How to Get More Subscribers: 7 Tips to Help Boost Your Feed Count
At the beginning of the month, I started asking bloggers in several communities about their goals for the coming year. And not surprisingly, almost all of them said they wanted more subscribers. What about you?
Some bloggers like to think that all they need to do is post a link to their feeds and the subscribers will come rolling in. That is true, but it's not that simple.
When people subscribe to your feed, they are allowing you to send them updates, and this leads us to the first and most important:
Provide great content.
Is your content worth subscribing to? People subscribe to feeds they find to be useful or entertaining, so if you're not presenting your best work, changing this is the first thing you need to focus on. In the end, it's all about producing great content.
Ask them to subscribe.
The obvious, right? It's easy to overlook such a simple thing, and a lot of bloggers do. (I'm one of them.) But if you want people to do something, you need to ask.
At the end of your posts, politely ask your readers to subscribe. You may be surprised how this affects your feed count.
Put a link to your feed in a prominent spot on your page.
This is another common mistake bloggers make- placing their RSS links too low on the page. It is an inconvenience for the reader to have to search for it, and some won't even bother looking if it is not advertised.
Place your link near the top of the page and keep the area around it free of clutter.
Use an image.
When a visitor first views your blog, you have a very short amount of time to invite them back for more content. Images tend to be more enticing than simple text links.
Many bloggers choose to use the Feedburner counter or orange RSS button to catch the attention of their readers.
Make it quick and simple.
The fewer the steps the reader has to take to subscribe, the better. It shouldn't take anyone more than 30 seconds (at most!) to subscribe to your feed. You could lose potential readers by making the signup process more complicated than it should be. Again, I recommend Feedburner if you're looking for a great feed service.
Network with other bloggers.
Many bloggers either overlook the power of networking or go about it the wrong way.
It's best not to bother other bloggers for links; it hardly ever works nowadays. Instead, help them in some way. Support them. You will find that a lot of bloggers will recognize this and thus, the seeds of a business relationship or friendship have been planted. Friends like to link to other friends.
Promote your feed away from your blog.
Participate in forums related to your niche and include a link to your blog (and feed) in your signature. If people see you are offering helpful information or advice, they will be more inclined to see what your blog has to offer.
Also, you may want to consider advertising your feed next to your blog link in your email signature.
And there you have it- seven tips to help boost your feed count. Can you think of more?
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Very useful info Raivyn. No wonder you're on the hot blog list at Fuel my blog. Congratulations!
Chris
Posted by: Chris | January 30, 2008 at 03:32 PM
I modestly admit: I am a genius when it comes to exposing con men. BUT, I am a blooming idiot when it comes to understanding blogging. Got some real nice info here on RSS feeds, stuff I wasn't really aware of, stuff that made me aware that there is much about blogging of which I am NOT aware.
Let me know if you are taking on new clients. By summer I might be ready for a major move in search of an internet marketing agent.
Posted by: Jack Payne | January 30, 2008 at 06:27 PM
Great information here. I found your blog through fuel my blog and I must say that your articles are very unique from anything else I have read on the Internet. I get tired of reading the same thing over and over. You won me as a subscriber.
Posted by: Gaje Master | February 22, 2008 at 11:55 PM