Are Traffic Widgets Really Worth It?

May 5, 2008 by
Filed under: General, Guest Post 

This guest blogging post was submitted by Sharon Hurley Hall from Piggy Bank Pie.

Who doesn’t like to get something for nothing? If you own a blog or website, the idea of free traffic is tremendously appealing, and many of us are willing to do whatever it takes to get a few more visitors to our websites. If it’s as easy as putting a widget on your blog, so much the better. It doesn’t take a lot of effort and you stand to gain a lot in return, or do you? I’ve tried a few of these widgets – TheGoodBlogs, BlogRush, Entrecard and others, and I’m beginning to wonder if they are really worth it.

The Good Blogs – Not So Good

One of my first experiences with traffic widgets was TheGoodBlogs. Like most other sites, you sign up, add your blog, select some tags that fit it and put a widget on your blog. The idea is that the widget shows posts related to your content, and your content in turn is shown on other blogs. One of the things that troubled me about the widget was that much of the content actually shown didn’t seem that relevant to my readers, and my stats showed that very few visitors actually came to my blog from that site. After a while, I gave up on it and removed the widget from my blog.

Blogrush? No Rush!

I was a lot more optimistic about Blogrush when it first started. Ok, the widget was ugly, but at least it had possibilities. The ten tier referral system meant that the more people you signed up, the more your blog would be seen. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The trouble is that it probably works best for those who don’t need the additional traffic. If you are an A-list blogger, you can sign up thousands of people, earning referral and traffic credits and getting your posts displayed in even more places. For the rest of us, the traffic you get is fleeting, if it comes at all. I got a trickle of traffic from Blogrush at a time when I published some of my best posts. It was time to move to the next big thing – Entrecard.

Entrecard

Entrecard held even more promise. When you sign up for Entrecard you get to customize a widget to put on your site. You earn credits for dropping your Entrecard (like an online business card) on other sites and when others drop their cards on you. You use these credits to buy 24 hours of advertising on the site of your choice. So how does it work? I have had a lot of traffic from Entrecard, but most of it is drop and run traffic, lasting 5 seconds or less. However, if I spend my ad credits wisely, and advertise on a related site, I get new visitors who stick around a while and may even subscribe to my feed.

The Verdict

So, what’s the verdict? These widgets don’t work well for me. My blog (piggybankpie.com) is in the freelance writing niche and it’s been around for a while. If you have a brand new blog, these widgets are a great way to start getting traffic. If you have blogs that cover blogging, technology, gadgets or any of the popular topics on Technorati, then you will probably get a lot from traffic widgets. They didn’t do much for me. I have removed all of those widgets from my blog and am concentrating on building a readership in other ways, through social media and networking sites. And even though I no longer have the widget, I am still spending my Entrecard credits to advertise on blogs in my niche. That’s the best way to use it, in my opinion.

Collin LaHay’s Verdict: I agree with Sharon, most of these traffic widgets are not sending me a whole lot of traffic, however I have so much extra room by having two sidebars instead of one that I am leaving them up until I find something useful to replace them with!

Comments

20 Comments on Are Traffic Widgets Really Worth It?

  1. Chetan on Mon, 5th May 2008 7:48 pm

    2. Only Entrecard produced and is still producing some considerable amount of traffic to my blog.
    Others are waste of time, and BlogRush was an utter crap!

  2. Ann Cummings on Tue, 6th May 2008 4:20 am

    3. Just when I was giving thought to using some of these, too! I’m glad to have found this post explaining the usefulness, or not, of some of these. Guess I’ll be holding off on some of those widgets. I kinda like clean and crisp looking anyway….

  3. Sharon Hurley Hall on Tue, 6th May 2008 8:10 am

    4. @ Colin: I think I’m over the widget thing now. Tried many, and many failed.

    @ Chetan: I’m glad to hear that Entrecard is working for you. I think it’s the best of the three I reviewed, though it didn’t work that well for me.

