Since my last post I’ve had a great number of entrecard droppers visit my site (over 300), and I have been to a few hundred of their sites.  Viewing that many blogs you start to see patterns.  I’d like to share some of what I have learned.

For Publishers

Tip #1. Make sure your entrecard is being displayed on your front page.  I’ve found several sites with no entrecard code at all.  Worse than the slow loaders, you wait and wonder “what was this person thinking?”  Sometimes people think they will lower their ad price by keeping you from dropping cards, but they simply discouraging advertisers who visit.

Tip #2. Put your entrecard above the fold.  This means when someone views your page, they should not have to scroll down to find your entrecard.  I violate this rule sometimes myself on tech.turnipofpower.com because the site is designed for a widescreen browser.  If someone views the site in a low-res non-widescreen monitor, the ads revert from double to single and go below the fold. 

Tip #3. Put your entrecard code early in your template.  Don’t load your entrecard script after your slow javascript ads.  People will become frustrated and leave.  The faster a card loads, the more likely I am to look around the site.  A couple of times I even checked to see who their webhost was

Tip #4. Don’t Put too many ads and widgets on your site.  Besides making your site load slowly, it looks like crap.  For WordPress, get the AdRotator, a plugin that will allow you to rotate any amount of ads that fit the same dimensions.  Alter the code so that you host the image file on your server instead of having to load it from the merchant.Tip #5. Boost your alexa rank as well.  You can make your url something like http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?turnipofpower.com/ and you will slowly increase in alexa’s rankings.  I’ve seen a few others do this, so unless it is forbidden, I use this type of link for most ads.  (Note: Tip #5 no longer works, which is why it is crossed out)<!–nextpage–>

For Card Droppers

Tip #1. Drop a card on everyone that dropped a card on you.  That way you show up on each others top dropper list.  Eventually you will become familiar with their site, and might even bookmark it along with other sites.Tip #2. Bookmark sites that load quickly with entrecards above the fold.  This way you can hit them daily.  You could even open them all at once in new tabs.

Tip #3. Leave recommendations without being asked.   Offering to trade recommendations is forbidden, but when I get one, I say thank you by reviewing their site and returning the favor.

Tip #4. Click on Campaigns and browse the “Most Recent” category.  This is where you will find the newest blogs and the cheapest ad rates.  Pay the 2 credits and book every ad you can.  Then go back and drop a card on all of them, bookmarking the fastest loaders.

Tip #5. If you like a site, leave a comment, add them to technorati favorites, stumble them, or subscribe to their feed.  Small blogs will notice, and be very thankful for your help.  Some blogs like this one get very few readers, and we read every comment.

*Bonus Tip:  Put adsense or another pay per click below your entrecard.  Card droppers tend to be a careless bunch, bleary eyed from all their mad clicking.  One of them just might miss the box and give you a little adsense boost.