The trouble with blogs on the Internet is that there are so many of them. I read dozens of blogs each day sometimes for business sometimes for pleasure. The problem I have is that I find an excellent blog which I might want to come back to later and often there are no boxes allowing me to sign up by email or to a RSS feed. Without these options I am left adding yet another URL to my bookmark bar, which inevitably gets forgotten about.
Are You Losing Readers Due to Lack of Subscription Options?
My bookmark bar has hundreds of links to sites which I have found useful or enjoyable (or both). Although everything I work on for copywriting business gets neatly arrange into folders, the websites I save for my own use just seem to go into a long list which grows each day. It takes ages to get down to the bottom and most the time I don’t bother and simply try to search for the topic once again, often discovering new sites in the process.
If you have people bookmarking your website because they have no other options you are risking those readers never being able to find you again (at least until they spring clean their bookmarks). Perhaps once a month or so I will go through my bookmark list and sometimes I will rediscover a great site, but a lot of the time I will simply delete the link to tidy things up a bit.
RSS Feeds Take Minutes to Set Up and Benefit You and Your Visitors
To stop your readers adding your website into a never-ending list it is a good idea to allow for subscriptions using RSS feed and email options. This gives your visitors an instant way of keeping in touch with your content and it has benefits for you too. If you choose to use Google’s RSS Feedburner you are able to check up on the amount of subscribers you have and also see which of your posts seem to be the most popular.
With this information you are able to learn more about the readers who are paying attention to your website. The data can then be used to help you think up new blog posts and articles which will be appreciated by your subscribers and encourage them to keep coming back for more.
How to Set Up a RSS Feed
The process of signing up to the RSS feed via Feedburner is simple. All you need to do is claim your feed by adding your website address into the box where prompted and click next. If Feedburner discovers more than one feed you will be asked which one you wish to use as your source, which would be your blog posts.
You will then be taken to a page which shows you your feed address which you are able to customise if you desire. Click the next button to continue setting up your stats tracking and your feed will go live. Once again give the next button a click to select further options such as clickthoughs (highly recommended), item enclosure downloads and additional tracking such as popularity of individual items and the reach.
Check Back Regularly
Publicize your feed by adding a link on your blog and allowing email subscriptions. Just click on the publicize tab on your Feedburner stats page for the html codes and to view the many other options which are available to you. Keep an eye on your feed stats and remember to use the information gathered to improve the content on your blog. This is just one way of helping to improve the traffic to your site and ensure readers who have enjoyed visiting your blog are able to come back time and time again with ease.
This week I shall be posting tips on how to help increase traffic to your website. If you feel you could benefit from this information please sign up to my RSS feed or follow my blog via email to make sure you don’t miss anything.
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