    @ Ann: I’m still looking for something that’s more effective. I suspect there’s no substitute for putting in the promotional work yourself.

  4. Asia'h Epperson on Tue, 6th May 2008 1:17 pm

    5. The best form of traffic would be organic. If your blog is targeting other bloggers then widget traffic might work for you.

  5. Paul on Wed, 7th May 2008 12:53 am

    6. but hey, “If it

  6. International Jewelry Store on Wed, 7th May 2008 5:01 am

    7. Great post for me as this will certainly improve my skills further.

    Keep the good articles coming.

    Thanks

  7. Chetan on Wed, 7th May 2008 2:34 pm

    8. Atleast its better than the other two :)

  8. Dennis Edell on Wed, 7th May 2008 2:46 pm

    9. Entrecard is amazing for me, and I’ve never even looked at overall traffic stats…that’s never been my intent with it as “useless traffic” was fairly obvious from day one…for the most part.

    The discovery and networking possibilities are endless. I’ve found some amazing blogs and amazing people behind said blogs, that I never would have otherwise (well maybe eventually somehow).

    I’ve gained regular readers, subscribers, like minded businesses, potential JV partners, and the list goes on.

    Happiness :-)

  9. Dennis Edell on Wed, 7th May 2008 3:51 pm

    10. I drop when I get the chance for the sole purpose of “buying” more advertising…my system works perfectly with or without it.

  10. Susan Hilton on Wed, 7th May 2008 4:04 pm

    11. Thanks for the update! Our real estate blog is new but one of the first in Bryan & College Station, Texas. We want to do it RIGHT!

  11. Sharon Hurley Hall on Wed, 7th May 2008 4:25 pm

    12. I think many blogs target both, Asia’h. I’m happy for those who have managed to use widgets successfully, but I get more traffic through referrals from other writing sites.

  12. Sharon Hurley Hall on Wed, 7th May 2008 4:26 pm

    13. Yes, Entrecard requires some work from the blogger. However, I get almost as much traffic from Entrecard since I removed the widget. I think being able to buy ads for a day works well, though there are still some blogs I never made the queue for.

  13. Sharon Hurley Hall on Wed, 7th May 2008 4:28 pm

    14. Discovery and networking are where Entrecard scores, Dennis. A lot of people have discovered my blog and have become regular readers. I also connect with people I met through Entrecard on Twitter and some forums.

  14. Exposed SEO on Thu, 8th May 2008 7:58 am

    15. Entrecard is the only widget that has ever worked for me. I actually get new readers from it. When it comes to Blogrush, the CTR is almost none existent unless you have a very catchy title. I blogged about cheating Blogrush but it looks like even if you cheat and generate millions of credits, it will take you a lifetime to use them up and get a click or two.

  15. Stefanie on Fri, 9th May 2008 3:42 pm

    16. I’ve never been a fan of widgets. The trickle of traffic has just never been worth the effort, especially considering the quality of most of the traffic.

  16. Sharon Hurley Hall on Fri, 9th May 2008 7:00 pm

    17. Yes, it didn’t live up to the hype, unfortunately.

  17. Sharon Hurley Hall on Fri, 9th May 2008 7:02 pm

    18. I’m beginning to feel the same way. I’m looking at new ones much more sceptically, though I love trying new things.

  18. Chetan on Mon, 12th May 2008 5:54 pm

    19. I don’t think they are worthy.
    even google dont like such exchange of traffic.

  19. Promotion Is Free - Traffic Widgets | Get Paid to Write Online on Wed, 18th Jun 2008 12:43 pm

    20. [...] Blogrush, Entrecard and others. However, I didn’t find that they worked well for me so I have decided not to put any more on this blog. So why am I mentioning a promotion technique that I no longer use? Because it might [...]

  20. rony on Sun, 31st Aug 2008 8:26 am

    21. Then also visit http://websitewealth.blogspot......ogger.html

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