How To Increase Your RSS Subscribers
Since I have been on a “How To” post kick, I wanted to continue on that and share my tips on getting more RSS subscribers.
Oh and this month was a posting test for me.. results coming next week 
Just to refresh, here is the recent How To posts…
Getting Better Google Rankings
Getting More Newsletter Signups
Ok now why do you want more RSS subscribers? Basically it is the easiest way to get a
new post in front of your readers. Look at it like making a sale, it is easier to sell something to someone who has bought from you before, then it is to make a sale to a new customer.
RSS works the same way, you are getting a new post in front of readers that have been to your blog before and like it.
You can signup for RSS feed or email feed, I use both and I recommend you do the same since many people still don’t know what RSS is or know how to use it, but they all know how to use email.
Below is a small list of things you can do to boost your chances of getting you more subscribers.
Write Kick Ass Content
Yes, this is another place where great content matter, why would a visitor want to subscribe to read more of your crap content? Be unique, be fresh, be helpful, and be entertaining. The good news is you can learn to write better, it just takes practice to find what works for you.
Keep Your RSS Button Front and Center
Readers won’t subscribe if they can’t easily find your RSS button, no brainer right? Haha
So keep it at top of your blog in the header or top of the sidebar. People usually look for something orange, I used a green button to match my blog, but I plan to test different colors to see which works best. Try to use something designed that stands out.
Place Your RSS Button Everywhere
You want to promote your RSS feed everywhere on your blog, but don’t go over board with this.
A few places to use are at the top of your blog, in the sidebar, at the end of each post and at the bottom of your blog. I would use 2-3 of these places at once for best results. I have my feed in my header and recently at the bottom of each post and this has been working well so far.
Offer Email RSS Feed
As I mentioned above, there are still a lot of people that have no idea what a RSS feed is. But those same readers know what email is and use email everyday. So they will be more comfortable subscribing to your email feed.
So make sure you offer an email subscribe button as well so you are not pushing away potential new subscribers. I have mine placed right beside my RSS button.
Once You Have Some Subscribers – Show It Off
There really is no set number to reach before you show off your subscriber counts, but I would say anything after 500.
Why do this? It is “social proof” that people like what you’re doing, they will follow suit and subscribe because they don’t want to miss out on what all those other people are seeing.
I share my numbers “all in one”, you see at top “Join The 72,000 Following John Paul” this shares all my followers, Twitter, Email, and RSS subscribers.
This has worked very well, it gets their attention, which was my goal.
Just Ask!
Yes the biggest and best tip I can share, is to JUST ASK!
There is nothing wrong with adding a sentence at the end of your post or dropping a tweet every now and then that invites people to subscribe to your feed. Ask and you shall receive, right?
That’s it, some of my tips on getting more RSS subscribers.
You first need to decide what you want from your blog, do you want newsletter signups, or do you want RSS subscribers.
Focus on one and make the other available for readers to see. I believe focusing to much on both at once will hurt results for both in the end. Your readers will start to feel you’re asking to much of them, and may decide to do nothing.
Let me know what you think or what other tips you have that work for you. Just leave a quick comment and I will read and reply to them all
- Category: Blogging
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