in near future, or else… it won’t make sense for almost anyone else to maintain Entrecard activity.
Cheers!
Shonzilla
Not all entrecard traffic is bad. Sometimes I admit that i just go to a site and look for the entrecard widget and just drop my card. But most times i read the latest post of the site. If i find something interesting then i keep reading. Its up to the owner of the site to get good traffic. With good content, you can never go bad.
I totally agree with Black Zedd, my blog has less than a month and I need this traffic even though it is not A-list quality some of them read the posts and comment.
Just my two cents.
I guess the most important benefit of Entrecard is, well, more exposure. For a blog that’s just about 3 months old (and a personal blog, too), it need all the traffic that it could get. It is the blogger’s duty, then, to make interesting posts that will get the readers’ attention.
hey, I stumbled upon your website through Entrecard.
Wow a lot of long responses here. I just wanted to add that I don’t see Entrecard as some revolutionary new tool. It still needs a lot of work and most of all MORE USERS. If I won 1000 credits, I wouldn’t even know what to do with them. There’s not enough good blogs to advertise on. I just see it as a way to get someone to gain a first impression of my blog, I’m guessing 1 of 1000 people may come back, and that’s all I expect. I just want 2 seconds of there time to suck them in.
I started Entrecard when it first went public and I will brag that I am member #4
As for my opinion, Entrecard has sent me a grip of viewers in which some have become subscribers. Without Entrecard and some other marketing, I wouldn’t have gone from 0 RSS subscribers to over 200+ in 1 month!
-Mike
Wow! It is really motivating to get this type of response.
My google analytics is reporting a much lower bounce rate than before, also users re-visiting.
Maybe the bad quality of the entrecard-generated traffic is just a minor defect of entrecard in the beginning? As you stay on entrecard the volume and quality increases. I sure can see that now.
Though we could all work on our caring-skills when visiting other blogs. By that I mean our degree of commenting etc. At least for blogs in our own category or similar ones.
The statistics:
Bounce rate are down about 15% from the beginning.
Time on site is about 17% lower than users from other sources (google search etc.)
First time visits are down about 10%.
Users visit about 2 pages per visit.
Can anyone else report such increase?
I’m looking forward to give someone over 1000 credits
Regards, Christian
Actually, most of the time I get better quality traffic from Entrecard than I get from Google. I came to this site because it seemed interesting, not to drop my card (which I did since you just happened to mention it.)
On the 95%, at least 75% of them will stop by your site if it is really good.
It also brings good traffic if your content is good.
Again, CONTENT is the KING!!
The traffic I’m getting has certainly improved, in terms of quality and quantity.
Time on site has improved, but this may also be down to me increasing the amount of shorter posts, and adding photos I’ve taken to illustrate the point.
The amount of time I’m spending on other blogs through Entrecard has definately increased, as a result of the amount of sites that have been added recently. I’ve probably added more comments in the past week that I usually do in a month.
As someone who joined early on, the traffic keeps increasing and I’ve progressed higher in terms of my site’s worth. Plenty of people are accepting my ad as well.
Thank you soo much! I have received my 1050 Entrecard credits! You rock.
No problem! Keep up the positive feedbacks. All of you
Aww, that’s a shame. Thanks for the linky back though! It really helped my Technorati rank =P
Aww. Too bad. Thanks for the link, though.
I can agree and disagree with you.. I visit a lot of blogs thru entrecard - and sometimes I just drop a card and other times I stay and read a post or 5 or 10. it all depends on the blog and what it is about and whether or not there is a post i’m interested in.
The quality of traffic from Entrecard is being debated today and will be in the future. I feel that if I get only a few visitors from Entrecard that decide to stay and read a post or two, then I’m better off than before.
I am like most people and visit a blog to drop off my card, but I will stay and read a post or two if something catches my eye. (I found this post from Google and not Entrecard).
Most interesting thoughts.
(too bad I’m late for the contest.)
I have some of those same concerns as well. (I found this through Entrecard)
It’s very similar to BlogRush.
When something’s free, people will exploit it. (If it’s paid, people will exploit it - but they’re more likely to exploit it if its free)
Right now I do not have an Entrecard Ad on my blog due to the ugly golden ‘drop yours’ bit.
:-/
Something I’ve also noticed is the low quality of the blogs that have Entrecard ads…
:-/
(again, similar to BlogRush)