I have been doing a log of card dropping lately and here my observations.

First of all, I am not willing to spend time and wait for a blog to load. I click away if it takes longer than 10 seconds for content to start appearing.

Second, I hate blogs that have lots of advertisement that use “latest and gratest” technology. All the sites with widgetbucks and alike ads make my laptop CPU fan scream and take my web browser to a crawl for at least 15 seconds or so. So, if I hear the CPU fan starting to scream, I click away from the blog as soon as I can.

Third, and this is something you would really like to consider, I do not like blogs that have the Entrecard widget displayed at the very top… What a fool you’d say. I make his life easier by placing the Entrecard widget as close to the top as possible, but he is complaining.

Well, the reason why I complain is this. When I browse blogs, I browse them for two reasons: first to find good content and leave a comment, and second (and this is only second reason) to drop the Entrecard card.

So, when the Entrecard widget is at the very top of the page, I do not have time to look at the blog content. I drop the card and click away. Thus, I leave a potentially good blog without leaving a comment and getting a link back to my blog!

So, here is my advice. Do not place you Entrecard widget at the very bottom of the blog and do not place it at the very top either. Do not burry you Entrecard widget among numerous other ads and make it visible, but place your Entrecard widget a page or two from the top. This way I will drop a card and would see if I am interested in the blog content.

Nikolai

1. Re: the placement of the Entrecard widget - I don’t agree.

   Firstly, sites who place the widget “above the fold” so it is visible without having to scroll down are being linked all over the place. This means those blogs get more exposure.

   Secondly, everyone uses Entrecard differently. I open a lot of sites at once and drop my card on all of them before doing anything else. I also skim the first post or two to see if it interests me. If it does, I leave the tab open, otherwise I close the tab after dropping my card.

   If you have to scroll to see the widget, then some people won’t even drop their card, let alone read a post or leave a comment.

   I agree with you that load time is important and people shouldn’t have too many widgets. But putting the widget in the middle of the page might not help you as much as you think.

   The way to get the most out of Entrecard is to place the widget so it can be seen without scrolling. If people drop and run, let them - at least you get 1 credit for each drop. Better that than no credits because someone couldn’t find the widget.

   Ben Barden’s last blog post..Advertising: don’t put all your eggs in one basket?

   Posted by Ben Barden | February 23, 2008, 8:08 pm

2. Ben, what a great comment you left. I’d like to thank you for posting a well thought out comment.

   I would like to clarify what you mean by “exposure”. Are you referring to blog “hits” or “visits” when you say “exposure”? :) I can generate literally tens of thousands of hits a day using public proxies and alexa exploiter program. I need “visits” to my blog; that is why I said let me scroll a bit and see the content before I drop the card.

   I am not advocating placing the Enterecard widget at the very bottom of the page… that wold be a bit of extreme :)

   Thanks,

   Nikolai

   Posted by Nikolai | February 23, 2008, 8:26 pm

3. Well, thanks for replying. I like blogs where the owner replies. :)

   By “exposure”, I mean more people visit those sites. I put my Entrecard widget just beneath my banner (you can see it on my site if you’re interested). I have been linked all over the place simply for having the widget “above the fold”. It’s free links, basically.

   Your widget is not THAT far down the page so it’s not a huge issue. But as far as I’m concerned, the higher up you place the widget, the better.

   On the other hand, I wouldn’t put it in the header. I’ve seen some sites doing this and I actually don’t think to look there - I usually look in the sidebar first.

   With your current layout, I think the best place for the Entrecard widget would be between the “updates by email” box and the poll.

   Ben Barden’s last blog post..Advertising: don’t put all your eggs in one basket?

   Posted by Ben Barden | February 23, 2008, 9:20 pm