I think we all want more subscribers. It’s something that when it’s high, we’re high, when it’s low, we’re low…at least much of the time anyways. Here are a few tips to help you gain subscribers.
* Make a RSS page for feed newbies.
Many, many people have no clue what the heck RSS is. How can they subscribe if they don’t know what it is. Here’s my RSS page. You want to include what RSS is, how to use it, links to RSS readers, what a reader is, and why they would want to subscribe to feeds. Oh, and of course, don’t forget to link to your own blog feeds!
* Make your feed accessible.
People are lazy! If they don’t see a subscribe button or link, they won’t make the effort to find it. I have links in my sidebar where you can subscribe to my feed via reader or by email. Some people only check email and don’t have time to go to a reader and read. They simply want it coming to their inbox so make both available.
* Use Facebook
Create a tab on your page that allows for blog subscriptions. You’d be surprised at how many will find you through facebook and not through the web. Having your subscription link accessible will allow them to quickly subscribe before forgettting where they found you, once they find you. You can find me on facebook: Lori Falcon | My Wooden Spoon | A Cowboy’s Wife
* Become a guest blogger
You would think contributing your work on someone’s blog would totally defeat the purpose but it actually does the opposite. IF it’s good and your own work, people will want to check out your blog for more interesting articles. Try to link to your main blog url and your blog subscription. You can see one of my very old guest posts I did for Darren over at Problogger.net, Create a Video Tutorial and Help Others. Was cool then, not so much now. lol
* Forums
When I started chatting in forums, my subscriber count increased. It’s a way to meet new bloggers and lure them back to your blog. Make sure to put your blog urls in the signature or they can’t visit you. Also, entice them by leaving the url to a post that is relevant to the topic discussion.
* Contests & Giveaways
People love free stuff so use your feed to your advantage. You could offer an additional entry for subscribing. You could even make it fun to where ONLY the subscribers can see a clue on how to enter or perhaps create a contest post that will only be seen by your subscribers. Lots of fun ways to gain subs.
* Content
You knew it was coming. One of the most important words of blogger dictionary. ~CONTENT~ If your content sucks, why would I want to subscribe? Whether your blogging about dolls or ways to earn money online, you need to have your own voice, opinions, and style. Go to your homepage and see the last 10 posts….would they encourage YOU to subscribe?
Something else to do is create a post/page with some of your best/popular content. A “best of” and include it in a visible location.
* Lists
“Top” lists are always popular and can keep people coming back for more. You can create a list relevant to any niche and they are always fun to write and read. You can check out my list of 32 finger lickin’ food apps, you know, just in case you need an example.
* Create Controversy
While I don’t really recommend this one, it can work. It’s just not my style.
* And finally, add visualization.
Nobody wants to read 200 words on every blog they are interested in. Add some color, videos, and pictures.
What tips do you have for increasing RSS subscribers?
Jenn says
Great tips Lori!
Twitter parties are a good way to meet new people and get new subscribers and so are linking up to blog carnivals! I do these in waves since they can eat up a lot of time. I need to do more of these but with the nice weather, I can’t make myself stay indoors long enough! ;D
I’ve also started using page breaks so the whole post doesn’t show up on my home page decreasing the load time of my page. I’m still trying to reduce the load time but doing this has made VAST improvements and I’ve seen better stats on my post pages instead of just the homepage. I’ve also noticed a slight increase in my subscribers but this may be coincendental.
For anyone confortable editing their html template, I’m also testing the idea of hiding certain widgets on my post pages. Getting rid of some of my side bar stuff that leads readers away from my blog…some advertisements, blog roll, buttons, etc. I still working on this but I want to eventually have specific navigational links show up on my post pages but not on my homepage. There’s plenty of navigation on my homepage but I feel a cleaner post page with better navigation may increase my subscribers. Who wants to sift through the blog clutter to get to the content, right? I’m notoriously bad for accumulating clutter on my blog so this has to be conscious long term effort on my part.
.-= Jenn´s last blog ..Contests Contests – Win an iPad & Gourmet Cake =-.
Misty Dawn says
This is a really great post. I recently decided to cut back from two blogs to one. I want to focus my creativity and energy on one blog and make it an outstanding blog, rather than just ‘come up with two posts’ (one for each blog) because I HAVE to. Does that make any sense?
Anyway, I need to learn how to provide e-mail subscriptions… I’ve got RSS feed, but not e-mail subscriptions.
Jenn’s comments and suggestions are really great too!
.-= Misty Dawn´s last blog ..Macro Monday *After the Rain* =-.
Jessica @Riding with Jessica says
Great info Lori. Email subscriptions are a great tool to keep your readers updated on your blog. It can also increase your traffic.
.-= Jessica @Riding with Jessica´s last blog ..Daily iPhone App- Skype =-.