Blaugust 2022 – Do You Remember Entrecard?
Posted on August 17, 2022 by Aywren
Back in the late 2000’s (not a typo), something called Entrecard (EC) was the big rage among bloggers. Some of my earlier WordPress blogs fell into this era – this was before I met up with the group of gaming bloggers I connect with now. I did a lot of fiction writing blogging back then, and one thing I remember using to try to up my traffic was Entrecard.
I keep saying that word, but what does it mean?
What Was Entrecard?
From the original website, which now exists only on the Wayback Machine, Entrecard says this:
Social Networking Platform
Making new friends and networking with others could not be any easier. Our unique system rewards users for networking with each other. Just visit your favorite blog sites and click on the “drop” button on the Entrecard widget to start networking. The blog site owners will see your “drop” in their dashboard. You then can communicate with each other through our private messaging system and stat networking. Plus, every time you do a "drop", you earn an Entrecard credit.
Advertising Network
Entrecard is the internet business card 2.0. When you sign up, you create a 125×125 card for your site or blog. You can advertise your card on any blog sites within our network using our Entrecard credits (EC credits) which you can earn for free. You also earn EC credits by displaying other people’s 125x125 ad on your blog.
Marketplace
Entrecard uses “EC credits” as its currency. Remember, you earn EC credits by allowing others to advertise on your blog site and by dropping cards. Through our marketplace users are able to buy, sell, trade services in exchange for EC credits. Use these credits to purchase anything from other users within our network.
How It Worked
Basically, you created a card for your blog – usually a graphic similar to a logo. This was your blog’s ad in the system, so you wanted it to be identifiable.
You then put an Entrecard widget on your blog’s sidebar. This widget contained another blogger’s card - basically an ad with a link to that blog. When someone clicked the card in the widget, it would pop them over to the blog that was in your widget.
People could also click a “drop” button on your widget when they visited. It was like dropping a business card to say you were there. You could go to your account on the Entrecard site to see who dropped their card on your site, then visit them back and drop your card on theirs.
You’d earn Entrecard Credits for dropping cards on other blogs. You could then use those credits to place bids for advertisement spots on other people’s widgets – thus getting a wider exposure.
So this system encouraged bloggers to hop from blog to blog using the EC widget to drop their cards. And it encouraged them to visit blogs that dropped cards on their blogs for extra credits.
In the end, however, I recall a lot of folks spending massive hours just hopping EC widgets and finding the fastest ways to drop cards. It got rather addictive to some folks, until EC finally put a limit on how many cards you could drop in a day.
EC and Traffic
Now, this system DID generate traffic, especially for newer blogs just getting a start. However, it was eventually determined that this traffic wasn’t exactly the kind that really helped to grow an audience.
If a visitor was only there to find the EC widget to drop and hop, then they’re not really looking at your blog or content. They’re just there to try and earn credits. Your bounce rate went sky high when using EC because people were just coming, staying a few seconds, then bouncing off to the next blog.
Does that mean that it didn’t work for fostering community? I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I’m sure there were some folks who made networks and blogger friendships from visiting blogs or chatting on the EC forums back in the days. It might have gotten people to sign up for RSS feeds along the way. I’m sure some folks did spend time to read content, even if it wasn’t the majority of users.
But to be completely honest, I don’t remember a single blog that I discovered back in the time (if they still exist at all). Maybe some of the folks in the current blogosphere used EC on their sites, but I don’t recall.
So while it did encourage people to visit blogs, it could not make people stay and actually read the content. Which kinda defeats the purpose of creating that content.
Here’s an interesting post from the time about the pros and cons of Entrecard.
What Happened to Entrecard?
One moment, it seemed every blogger was using the system. And now, you can hardly find any information about it.
I only remembered it when I was looking at my own blogs on the Wayback Machine and saw there was a spot for an Entrecard widget. I was curious, so I set out to try to find out what happened to it.
There was a post written about Entrecard’s final days, but even that is lost to time and only accessible in the Wayback Machine. If you’re interested in the story of the rise and fall of a networking system, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what happened to Entrecard.
So What Do You Think?
Would a system like Entrecard be good or bad for blogging now days? Would it work? Would it be abused?
Is it something you’d have tried or something you’d have stayed far away from?