Drop Entrecards Much Faster

Flash has become a serious problem on the web as more and more sites use this technology to deliver video and advertisements. Although it is considered the industry-standard, it still isn't optimized for your browser and can cause quite a bit of problems when you browse through sites.

With Entrecard, you try to view as many sites as possible, leaving comments, and interacting with blog owners. However, Flash is quite prevalent on these sites, and can quite often cause the browser to crash, leaving any additional tabs you had opened left to crash.

There are three tools that I want to mention to help remedy this problem.

1. Flashblock - This plugin is for Firefox users, and is ideal for blocking web video. While you can also block advertisements, ads are generally not the main cause of slow browsers, but instead the large videos that are strewn throughout the sites.

2. Toggle Flash - This plugin is for Internet Explorer users, who may want to disable Flash due to its overuse on the web.

3. ClickToFlash - This is a plugin for Safari on Mac OS X in order to help you block obtrusive Flash from loading.

I want to hear your thoughts about blocking Flash when browsing sites through Entrecard, and whether it has sped up the time it takes to "drop cards" each day.

Pricing of Entrecard Traffic

Entrecard has listed what you can get through their advertising program, and I'd like to share this information with anyone who may be interested in learning more about it.

For $25, you will receive 40,000 ad impressions across 20,000 blogs ($0.60 CPM) or 20,000 ad impressions across a targeted category ($1.20 CPM).

What do you think about these prices, and is it really worth it to advertise through the network, compared to just dropping your card on other blogs for "free?"

Earn 200 Credits Just for Joining!

If you haven't already become a member of Entrecard, now is the best time, as you will earn 200 free credits just for joining!

Entrecard Continues Nose Dive in Traffic

October wasn't a good month for Entrecard. Unique visitors dropped by nearly 7% in the month, with a drop of about 2% in total visits. Traffic remains fairly high, but you can see the progression in traffic declines.


Coming off a high of more than 1.7 million visitors in March, traffic is now at 1.1 million, and ranking is down 200+ sites.

While these figures can't really be viewed as 100% accurate, they can still give a good idea of the overall direction of site site - down. Not enough updates were provided, and the 15% reservation for their own ads also didn't appear to have a significant increase in their own traffic, but perhaps for new members, it did.

Additionally, you can't view this traffic as Entrecard's own, as it is a representation of clicks and views, as they serve the widget through their site. Perhaps the amount of traffic on the entire network has been decreasing at a fast rate, too.

What do you think about this decline?

Increasing Click-through to Your Widget

The Entrecard widget was designed to make it easy for others to advertise on your site and for other bloggers to earn credits/attract the blog owner to visit their site in return. However, like all bloggers, you need to increase traffic, and Entrecard's traffic can be optimized further if you follow some basic steps.

1. Place the widget in an area that everyone can see it. Typically, this will be above the fold (or within 1300 pixels of the top of the page.
2. Don't include too many images near the widget, or it will be harder to find when someone scrolls down your page.
3. Explain to your readers what Entrecard is and how they could benefit, including a link near your widget.
4. Don't necessarily use the word "ad" near the widget. People don't usually click on anything with this word, so use something more friendly like "friends" or "follow blogger." Hopefully you get the idea.
5. Ensure your theme doesn't break the widget. I've noticed a few blogs that have un-responsive widgets, which are preventing the rest of the site from loading. Obviously, you are doing a disservice to your blog advertisers and those who visit your blog looking to drop.

I hope these tips have helped you, and they should address some of the issues that I've noticed across some of the blogs on Entrecard. What other tips could you suggest to increase click-through rate for either advertisers or bloggers?