21 Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscribers

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21 Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscribers

On Your Blog:

1. Offer an RSS Feed Subscription. Sounds silly but truthfully I visit a lot of blogs that I would’ve subscribed to but they didn’t offer a way to subscribe. When I started my blog I was guilty of this too and after receiving several emails asking about it … I bit the bullet and studied up on how to add one.

2. Size and Placement of Your RSS Button. Make sure your button is large enough to stand out and get attention … and you should always have it above the fold (the area that a visitor can see without scrolling down). Studies have also shown that the upper right-hand part of the page is the preferred spot with the upper left a close second.

3. Add a Reminder to Subscribe At the End of Each Post. One option is to use the Subscribe Reminder Plugin. Another good idea is to use the End Content Plugin and ask readers to subscribe. If you’re good at using code then you can add the offer to the single.php and/or the page.php files.

4. Write a Post on “How to Subscribe”. Keep in mind that a lot of people have heard of RSS Feed but that doesn’t mean that they understand it or know how to actually subscribe. Write a post giving your visitors step-by-step instructions on how to subscribe and if possible add some screenshots so they will know what to expect with each step. This is especially true if you are NOT in the blogging/make money niche.

5. Write Great Content. When you write the kind of content that will make your readers want to come back and read more … they’ll want to subscribe to your feed … plain and simple.

6. Make Your Posts Easy to Read. Writing for a blog is totally different than any other kind of writing. Blog readers are usually in a hurry and need to digest the content in bite sized pieces. Try to limit paragraphs to 2-3 sentences and break up the text as much as possible with headers, colored boxes, numbered or bulleted lists, etc. This is an area that I’m working hard on … I don’t want my readers to “nod off” while reading my posts! LOL

7. Add Images, Audio, or Video Whenever Possible. I know I personally enjoy blogs that use images to break up their posts and I especially like audio and video. Keep your blog interesting using these other types of media and please your readers. (Please DO NOT use any type of auto-play device that makes “noise” upon page load ~ very annoying!).

8. Link to Posts That Add to Your Topic. One way to help your reader learn as much as possible is to link to more information that adds to what you are discussing. This works great for on-site linking (to one of your other posts) and it’s equally important to link to another blog that has information that pertains to your topic. Either way, use good anchor text and link to the specific post (as opposed to the index page of someone else’s site). When you link to another blog the blog owner should get a “trackback” alert that you’ve done so. Not only is it a nice thing to do (for your readers and the other blog owner) … you will most likely get a visit (and sometimes a thank you) from the other blog owner.

9. Offer an eBook or Report to Give Away. Free eBooks and reports are a great way to encourage your visitors to subscribe to your blog. If you can’t (or don’t want to) write this type of product check into the many PLR (private label rights) products for sale or you can hire a ghost writer to write it for you.

About Your Feed:

10. Use Feedburner and Feedsmith Plugin. I personally like using Feedburner along with the Feedsmith plugin. These make it very simple to set up your feed subscription and to change any necessary code for your blog.

11. Offer as Many Subscription Options as Possible (Especially email). Truthfully, there is nothing more aggravating then finding a new blog I’d like to follow and finding out they don’t offer an email subscription. Not only that but many blogs only offer one or two feed services and I only want to subscribe using Google Reader. Well, I know I’m not alone. I’ve seen countless forum posts that tell me people are creatures of habit and they tend to use a specific reader and if you don’t offer it you will lose them.

12. Offer Full RSS Feed. Studies have shown that subscribers prefer a full RSS feed (the article in its entirety) as opposed to a partial feed (only part of the article with a link back to the blog to continue reading). Some bloggers use a partial feed in hopes of getting their readers back to their site but I believe in listening to my subscribers.

Off-Site Methods:

13. Social networking. Use social networking sites to help promote your blog. Be sure to add a link to your blog on all of your profile pages because many people check them out of curiosity. BTW … follow me on Twitter if you’re not already!

14. Blog commenting and Forum Participation. These are both great ways to get traffic (which will result in subscribers) but they must be used correctly. Do NOT go and spam your link everywhere without offering help to others. If you do, your work will be a waste of time and you’ll ruin your reputation.

15. Forum and Email Signature Line. Make sure you’ve added a link to your blog in your forum and email signature lines. The more exposure the better and, again, more traffic equals more subscribers.

16. ASK Your Visitors to Subscribe. Sometimes … all you have to do is ask! You can try the “What Would Seth Godwin Do” plugin. This allows you to show different messages to new and returning visitors. The text is customizable and is in a box that comes up right before each post. It’s a great way to ask for subscribers. By the way … if you like what you’re reading … be sure to subscribe to my RSS Feed! (See how easy that was LOL).

17. Email Those Who Haven’t Confirmed Their RSS Subscription. Sometimes people subscribe and forget (or don’t know) to reply to the confirmation email. When you see these in your Feedburner account you can email these visitors and ask them if they’re still interested in subscribing.

18. Feed Exchange. This is simply the good old “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” idea. You will see posts from time to time saying if you subscribe … I’ll subscribe. I would only do this with quality blogs that you would enjoy reading. Remember … quality is better than quantity.

19. Write Guest Posts. I will always jump at the chance to write a guest post for someone else’s blog. It’s great exposure and introduces me to a whole new “community” of readers. Just make sure that the blog is “complimentary” to yours and that all details are ironed out before you write the piece (i.e. similar audience, similar visitors/subscribers, and content that makes sense for you, exclusive or not, etc.).

20. Run a Contest. Contests are a great way to gain subscribers. Of course you should tie the contest in to subscribing and possibly blogging about your site and/or your contest. You can offer cash, advertising, review posts, or you can even ask others to donate prizes for your contest. *Watch for my contest starting next week (Monday, November 24, 2008) … my sponsors have really stepped up to the plate and we have some awesome prizes up for grabs!

And my favorite way to add RSS Subscribers …

21. Compete for the title “Blogging Idol.” I’m having so much fun as a contestant in this season’s Blogging Idol and it has motivated me to get very creative in my efforts to find new subscribers to my blog.

Have you seen my clever idea yet?

Clever Promotion Idea

Which lead to these (and more!):

John Chow Supports Suzanne Franco for Blogging Idol

Kevin Muldoon Interviews Suzanne Franco

22. (Bonus Tip) For those of you who are not competing … you can always start your own friendly competition with a fellow blogger … and try your hand at your own clever promotion ideas.

In fact, take a look at what a couple of my blogging buddies are up to this month:

“Bug Boy” vs “Sammich Man“

They are both friends of mine (and my Idol supporters) so I encourage you to go check out their blogs and subscribe to the one that “speaks” to you … or go ahead and subscribe to both … what the heck!

I hope this helps you in your pursuit of more RSS subscribers. Do you have any more ideas/tips to add to this list? Are you confused about any of them? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section! *SmiLes* Suzanne

P.S. If this has helped you at all … please help others out too by letting the StumbleUpon and/or Digg community know about it. Thanks!

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