25 Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscriber Count

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All bloggers are trying to increase their RSS Subscriber count, that is why I have decided to write a post with 25 ways that you can increase your RSS Subscriber Count.

RSS Subscribers

Let’s begin with the 25 ways to boost your blogs RSS subscriber count.

Publish Good Content - People are more likely to subscribe to a blog that offers valuable content. Make sure you are publishing content that people will want to read. This should be a priority.
Post Frequently - Once you are publishing good content, you then need to do it frequently. This will lead people to subscribe so that they do not miss any of your future posts.
Stay Focused - Stick to your niche and post content that relates to it. People subscribed to your blog because they want to read about news in your niche.
Visible RSS Button - Make sure you have a visible RSS button on your site, make sure it is above the fold. The top of your sidebar would be a good place for your RSS Button. Check out BloggingTips.com for a good example of this.
RSS by E-Mail - Make sure you allow your readers to subscribe by e-mail. Many people may not be comfortable with Feed Readers and may prefer to have your feed in the form of an email. Courtney Tuttle uses this method.
Full Posts on Feed - Make sure you show full post in your RSS feed, there is nothing more frustrating than a site that uses excerpts in their RSS feeds.
What is RSS? - Devote a post or page of your blog explaining to your readers what RSS is. Thy may not subscribe because they do not know what it is, or what the benefits are.
Ask Your Readers To Subscribe - This can be done most effectively at the end of posts. Have a short message at the end of your posts which says something along the lines of “If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my RSS Feed, to keep up with all future updates”. If they have just enjoyed the post they have just read, they may subscribe.
Auto-Discovery - Auto-Discovery is used by the Web Browsers to find your feed. If found it will display the small RSS icon in the address bar. Many people subscribe using this method, so make sure the browsers are finding your feed.
Give Something Away - Offer something free to people that subscribe to your feed, such as an E-book. Everyone loves a freebie.
Guest Post - Guest Posting is a great way of promoting yourself, your blog and your feed. Most guest posts allow you to link back to your site at the bottom, or top. Use this as a chance to ask people to subscribe to your feed. Make sure your guest post is on a blog in your niche. Check out one of my guest posts here.
Allow Guest Posts - By allowing people to guest post on your site , you are opening up the opportunity for that writer to bring their readers with them. You can then convert them to subscribe to your blog.
Use Forums - You can answer questions on forums and include a link back to your feed in the signature. If people think you are informative and an authority in your niche, they may subscribe to your blog. Also check out: Blog Premiere.
Link Love - Link to other blogs in your niche. You never know they may link back. They will most likely head over to your blog to see who is linking to them, they may also subscribe to your blog to keep up to date. I do Link Roundup posts on ProTycoon.com, feel free to link to me!
Submit Feed - Add your feed to RSS Directories. A List of Directories can be found here.
Show Your Count - Displaying your feed count on your blog may persuade others to join. Be weary, many bloggers believe you should not display your feed until you have at least 50 subscribers, some say 100. I would say, if you are proud of your subscriber count, show it off.
Network - By making friends with other bloggers, you are opening up the opportunity for them to subscribe to your feed, so that they can check out what you are up to.
Cross-Promotion - Once you have networked and made friends with other bloggers, you can then promote each others feeds. This can be done at the end of each others feeds, or by directly posting about each other.
What Would Seth Godin Do - This is a great little plugin that displays a small message to new visitors to your blog asking them to sign up to your feed.
Subscribe Me - This plugin displays small chicklets on your blog, asking people to subscribe using their favourite reader.
Subscribe Remind - As I mentioned above, it is good to ask people to subscribe to your feed at the end of each post. This plugin does just that.
FeedBurner - FeedBurner reduces the steps need to sign up to your feed, making it easier for your readers to subscribe.
Post Series - By writing a series of posts people will subscribe so that they do not miss the next post in the series. Darren Rowse has just finished another successful series.
Contests - Run a contest that requires people to sign up for your RSS feed to join.
ProTycoon.com - Subscribe to my feed for future updates and tips on increasing your RSS feed count, as well as other great blogging tips. This is by far the most important step in increasing your RSS count.

This post is a good guide for anyone currently competing in blogging idol. Blogs I would recommend subscribing to in the competition are:

All of the above blogs are in a similar niche to ProTycoon.com so I believe you will find them all useful, don’t forget to subscribe to their RSS feeds as well as mine!

All diggs and stumbles are appreciated.

