Harsh Criticism from Previous Entrecard User

Kevin Muldoon of Blogging Tips published a post today (re)introducing several topics that have been discussed among Entrecard members, both new and dedicated.  The post was intended to stir debate among users and build some link backs (as I have done so).

The main sources of concern include too many spammers, credit system is seriously flawed, traffic is not always targeted, adds clutter to your blog's design, and poor return.

I want to bring some of the topics forward and present my views of them, although I may be semi-biased, having results that have far exceeded all of my expectations.  These are my personal views and not those of others, so I want to open this post up for discussion of the state of Entrecard, and some of your results to date.

My general view of Entrecard is that it has proven that it can deliver traffic, whether not in the same level that everyone wants it to be, but has brought together bloggers who share similar interests, and has a unique "community" feel to it that MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog, and others have tried to create, but have failed to do so.  Rarely do I see visitors from these sources, despite traffic levels that ate similar (although Entrecard's has been much more rapid).

These services are simply tools in an arsenal that bloggers are given, many free of charge, to use either to their advantage or to pass along to someone else that is willing to take the "risk" of using it - these are the people who are able to benefit the most.

1. Yes, there are a lot of [spammers] in the network.  Perhaps a review of what was enabled when the multiple emails were received should be clarified in the post.  After all, settings are available in the Dashboard that take less than ten seconds to disable - "Send an email when:" an advert is waiting for your approval, an advert you purchased is denied, someone posts a recommendation for you, and when someone sends you a message.  Beyond these settings, messages will only be displayed within the Entrecard Messagebox, either to be read, deleted, or marked as spam.
   What needs to be seriously addressed and now are sites that have been created and neglected.  In other words, if a site only has one post (and isn't a quick drop page), then the account should be notified as a possible spam/non-blog site, and proceed on with deleting the account if the owner doesn't confirm that it is still active.  If you take a look at a majority of blogs (with lower-cost ads, this is even more true).
2. The credit system is flawed, but not seriously.  If you have a semi-popular blog, the price of your advertisement will reflect this, as more people in the system will already be subscribed to your blog.  It does have loopholes, and does involve being more actively participating in the system than other services, but generally reflects the number of visitors that the service will drive to your site in the cost of each ad.
3. Traffic will not be targeted, because there are bloggers advertising on your site and vise versa, often from different niches. It may appear as "random," but it is similar to clicking on stories on a news site, and only be interested in a few, quickly leaving those that you do not want to continue reading.  A similar principle applies to the blogs on Entrecard - if the content doesn't interest you/others, then the reader won't stay - your main post/blog is what gets people to stay and continue reading/subscribing to your blog.  Should your blog not have this, the system obviously won't work for you.
4. Clutter.  Taking a look at most of the blogs on the Internet, most are filled with links to sites that have no direct relation to the blog in mention.  Many sites have more than 40% of their content space filled with advertisements - banners, text links, pop-ups, etc. — a personal choice that people make when building their blog.  While many of the bloggers using Entrecard haven't positioned or removed clutter from their blogs, a ~125x125 widget is small in relative to the ~1024x768 page.
5. Poor return will only occur if you don't use Entrecard for what is was originally meant for - giving back to the community and helping bloggers create a successful blog.  Despite the fact that I joined Entrecard rather late, to date I have had positive returns, helping build the branding of my sites, no matter how small or large.  It does take some work - more work than I feel is beneficial to a large blogger, but little enough that smaller blogs can get a huge boost in traffic.

Overall, the Entrecard system, despite criticism that has been occurring recently, has benefited bloggers that know how to use the system, use the features that it has, and build a community around the site and other blogs on the network.  Although some look at it more as a banner exchange, it does bring traffic to your blog, even in small amounts, it is better than other services that may drive a single daily visitor.

There is much more to Entrecard than simply browsing other blogs and "dropping your card."