< 5 reasons why I might not subscribe to a site : How to convert new visitors into subscribers >
The web is full of blogs. Many of them want you to read, comment, and subscribe. Of course, we can't all look at everything, so we look at what interests us.Writing good quality content and networking with other bloggers are two extremely important ways to get people reading your blog. But it's not very convenient to keep going back to a blog to check for new content - that's why subscribing is so handy.
Beware of the pitfalls.
Or to be more specific, the 5 reasons why I might not subscribe to a site. Since then, I've stopped subscribing by email - but some people like to do this. At least give them the option - why not?It really helps if you can help your readers by telling them what subscribing to a site is all about. My basic guide to RSS is a good starting point.
Special subscriber benefits.
Some bloggers like to provide secret downloads and special links in their feed, so if you subscribe you get some benefits. I think this is a good idea, but there's a slight problem: what if you just want to find that content from the site itself instead of having to go to your feed reader first?I'm not a big fan of "hidden navigation" like this - for instance, if I wanted to make something private, I'd actually change my site so only certain people can see it. What some people do is just hide the link that would normally take you to that area of their site. I think this is pretty silly as it can hinder the ease of navigation for legitimate users.
Depending on the system you use for your site, you might be able to do it even more easily. Simply set up an area on your site for the special content and post it there. Your subscribers will see it, people will still be able to find it from the site if they look around, but casual visitors won't see it on the home page.
I'm going to start doing this with my Tutorials section - did you know I posted an HTML tutorial yesterday? If not - you'd know if you subscribed. (Do you see what I did there?)
Stay true to your focus.
Earlier I mentioned good quality content. Think of a subscriber as someone who finds your site, likes the content and decides that they want to read more of it. What do you think they're going to feel if you post off-topic content for a whole week? They'll unsubscribe.I know it's tempting to write about anything and everything, it's your blog, you can do what you like... but try and stop yourself from doing this. If you start a blog where you review the latest movies, don't spend a week blogging about how frustrated you are at work (assuming you don't work in a movie theatre!).
Of course, this applies regardless of whether you're talking about subscribers or not. The reason why I've brought it up is because I often see blogs that start out as one thing but end up as another, then complain that they don't have many subscribers. Think about it.
Don't force subscriptions on people.
For instance, don't force people to subscribe just to enter your latest competition. It doesn't work. If they want to subscribe, they'll do so anyway; if not, they will unsubscribe when your competition is over.Remember this as a reader, too.
Don't feel pushed into subscribing to a site. You don't have to. Also, it really pays to learn a bit about subscribing to sites so you can keep track of the sites you really do like.You'll get to read good content, the blog owners will be happy, and if you comment - you might get comments in return. You can't lose. Check out my tutorials if you need help with anything subscription-related.
Tell me about your subscription habits.
How do you get people to subscribe to your site?How many sites do you subscribe to?
Do you explain what a site feed is for visitors who might not know?
Anything else you'd like to add?
Tags: subscription, rss, feeds, tutorials, quality content, benefits, hidden navigation, focus, target audience, competitions
Posted by Ben on January 30, 2008 21:47 / Edited: Never
Comments
Hey Lis, I totally agree with your comments - people subscribe if they want to, and contests probably don't help feed counts at all, even if the people stay subscribed. Thanks for adding your thoughts. :)
Ben, I have always felt funny about asking people to subscribe. Is that wrong? Should I ask people to subscribe, or just let it happen. I have to think what makes me subscribe. I actually do when I really like a blog, but why else? I have to think about this one.I get some comments and I do get praise on my posts, but no subscribers. I have to start thinking in different terms I guess.
Hello ettarose - thanks for the comment. I think the best way is not to ask, but provide an obvious link that says "subscribe to my site". If you expect to attract some non-technical readers (or would like to), feel free to link to a couple of my tutorials on what RSS is and how to use Google Reader. Or provide a brief guide of your own. Not everyone knows what subscribing to a site actually means - helping those people is a good move. :)
I totally agree with the not forcing subscriptions, the amount of people who do competitions where you have to subscribe via email! :/
Thanks for the comment, Toni - I'll never understand why people keep doing that!
How do you get people to subscribe to your site?
I don't. I have subscription buttons on my site and I figured that's enough. People will subscribe if they want to. No amount of contests will make them stay subscribed if they don't even like what you're writing in the first place.
How many sites do you subscribe to?
Slightly over a hundred.
Do you explain what a site feed is for visitors who might not know?
Uhm, nope although this seems like a good idea.
Anything else you'd like to add?
I've always been curious about how well those enter-this-contest-by-subscribing stuff works. How many of these type of subscribers actually end up actively reading and/or commenting on posts? To me, if I see a lot of such contests on a blog, I'm not going to think much of the feed count (no matter how high). How do I know it isn't all pumped up fluff?