RSS Group Writing Project

28 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

Tom - StandOutBlogger.com | July 3rd, 2008 at 11:05 am #

What a comprehensive list! Something all us blogging idol contestants (and every other blogger) really needs to read. Oh, and thanks for the link!
David Shaw | July 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am #

No Worries Tom.

Hope it helps. How many have you used so far?
Jason | July 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 am #

Thanks for the linkage mate, looks a sweet list. Another good forum to join is http://www.blogpremiere.com/forum … and I’m not just saying that cos I run it (well, maybe )
David Shaw | July 3rd, 2008 at 11:19 am #

Cheers, feel free to link back to this post!

Have added your Forum to the list!
Melvin | July 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 am #

hello thanks… dude… good luck to us…
Glen Allsopp | July 3rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm #

Thanks for the link bro!
David Shaw | July 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pm #

@Melvin
No worries dude

@Glen
Thats ok, you can always link back
Winning Startups | July 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm #

Thanks for the advice. I have been reading the problogger series as you mentioned and like the concept, will consider this as well.
Jim | July 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm #

Thanks for the kind words and the link back mate!
I definitely agree with most of your points. Increasing your RSS numbers is important, and you’ve got some great pointers that everyone should be practicing
David Shaw | July 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm #

@Winning Startups
ProBlogger.net is always great for advice

@Jim
Thats ok mate. I love yout blog design, very nice!
Kevin | July 3rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm #

Great post David. Some good tips there, it doesn’t matter if your blog has 100, 1000 or 10,000 subscribers, you should always be looking at ways to increase your feedcount.

I think you’re new design will really help you push this blog forward in the coming months.
David Shaw | July 3rd, 2008 at 3:57 pm #

Cheers Kevin.

I really hope so to.

I am offering free ad spots until the end of July:
http://www.protycoon.com/index.php/2008/07/03/advertising-giveaway/

Dont miss out!
Hendry Lee | July 3rd, 2008 at 8:08 pm #

I like the list, especially when you plug in your blog in the 25th.
David Shaw | July 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 pm #

Cheers Hendry Lee.

Nice blog btw!
dimaks | July 4th, 2008 at 12:04 am #

great set of round up here! thanks for sharing them.
Jay | July 4th, 2008 at 12:06 am #

Nice list man… you should have no problem winning the Blogging Idol contest if you just follow this list, huh?

Jay
Mo | July 4th, 2008 at 12:25 am #

Hi,

Great list but one item that needs to be added is “staying power” - specifically the longer you publish regularly you are more likely to get individuals to subscribe.

Otherwise the list is great!

Mo
Susan | July 4th, 2008 at 5:10 am #

A valuable list of tips!
David Shaw | July 4th, 2008 at 8:56 am #

@dimaks
Thanks for the comments

@Jay
If everyone uses this list it will be an interesting contest.

@Mo
Nice point to consider

@Susan
Many Thanks
Blog for Beginners | July 4th, 2008 at 4:55 pm #

This is a powerful list “How-To” that’s worth a bookmark and I admit I couldn’t help but to stumble it.

Yan
David Shaw | July 4th, 2008 at 9:24 pm #

@Blog for Beginners
Many Thanks!
Ganesh | July 5th, 2008 at 12:55 am #

Thanks for the mention. I really like Seth Godin’s plugin. Its an easy way of adding a reminder. Nice post.
David Shaw | July 5th, 2008 at 9:35 am #

@Ganesh
I think it is a must on every blog!
Home Internet Business | July 15th, 2008 at 2:48 pm #

Hi David,

All very good tips. This is a great blog David, my second visit in 2 days. I like #3 Post Series because I’m currently running one on “Link Building Strategy-Series Posts’ and you are quite right. I’m getting more subscribers because they can’t wait for the next post. Well check it out for yourself.

Internet Home Business-Link Building Strategy-DIY SEO Work Schedule-Part 4

Peter Lee
David Shaw | July 15th, 2008 at 3:01 pm #

@Peter
Glad you are seeing a rise in subscribers.

I recently won a contest about gaining RSS Subscribers! See my latest post!
Hussein | Random Blog | July 26th, 2008 at 1:41 pm #

These are great tips. I think the most effective is giving free ebooks and asking people to subscribe to get a copy.
David Shaw | July 26th, 2008 at 2:24 pm #

Cheers Hussein!
The Month Of July - ProTycoon | July 29th, 2008 at 12:03 pm #

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